New Charity being formed

A question about : New Charity being formed

My wife, friend and I are setting up a new Charity to be able to fund a new Wheelchair Rugby team in Broadstone, Dorset.

We need to raise funds so that we can get 20 wheelchairs and all the equipment, plus we need to be able to afford the Leisure Centre.

The Charity will also be raising money for other new Disability Sports in the local Dorset area and we've got a few ideas up our sleeve to raise funds.

The question is what do we need to do to apply to become a Charity?

I've got a form that is the Small Charity Constitution form, suitable for charities with an annual income under Ј5,000 that don't own a building or employ people and do not intend to register with the Charity Commission

But we are looking at raising around Ј10,000 to get these chairs, BUT if we bought the chairs several at a time and did not have Ј5,000 worth of money in the account would we need to do anything else, or would that count as over the Ј5,000?

Also, if we cannot be a Small Charity, what is the next stage?

Sorry, to ask on here, but it seems that when you ask the Charity Commission, they can take up to 20 days to reply!!!

Many thanks

Nick

Best answers:

• I think it would be your income over the course of a year, so I'm not sure the small scheme would cover you.
  So you're looking at registering as a charity, OR finding a charity which would allow you to set up a local branch.
  There is, of course, GBWR, can they offer any support or advice?
• Indeed, the Ј5000 limit is your income over the year - how much you have in the bank at any moment is irrelevant. If you are likely to exceed this amount just once (i.e. in the first year) you might still qualify as a 'small charity' organisation because you will be under Ј5000 on an ongoing basis. (from the FAQs on the Charity Commission website)
  Have you considered trying for a grant from another organisation rather than raising the money directly yourselves?
• Can I just apologise about the delay in replying. My computer is knackered and I don't want to spend any money that I have raised on it, as that is not what the Charity is all about.
  I will answer these questions in a couple of days. Just trying to get back up and running again.
  Does anyone know of a place where a Charity can get a free computer that works?
• OK, back in the land of the living.
  I am going to go down the affiliated route. The next problem is that we have changed our club a bit, so that now we will be doing lots of different sports on a Monday morning. WC Rugby, WC Basketball, WC Handball and Wheelchair Slalom.
  Plus we are starting up a WC Rugby team.
  But if we wanted to affiliate ourselves to several sports, is that allowed?
• yes, it depends on your objectives.
  santander is currently doing a grantwhich would suit you.
  https://www.santanderfoundation.org.uk/
  The money from here will be available for wheelchairs:
  https://www.co-operative.coop/join-th...d-foundations/
  And a strange suggestion - get hold of your parish clerk and explain what you are doing and tell him or her what you are doing, and ask them about grant making bodies and money raising.
  If they are any good they will get information all the time about what money is available in your area - if you are in a recycling place, or landfill - if MARS are in your area etc etc. Here in Norfolk we have the Norfolk Community Foundation who run endless streams of funding.
• Find your local CVS by looking on https://data.navca.org.uk/members/directory - your CVS is there to support small local charities!
  As to computers
  - ask local businesses if they have a spare, or one they are throwing out.
  - contact computersforcharities.org
• Many thanks
• A lot has happened since I last came on here.
  We had our 1st taster session last Sunday and we have another one on Sunday October 12th and 26th and Sunday November 9th - All 1 till 3 and FREE to join in.
  You just need to have some sort of physical impairment to play.
• Well a lot has happened since March 2014. We are having our final Taster Session today, we are being presented with our new Wheelchair that was funded by the Steve Bernard Foundation, we've got an ex Team GB Captain coming down and we are being filmed by Bournemouth Uni Sports Dept.
  Busy, busy, busy