Statement of Purpose
The Northbrook Community Trust was formed from a 'Refuge' for discharged prisoners of both sexes in 1836, and in 1854 the refuge was extended by combining it with a Reformatory for Girls and Boys. Northbrook School remained a branch of that original Reformatory, but for boys only, until the end of the 1980s.
As attitudes to the provision of child care changed over the years new legislation was introduced, which led increasingly to the management and maintenance of the old Reformatory being taken over by the Local Authority. The Trustees, as the owners of the site, still retained an obligation to maintain the buildings and to play an important role in the management of the various child care facilities that were evolving in place of the old Reformatory.
Recently (or in 1995), the objects and the constitution of the Trust were revised and updated and the name of Northbrook Community Trust was adopted. The bulk of the land comprising the site of the old Boys Reformatory was sold in 1996 to raise funds for the Trust and the interest from the capital raised can now be applied in accordance with the trust's 'new' objects.
The Trustees' first obligation is to use the Trust income to continue maintaining the property of the Trust and to pay all the incidental outgoings. The Trust still owns and manages a number of properties.
The Trustees then have an obligation to apply the Trust income, at their discretion, in promoting the education and training of any child or young person who is now, or has formerly been, in the care of, or under the control of, Devon County Council at any of the facilities run from the Trust properties and the Northbrook Site, and in providing such special benefits of any kind, for which provision is not made from public funds for any such facilities. In other words, benefits and facilities which the County Council are under no obligation to provide and which it is unable to provide.
Insofar as Trust monies are not exhausted in meeting the obligation previously mentioned, the Trustees can apply Trust monies towards the provision of education and training (including support and accommodation) for any child or young person who is, or who has at any time been, in the care of, or provided with accommodation by, or under the supervision of Devon County Council and for any child or young person in need in Devon within the meaning of Section 17(10)(a) and (b) of the Children Act 1989 namely those children who are unlikely to receive a reasonable standard of health (physical or mental) or development (physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural) without the provision of services and those whose health or development is likely to be significantly impaired without the provision of such services.
The Trustees may make financial assistance available to any charitable or voluntary organisation which itself is engaged in the provision of education, training, accommodation or support to those young persons previously mentioned.
Applications for funding are therefore invited from any individuals, bodies or organisations that may be, or may wish to be, providing facilities and services that comply with the guidelines previously outlined.