Charitable status

[tomparryharry]

Hello Folks,

 

I'm doing a slight 'outside scope' project for my local railway group, to look at charitable status.

 

Do any of the clubs/groups/societies that post on here have charitable status? I know that the big kit people such as Bluebell, Mid Hants, etc, have charitable status for certain aspects of their operation(s), but I wondered if model railway groups could get the same sort of thing.

 

Any information you care to impart would be gratefully received.

 

Kind regards,

Ian.

[Mike Bellamy]

I too would be interested to learn more about this as I think their may be some advantages such as being recognised by the local authority for grant aid - that's when local councils have any money to spare that is

 

I know that it applies to Clay Cross Model Railway Society and is explained here http://www.cxmrs.org.uk/

 

In 2001 the members of the Society decided to re-incorporate themselves as an Educational Trust and a new Constitution was prepared. Members realised that they came to club meetings to meet people who share their interests, to develop their skills through mutual improvement and produce large historically accurate layouts to exhibit to the public. These became the aims and objectives and on that basis, Charitable Status was granted.

 

At this time members were invited to join a local initiative to set up a Heritage Trust to record the part played by the father of railways, George Stephenson, in the founding of the Clay Cross Company. The importance to Clay Cross of preserving interest in our railway heritage and our skills in railway modelling has been recognised, and we enjoy the full support of the Local Authority.

 

The Charity Commission list 7 with the phrase 'model railway' in the title

 

 

1087229 CLAY CROSS MODEL RAILWAY SOCIETY

1126173 FAMOUS TRAINS MODEL RAILWAY

273110 HISTORICAL MODEL RAILWAY SOCIETY

1065019 NORWICH RAILWAY HERITAGE AND MODEL SOCIETY

1002022 PENDLE FOREST MODEL RAILWAY SOCIETY

1042534 THE GAINSBOROUGH MODEL RAILWAY SOCIETY

1117232 THE LEAMINGTON & WARWICK MODEL RAILWAY SOCIETY

 

 

Hope that helps

 

Mike

[Wizard of the Moor]

One club that I'm loosely involved with investigated this and were told that they would have to have a full-time 'education officer' in order to show that they were truly involved in the giving side of charity instead of just the collecting.

[Geoff Endacott]

Bentley MRG is not a charity, but our landlords are. Their directors and trustees are all members of BMRG. The main benefit is a mandatory 80% reduction in business rates.

 

Geoff Endacott

[Fenman]

One club that I'm loosely involved with investigated this and were told that they would have to have a full-time 'education officer' in order to show that they were truly involved in the giving side of charity instead of just the collecting.

 

I don't know who told them this or in what circumstances, but it is not an essential prerequisite to employ any staff in order to be a charity (the vast majority of charities consist only of volunteers and have no staff).

 

I'm sure the original poster has already found the Charity Commission's own website at http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/. The section on setting up a charity is easy to follow, and makes it clear that the purpose of any charity is to provide public benefit. By definition, if a body is established as a private members club and they only undertake activities to benefit their own members, they are unlikely to qualify as a charity. If they provide some benefits to the public as a by-product of their work, they still won't qualify. The primary purpose of a charity has to be to provide public benefit, and everything else should be incidental. The "incidental" bit can be pretty big (Oxfam's chain of shops, for instance, which provide funding to enable the charity to undertake its primary purpose), but it must never end up being the tail that wags the dog.

 

Sometimes organisations split themselves in two: one part does educational work and can be a charity (with the benefits that go with that status), while the other part remains a society or limited company. In those circumstances, sometimes the charity owns the limited company (but a limited company can never (or almost never) "own" a charity).

 

Good luck!

 

Paul

[Pacific231G]

Hi Ian

 

I've been involved with several educational charities, two of them as trustee and chair, and the criterion for being a charity is public benefit. A charity can't exist mainly to provide a benefit for its members unless that is a public benefit as it might be for some community organisations. If members get satisfaction and pleasure from helping it to fulfil its charitable aims- for example by volunteering on a preserved railway- that's fine but there is a defined limit on how valuable a members' benefit (free rides on a preserved railway or entry to National Trust properties for example) can be compared with membership dues. The latest information I have is a Cabinet Office document outlining the Charities Act 2006 and that did simplify things for smaller charities (less than £10 000 gross income a year at that time) and very small charities with a gross income of less than £5000 a year aren't required to register. They are though subject to charity law.

 

I guess the relevant purposes for a Model Railway Club would probably be "The advancement of education" or "the advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science." but you'd probably need a clear view of what that purpose is and really that should be your main focus not just a by-product of your main activities.

 

The other thing to remember about a charity is that if it is wound up its assets can only be applied to charitable purposes either by passing them on to another charity with comparable aims or by reversion to the charity commission. The assets can't AFAIK be divided up between the members.

 

Apart from talking to the clubs that have gone down the road your first port of call should probably be the Charity Commission website www.charitycommission.gov.uk as it does have a lot of information and guidance.

 

David

[craigwelsh]

With preserved railways its normally the "friends" groups that are the charities with the railway itself being run as a ltd company. The friends group collects to benefit local history normally and provide money for some projects on the railways.

 

Most model clubs exist to allow the members the chance to build something as a group they couldn't or don't want to do alone. I suppose you can make most clubs sound like they are providing public benefit somehow but its a bit of a stretch for most. The HMRS makes complete sense though being an historical archive of data in its own right.

[PhilH]

Just for info, the Mid Hants Railway itself is not a charity, the Mid Hants Railway Preservation Society Limited is - they are two separate entities.

 

This is the blurb for the MHRPS:

'To preserve, operate and exhibit for the public benefit for educational and instructional purposes, and to stimulate and encourage interest in all kinds of railway transportation system, vehicles and equipment and to foster and support railway preservation'

 

edit - should have read Craig's post first, sorry!