Small charity/business advise needed

hobbesy_2

Hi, I've read through the relevant sticky threads and tried to look through the various sites but there is so much information out there, I'd really appreciate some pointers to narrow things down.

A group of London Firefighters wives have started a group call The Firefighter Family. Our long term goal is to have a charitable fund able to support other families within the brigade in times of need (there have been many instances of long-term sick children, injury, etc, etc) and in the short and long-term to bring back the sense of community within the brigade with family-friendly events and get togethers, etc.

For now, at least, we're only expecting to be dealing with under £5k which, as I understand, would mean we do not need to register as a charity? But, as people have approached us about donating from their own events, etc we're not sure if they will need a charity number for their own tax returns?

I have read that if you register with HMRC as a charity this is often enough, but are we a charity as we're only dealing with Fire Brigade families, or are we something else?

I don't expect anyone to do all the fact finding for me, just hoping someone can help me work my way through the maze a little

many thanks

Keri

hobbesy_2

I should add, we obviously expect to remain entirely non-profit .The first thing we're doing is the buying and selling of merchandise but wanted to make sure everything was legally correct before we started dealing with money at all

steve1980

Registering as a charity is a nightmare. Speak to the charities commission and they will guide you through what you need to do.

Savvy_Sue

steve1980 wrote: »

Registering as a charity is a nightmare. Speak to the charities commission and they will guide you through what you need to do.

Actually I am not sure they are giving much 'personal' guidance to new charities these days. "It's all on the website, work it out" is perhaps a more likely response.

Starting a charity sticky is worth a read, as is this one.

I am surprised there isn't already such a charity, but I couldn't find it if there is!

ju1i3_2

Agree with SavvySue, I doubt the charity commission would be much help. Info, FAQs, etc on the web site is what they expect you to use.

I don't imagine it's difficult to register as a charity. The questionable ones I've come across recently (not commenting on yrs at all!) I'm sure it wasn't difficult for these people to do it.

I've phoned the Charity Commission again today and they are completely useless