A.O.S.A. 2005 ANNUAL REPORT

This Magazine
Contents
All Magazines 
Contents
Homepage

Why did we not succeed? Like everything these days it comes down to money. In his proposal speech last year, Dick Dennis kindly spoke of my work along with Jane, David and Val Oliver - also parents, in the setting up of the Development fund in 1982. Sitting in our lounge the four of us, with little knowledge other than that which was publicly available, had worked out that the fabric of the school needed improving. This would generate the growth in pupil numbers that was needed to improve the cash flow and thereby solve the financial problems. We started, always with small aims that we could achieve quickly. If you think that our aims were not small or that Ayton was somehow unique in being unable to fund its own improvements at that time, let me tell you that my own school, of which more later, launched an appeal at about the same time for over £1 million. But importantly, private approaches before the appeal went ‘public’ had raised half that sum. We had to work with care, because for some years there had been a rumour that Ayton was about to close. Yarm had recently been founded and, when asked, its founding head said of Ayton that it was a non-academic school run by Quakers and “alright if you want that sort of thing.” We had not got the ear of the customers. When we did some market research, we discovered first, that among the parents who crossed Ayton’s threshold when looking for a school, our success rate was very high, and second, that parents took very little time in selecting a school for their children, relying largely on one visit to a school of which they’d heard well. In the late 1980s it was socially acceptable to have children in certain schools, and Ayton was regarded as being the second choice. Mind you, we did from time to time have the last laugh as some very unhappy children found the peaceful atmosphere of Ayton a better place to achieve their potential.

After four years, carefully written into the ASDF constitution, I left its committee and with it my co-opted post on the school committee. I felt my contribution, inadequate as it was, to Ayton was over, and hopefully I could fade into obscurity - but as it turned out not quite far enough.

In 1994 I was asked to rejoin the committee, to take the chair the following year when Richard Taylor retired. The problems were, as we all know, considerable, and compounded by the Charity Commission ruling that we had to run the School until the assets of the charity equalled its liabilities. As trustees we were in Mr Micawber’s position, assets £1 liabilities 19/11d - fine! Assets £1 liabilities 20/- and one penny meant that the penny could well have had to come from the committee’s pocket.

We soldiered on; we raised over half a million pounds from supporters to ease the burden of the bank loans and to give us the security to carry on. John Roberts, the Bursar, and his staff generated substantial income from holiday lets and improved the fabric. Alice Meager, the Head, and her staff enhanced Ayton’s reputation, increased the numbers of pupils and the race was on - and a very evenly matched race it was. Could we generate income fast enough to drive down our borrowing and interest charges? Each year’s balance between leavers and new intake was critical and in the Spring of 1997 the maths failed to add up; we were going to fall at the next fence. It was not inevitable but it was almost certain and the risks of falling, to the children and staff, had to be weighed against the option of pulling up and walking home with everything under our control, rather than under the control of outsiders.

Long after the school had closed, Alice Meager and John Roberts were busy placing pupils, writing references for staff and advising them, and dealing with the final details of the sale, the preparation for the auction, security, and a myriad other issues. I must also mention John’s secretary Jean, and Brian and Eric - to whom it fell to dismantle 156 years of history.

As a result of a huge amount of very hard work by all involved in 1997 we reached the end of the road in good order - we sold the property for £1.6 million, exceeding the £1.2m valuation given by our valuers and those of the bank. Ted Brown, the School Solicitor was kept busy trying to decipher 160-year-old deeds and satisfying the Land Registry that rivers move their course over time.

Minor errors that we made still keep appearing and I am at present trying to solve the problem of the portico at the front entrance, which somehow slipped off the conveyancing documents. If anyone remembers it being built I would be grateful for the information. Mind you, with the help of Margaret Cumbor we have already established it was there in 1891. In the middle of all this we were hit by a bombshell. Someone, without consulting us, wrote to the Charity Commission suggesting that the property was worth £7million, the implication being that the Committee was in breach of its obligations to the charity. This was a serious allegation, which, rightly, was properly investigated by The Commission. We of course immediately responded with a very large file of professional valuations, sale procedures, lists of offers, and certificates from Solicitors, Accountants etc and the matter was quickly resolved. For a long time I wondered where the £7million figure came from and I heard it mentioned again yesterday. I found the source in a School appeal document. Whether it was correct at the time or just a guess I know not, but it was certainly way out at the time of Sale.

We paid all our debts - we repaid those who had supported us with cash, we sent, in accordance with our constitution, £700,000 to Meeting for Sufferings, which at our request paid £500,000 into a trust in the control of the donor family. The Trust has since helped numerous children on their gap year projects, others on special interest holidays, and even helped set up a girls’ football team. The rest of the money was distributed to help with the refurbishment of Ayton Meeting House, to other Friends’ Schools and to the Friends’ Schools joint Bursary scheme.

Return to:
Homepage