History

  1. The charity was first registered as The Essex and Southend Charitable Trust on 28 May 2002.
  2. Its registration number is 1092238.
  3. On 1 October 2002 the name of the charity was changed to The Essex and Southend Sports Trust.
  4. The registered charity correspondent is Mr Peter R Butler, Red House, Larks Lane, Great Waltham, Chelmsford CM3 1AD. Telephone 01245 360385; facsimile 01245 360303
  5. Governing documents are trust deed dated 13 March 2002 as amended by a scheme dated 25 July 2017.
  6. Objectives are:
    • The promotion of community participation in healthy recreation by providing facilities for playing particular sports.
    • The promotion of education for young people in order to develop their physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing.
    • The advancement of the physical education of young people not undergoing formal education.
    • The provision of, or the assistance in the provision of, facilities and services for physical or other education, recreation or leisure time occupations in the interests of social welfare with the object of improving the conditions of life.
  7. Area of benefit is the County of Essex , England, (including but not limited to the unitary authorities of Southend-On-Sea and Thurrock) and the London boroughs of Havering, Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham, Newham, and Waltham Forest.
  8. Area of operation is as above.
  9. Classification:
    What: General charitable purposes; education/training; sport recreation; economic/community development/employment.
    Who: Children/young people; elderly/old people; people with a disability/special needs; other charities/voluntary bodies; general public/mankind.
    How: Makes grants to individuals (includes loans); makes grants to organisations (includes schools, charities etc); provides other finance (e.g. pensions/investment fund); provide human resources (e.g. staff/volunteers); provide building/facilities/open space.
  10. March 2005: EASST launches first public appeal to raise funds specifically for the proposed Centre of Cricketing Excellence at Garon's Park Southend.
  11. March 2006: EASST organises Gala dinner and dance at the Cliffs Pavilion Southend to raise funds towards the public appeal for the Cricketing Centre of Excellence at Garon Park, Southend.  Guest speaker was Sir Trevor Brooking former Chairman of Sport England and currently Director of Football Development at the Football Association.
  12. May 2007: EASST organises the first Twenty/20 cricket game at Roots Hall Stadium, Southend between a Southend United XI managed and captained by Steve Tilson and an Essex XI led by Ronnie Irani.  This is a fund raising charity event in support of the Garon Park Centre of Cricketing Excellence and the Southend United Community and Education Trust.
  13. August 2008: The Mayor of Southend, Councillor Gwen Harrigan and former England & Essex captain Graham Gooch opened the new outdoor cricket nets funded by EASST, at Garon Park Cricketing Centre of Excellence in Southend. The Trustees authorised a grant of £30,828 for this project.
  14. August 2009: The 2009 Essex AutoGroup Southend Cricket Festival unveiled a magnificent new electronic scoreboard at Garon Park which is unique on the county circuit. The scorecoard is attached to a newly built oak-framed Essex barn which is in keeping with the site's farming history and is used for equipment storage. the scoreboard was officially opened on Friday 7th August by the Mayor of Southend Cllr Brian Smith, the Mayoress, former Essex & England captain Graham Gooch, Phillip Tolshurst, trustee of the Norman Garon Trust, together with all the trustees of the Essex & Southend Sports Trust (EASST) and the Norman Garon Trust who helped to provide funding for this community project. Local MP David Amiss, various local dignitaries and many of the official party who were shown around the barn before enjoying a festival lunch. The Trustees authorised a special grant of £55,398 to the scoreboard project.
  15. November 2013: EASST announces launch of joint venture fund with Essex Community Foundation. The new fund, the Essex & Southend Sports Charitable Fund (ESSCF) will make grants to individuals and voluntary organisations in Essex to make sport flourish at grass roots level around the county.
  16. July 2017: Charity Commission for England and Wales approves the extension of the area of benefit of the charity to include the Unitary Authority of Thurrock and the London boroughs of Havering, Redbridge, Barking and Dagenham, Newham, and Waltham Forest.
  17. January 2018: EASST establishes a new joint venture fund called The EASST Small Grants for Cricket Scheme with Essex Cricket in the Community, to provide charitable grants of up to £2,000 to cricket organisations in Essex and East London.
  18. Total grants made by EASST since inception to 30th June 2020 now exceeds £1.7million.