FLiSCA stands for Freshford and Limpley Stoke Community Association and is a charity established in 2009 (No. 1129476) at the same time as the Galleries shop was being planned. It’s purpose is to reinvest the profits from Galleries back into the community.

It delegates the running of the shop and cafe to the Galleries Management Board (GMG) and the managers, and it has other agreements with, for example, the adjacent Village Hall Committee to secure parking rights for customers.

It is a membership organisation, open to all residents of Freshford and Limpley Stoke, with a Board of Trustees who are re-elected annually at its AGM, at which point all residents of the two parishes are automatically members. The Board manage the affairs of the charity and assess all the grant applications that are received, and distributes the funds accordingly.

FLiSCA’s income is derived partly from rent it receives from Galleries and partly from any profit made by the business, and minus any funds that need to be retained for capital expenses like repairs and renovations or maintenance. The remaining profits are channelled towards charitable causes that benefit the communities of Freshford and Limpley Stoke.

Freshford Memorial Hall received £1000.00 in 2024 for re-decoration purposes.

St Peter’s Church received £500.00 for new flooring in 2024

Last year grants were awarded to some great local causes including helping to kit-out the local Cubs and Scouts, supporting educational trips for the local school children, helping fund Friends in Freshford projects and providing essential equipment to our local Community First Responder, Binny Lascelles.

FLiSCA continues to expand its environmental work called Summerground, which is our first community-owned nature reserve on Crowe Lane. The land is being actively managed to encourage local biodiversity and a series of educational talks and walks are planned for schoolchildren and local residents.

Last year we launched a Community Asset Fund to offer residents a tax efficient way of supporting our local community through donations and legacies. It’s already attracted a lot of interest and for more information please contact the Board. Leaflets are also available in the shop.

As a result of all the above initiatives, FLiSCA is in a much stronger financial position, and in 2025/26, up to £10,000 is available for making grants to the local community. It’s very easy to apply and the application form is on the Community Grant page of this site.

FLiSCA has its Articles of Association and the full document can be read here, but the summary of it’s charitable aims is below:

There are seven Board members and two Parish Council representatives, who are elected at the Annual General Meeting held in November each year. The Board as a whole meets four times each year. The current members of the Board for 2025 are:

All members of the Board are responsible for generally overseeing FLiSCA, interacting with other groups within the community, and overseeing the Grants process.

The Galleries Management Group (GMG) oversees the shop itself and works with the Shop Manager and a number of volunteers. Members of the FLiSCA Board fulfilling this role are Wags Firmin and Gavin Bate.

FLiSCA set up Galleries in 2009 with the help of generous donations from residents, including the land itself from Gitte and Stephen Dawson, fundraising events, and grants from a variety of organisations including the following founding funders: