The rules on charity's and who can call themselves a charity.

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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:

[1]https://www.oscr.org.uk/

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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decision unless you have exhausted our review procedure.  The ICO  can be
contacted at the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water
Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF (email: [email address]).

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