High Salvington Mill Trust Limited
For the original charitable bodies, see High Salvington Mill Trust or Friends of High Salvington Mill.
High Salvington Mill Trust (HSMT) was originally established through the offices of councillors to acquire a lease to the mill and take legal responsibility for the preservation and presentation of High Salvington Windmill. At the same time, a group of residents, centred on High Salvington, established an enthusiastic group of volunteers, called Friends of High Salvington Mill.
The [[Friends of High Salvington Mill|Friends] and HSMT worked amicably together with the Friends taking on responsibility for maintenance. Faced with a rotting Crown Tree that threatened a collapse of the entire windmill, one of the first repair tasks undertaken was to replace it. This major timber supports the entire body, or Buck, of the mill and, via the Samson Head, rests on a Pintle at the top of the Post. The successful project to replace this major timber whetted the Friends appetites and they progressed from emergency repair and maintenance onto a full restoration of the windmill.
The relationship between Friends and HSMT evolved into the Friends acting as a sub-committee of the Trust with responsibility for restoration, maintenance and fund-raising through open days and events.
In 2001, with both organisations struggling to fill committee positions due to potential volunteers being put off by considerations of liability, and finding duplication between remaining committee members performing the same role for both organisations, the Trust and Friends were merged into a re-constituted High Salvington Mill Trust Limited. The new company was a Limited by Guarantee entity that divested Trustees of financial liability in case of insolvency or awards of damages against the Trust. Trustees of the new entity remain legally liable for exercising their duties according to both Company and Charity law and are obliged to ensure that the Trust follows all applicable laws, including the Health & Safety Acts of 1974 and 2015, and any future similar legislation. The objectives of the Friends and original HSMT were enshrined in the Articles and Memorandum of Association for the new limited company.
High Salvington Mill Trust Limited does not have any employees. There is a Board comprised of people who are both company directors and charity trustees. All servants of the Trust are volunteers. Under various laws, including Health and Safety Acts, the Trust is obliged to treat volunteers as they would employees.