Becoming a Charity
Friends of Broomfield Park is starting its journey to become a Charity. This page aims to give you the reasoning behind this change and some information about the process and the decisions we need to take.
Why become a charity?
Friends of Broomfield Park has grown over the years and is now a much larger operation with over 140 volunteers, a big membership and some 4,500 followers.
Our annual financial turnover has grown too, so we have to become a 'legal entity'. Becoming a charity will also help us to extend and increase our sources of income and increase our partnerships with corporate supporters on volunteering and fundraising projects.
How did we do it?
The process is defined by the Charities Commission and required us amongst other things to:
- decide our purposes (also known as 'objects' )
- decide on which type of charity to adopt
- identify trustees
- complete an application
What kind of charity are we?
Having made the decision to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) we needed to decide between two models:
- 'Foundation' or
- 'Association'
Our initial application was to use a Foundation model. Having had feedback from members FoBP committee has decided to explore the Association model, which most closely reflects the organisation we have had to date.
Our Charitable Purpose
To promote and encourage the conservation, preservation and improvement of Broomfield Park to ensure that the park remains and is enhanced as an area of natural beauty, a habitat for wildlife and an attractive man-made parkland;
Provide or assist in the provision of facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation or other leisure time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disability, financial hardship or social circumstances with the object of improving their conditions of life.
Where are we now?
We are still learning and there is much more to be done, but so far :
- We are registered as CIO charity
- We are now exploring the 'Association' constitution as an alternative governing document.
- We are committed to maintaining all of the good practice we have developed to date, whilst complying with our legal status as a charity.
and next we need to:
- Wind up FoBP existing structures and assets and transfer to the charity at an Extraordinary General meeting as defined in our ‘previous’ constitution.
- Define our development in terms of our charity objects
Develop a raft of policies and systems to develop in the coming year to comply with Charity Commission guidelines.
