A testator bequeathed a fund in trust to provide annually for ever a cup to be given to the most successful yacht of the season, stating that his object in giving the cup was to encourage the sport of yacht-racing.
Held: (affirming the decision of Kekewich J), that a gift for the encouragement of a mere sport, though it might be beneficial to the public, could not be upheld as charitable.
The law does not regard the promotion of any particular sport, for its own sake, as charitable.
Lopes LJ did not accept that ‘a gift, the object of which is the encouragement of a mere sport or game primarily calculated to amuse individuals apart from the community at large’, was charitable, even if that sport or game benefited the public. His reasoning was motivated by a reluctance to ‘open a very wide door’ through which courts would classify gifts for promoting other sports and games as charitable on the ground that they ‘promote the health and bodily well-being of the community’.
Lopes LJ
[1895] 2 Ch 649, [1895] UKLawRpCh 118
Commonlii
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Hunt and Another v McLaren and others ChD 4-Oct-2006
Land had been given to a football club under a trust for its exclusive use as such. That land was sold and a new ground acquired and a stadium built, but the land was subject to restrictive covenenats limiting its use to sports, which considerably . .
Distinguished – Re Hadden ChD 1931
A trust of land for its use for the purposes of public recreation such as playing fields, parks, and gymnasiums, is charitable. Clauson J construed the late Mr Hadden’s will as establishing a trust for the supply of healthy recreation carried on . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Charity, Wills and Probate
Updated: 18 December 2021; Ref: scu.245264