The rules on charity's and who can call themselves a charity.
Dear Charity Commission for England and Wales,
As a registered charity which fully abides by the rules, I am concerned that various Organisations, can call themselves a charity when they are clearly not and we fear this impacts on public confidence in charity's generally and therefore ask for the following information,
Can you operate as a charity in the UK without being registered with the charity commission?
if yes then under what circumstances?
If No, are there any sanctions for misleading the public by impersonating a charity .
Yours faithfully,
Eileen Chubb
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Dear Ms Chubb
Thank you for your request for information which was received by the
Charity Commission on 1 July 2019. You asked:
“Can you operate as a charity in the UK without being registered with the
charity commission?
if yes then under what circumstances?
If No, are there any sanctions for misleading the public by impersonating
a charity .”
Your request has been processed under the provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
I confirm the Commission holds this information.
Your question asks about charities in the UK – please note that the
Charity Commission only operates in England and Wales.
For further information about charities registered in Scotland please see
the OSCR website:
For further information about charities register in Northern Ireland
please see the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland website:
[2]https://www.charitycommissionni.org.uk/
In England and Wales, a charity is an organisation that is:
· established for charitable purposes only, and
· subject to the High Court’s charity law jurisdiction
Usually, you must register with the Charity Commission if your charity
is based in England and Wales and has over £5,000 income per year. The
commission will take action to secure compliance if it identifies a
charity which isn’t registered but should be.
If a charity is a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) it must
register whatever its income.
Yes, it is possible for an Organisation to be a charity if it is
established for charitable purposes, is NOT a CIO and DOES NOT have an
income of over £5000 per year.
I am attaching links to three of the Commission’s publications – CC4 What
makes a charity, CC21a – How to set up a charity and CC21b – How to
register a charity for your further guidance.
[3]https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio...
[4]https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-set-u...
[5]https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-regis...
Yours sincerely
Mrs L Whitehurst
Records, Information, Governance and Assurance
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