The Cantley Poor’s Land Trust – our original name – was established many years ago. It stems from agreements within the ancient parishes of Branton and Cantley from around 1779, when a parcel of land was endowed to provide income to support local people who were down on their luck. We have been known informally as ‘The Cantley Trust’ for many years.

Over time, and subject to compliance with various different pieces of historical national legislation, administration of the land and the finance was left to the councils: Cantley with Branton Parish Council and Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council. Charity law then required that there was some legal separation between the council and the land.  Accordingly, a separate legal trust was established in 1964, with the appointment of trustees representing the different councils and independent ‘lay trustees’ – people with no interest in either council.  We have around eight trustees at any time, all of whom are DBS checked.

The trustees, with the agreement of the Charity Commissioners, sold much of the land during the 1980s for housing to be situated alongside the M18 motorway (which had opened in the late 1970s) and to allow Doncaster to grow. The receipts were invested and the annual growth in value is what provides the finance for our assistance donations.

We modified our operating name recently and are now known as Lady Ellerker’s Land Trust, but continue to be registered with the Charity Commissioners under Registration number 224787. In common with all registered charities, we are required to provide the commissioners with our annual accounts, names of our trustees and other formal documentation:  this is all available for view at the Charity Commissioners’ website: register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/