Charitable Trust

Hampstead & Westminster Hockey Club

Hampstead & Westminster Hockey Club is a registered charity (the legal entity is HWHC Limited: charity registration number 1129592).

The trustees (who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006), are Jo Edmondson, Earl Griffith, Beth Havelock, Richard James, Kevin Murphy, Oz Rankin and Richard Sykes.

Objectives

The objective of the charity is the promotion of community participation in healthy recreation by the provision of facilities for the playing of hockey. This includes:

1. Facilitating participation in hockey at all levels and ages for both sexes and encouraging and developing a high physical and moral standard in players;
2. Encouraging and developing hockey in London, and in particular Westminster;
3. Providing training opportunities for instruction of playing hockey, coaching hockey and umpiring hockey; and
4. Cooperating with England Hockey in the provision of playing and other facilities for the game.

Key Activities

Hampstead & Westminster Hockey Club was set up more than 130 years ago in 1894 and since then has established itself as a significant hockey presence in Westminster and England, regularly running competitive and social junior, adult and masters teams, encompassing all levels of ability from European and national leagues to local and regional leagues.

One of the main day to day activities of the club is to support and promote this wide diversity of hockey involvement and interest.

The club seeks to attract the best domestic and international coaches and players, allowing their skills and experience to be of benefit to the wider club (juniors, adults, masters and England Hockey Talent Academy) and local community. This includes the performance players and coaches working alongside other club players, coaches and parents running hockey sessions for young or newly interested players from the local area.

The club plays most of its hockey on the local authority-owned artificial pitches at Paddington Recreation Ground in Maida Vale, for which it pays rent via the operator to Westminster Council. The club works closely with the local authority to ensure that the facilities provided are fit for purpose, so that not only the members of the club but also the wider local community benefit.

The club also works with Westminster Council to consider ways in which it can promote its objectives and key activities: for example, linking with local schools and participating in the London Youth Games.

The club encourages its own members to participate in coaching and umpiring, and the club funds players for coaching and umpiring qualifications as appropriate.

The club actively works with England Hockey to seek out new opportunities and ways in which it can promote the game of hockey and further England Hockey's national objectives in the central London area.