Governance of Farsley Rehoboth Burial Ground

Purchase & Gaining Charity Status

In June 2018, having met with the Company that held the possession of Farsley Rehoboth, we commenced the Governance process by developing a Constitution for our forthcoming charity.

Greatly assisted by The Friends of Roundhay St. John’s Church, we were able to submit our application to the Charity Commission in August 2018.

The aim of the charity, as stated in our application, is;

To promote, for the public benefit, the preservation, care and improvement of Farsley Rehoboth Burial Ground as a place of historic and ecological interest. The charity would also advance the education of the public through the preservation and maintenance of Farsley Rehoboth Burial Ground.

Whilst we anticipated we would be a recognised UK Charity by the end of 2018, delays due to workload at the Charity Commission meant that we were not Registered until 14th March 2019. Our Registered Charity Number is 1182468.

Becoming a Community Asset

Following this, conveyancing and legal activity immediately commenced for the purchase of Farsley Rehoboth Burial Ground as a Community Asset, which was completed in 2019.

As a Community Asset, Farsley Rehoboth is recognised as land which is used for the well-being or social interest of the local community. It also means that it the space is now owned by the community of Farsley and governed by The Friends of Farsley Rehoboth.

‘Community ownership ensures that local people have control over the buildings and spaces that have significance to them and that these spaces are used in ways that meet the priorities and needs of the local community.’ - mycommunity.org.uk

Land Registry & Accounts

Our purchase agreement was completed on 31st May 2019 and is shown on our Land Registry entry.

Our financial year ends on 31st March with our first signed and audited accounts covering 2019 to 2020 are included in this sub-section and demonstrate we went from a blank piece of paper to  an income of over £50,000 in within our first year.

Our Constitution; Land Registry; 2019/2020, 2020/2021, 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 Audited Accounts and 2021 AGM Minutes can be viewed online below.