Why Licences Are Essential to FODC’s Mission

Dear Community

We want to start by saying that no matter what, Wilfrid’s Café will always remain in the Church Annexe at Droxford, at the heart of the community. Every trustee is committed to that mission.

The Friends of Droxford Church (FODC) guides its decisions by four principles: legal, moral, ethical, and high standards of governance.

  • Our legal framework is the law of England and Wales.
  • Our moral obligation is to serve our community, respect our donors, and protect our heritage and the Church building.
  • Our ethical framework is principally set by the Charity Commission.

From these flows a clear responsibility: FODC has a legal, moral, and ethical duty to uphold the licences governing use of the church building, and to ensure that funds generated within it support three purposes: Community, Heritage, and the Church Building.

The Church vs. the Church Building

It is important to clarify a distinction often misunderstood in discussion. When people refer to “the Church,” they may mean the Church of England (CoE) as a whole. But FODC’s responsibility is not to the wider CoE; it is specifically to the building of St Mary & All Saints Church, Droxford.

This building still requires ongoing repair and maintenance and enhancement on its journey to being a mixed use community resource. Its last major renovation, saving the tower from collapse and constructing the annexe, was possible only because FODC secured over £650,000 in external funding. That funding was awarded on the basis of a mixed-use model: worship alongside adaptive reuse for community benefit.

Donors and funders were guaranteed that their contributions would remain in Droxford, protecting the building and ensuring self-sufficiency. To abandon this framework would be to fail in our legal, moral, and ethical duties to donors, investors, regulators, and the community.

Specialised Roles within the Church Building

The organisations operating within the church building were deliberately structured according to their specialities:

  • PCC – Pastoral and religious care.
  • FODC – Community, heritage, and the church building.
  • DCH CIC – Commercial and community café operation.

When FODC created Wilfrid’s Café in 2016, it set up the licences to reflect these roles. The PCC asked for no rent; FODC held the licence; and DCH (the agency created by FODC and others in 2019), as a CIC, ran the café. At the time, it was envisaged that DCH would act as an extension of FODC:

  • Clause 2: DCH agrees to observe the terms of the Agreement and to comply with the obligations of the Friends as if they were the Friends and to indemnify the Friends in respect of any liability of the Friends under the Agreement

There would also be shared board representation. Over time, this arrangement ended, leaving only FODC and the PCC with formal representatives on each other’s boards.

This left one final safeguard: the “backstop”, enshrined in Clause 7 of the DCH–FODC sub-licence. Clause 7 stipulates that DCH should account to FODC at the year end with an assessment of the trading surplus (i.e. profit) and DCH and FODC agree the recipients for grants. It also states that DCH transfers the trading surplus to FODC and FODC pays it. FODC needs to be responsible to the PCC for DCH’s actions. Hence, paying the grant recipients provides the best certainty to discharge that responsibility.

This process gives accountability to the grant monies and ensures both organisations cooperate and has worked successfully for five years. It ensures that money generated in the church building has a legal, moral, and ethical route to support Community, Heritage, and the Church Building.

The Current Challenge

As a CIC, DCH is legally bound to spend money for “community benefit.” However, without Clause 7 that FODC/DCH sub-license provides, there is no guarantee that funds will support the very building in which they are generated.

DCH has now requested 100% of café profits with no guaranteed rent or contribution towards our commitments, thus removing FODC’s role. This would mean:

  • No legal, moral, or ethical route for funds to support the church building or heritage work.
  • Complete control of funds by seven private individuals, accountable only to CIC regulation.
  • No recourse for disagreement about how funds are allocated.

This risks breaching commitments FODC made to donors, funders, the PCC, and the Charity Commission. Under England and Wales law, FODC could face legal action for up to 12 years if it abandons those commitments.

FODC has spent over a year and more than 1,000 volunteer hours dealing with this situation and negotiating with DCH to return to the proven framework. Unfortunately, flexibility has turned into liability: what began as a practical arrangement for DCH to act as the commercial arm has become a demand for unilateral control.

The Way Forward

FODC has therefore concluded that clearer boundaries are needed. A new volunteer-led entity has been proposed to run the café, our preliminary proposal will be:

  • Entirely staffed and governed by volunteers.
  • Leadership elected every three years.
  • A chair may serve a maximum of two consecutive terms, with each term a maximum of 3 years.

And our preliminary profits distribution honouring our commitments of Community, Heritage and Church Building (a commitment we took investment and donations against) would be roughly as follows:

  • 66% directly to FODC for Heritage and the Church Building to be decided in consultation with the PCC.
  • 33% to the local Community through a transparent grant process.

Therefore each of our commitments would receive 33% each. This model strengthens community impact: in fact, 33% is more that was given to Community in the most successful grant year (2023–24). It also guarantees the long-term protection of Droxford’s church building while sustaining charitable giving.

Conclusion

Licences are not mere formalities, they are the safeguards that protect the integrity of our building, our community, and our heritage.

Without them, the very purpose for which FODC was founded, saving and sustaining St Mary & All Saints Church, would be at risk.

By adhering to the licences, FODC honours its legal, moral, and ethical obligations to donors, regulators, and the village. By creating a new entity, we can ensure that Wilfrid’s Café continues to serve the community while securing the future of the church building for generations to come.

The Medieval Church

The Church in Transition

Victorian to Modern Times

Written by Ivor Coleman, Designed by David Goodman