2014/2015 has been a momentous year for St. Clare’s Hospice.
Following a formal resolution passed by the members at the
charity’s Annual General Meeting in July 2014, St. Clare’s began
the process of preparing and submitting its application to
establish a new Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with
the UK governing body the Charity Commission.
Being a CIO has several benefits over the unincorporated
alternative, such as:
•
The Trustees are usually personally safeguarded from
the financial liabilities the charity incurs, which is not
normally the case for unincorporated charities.
•
The charity has a legal personality of its own, enabling
it to conduct business in its own name, rather than
the name of the trustees. Without this, Trustees could
potentially be personally liable if someone was to sue
the charity.
In December 2014, St. Clare’s Hospice received notification
from the Charity Commission that their application had been
successful and the new CIO had been established. Our official
name remains St. Clare’s Hospice but it has a new registered
charity number of 1159481.
At the first board of Trustees meeting of the new charity held
on 17th December 2014, the decision was taken to transfer the
assets, including staff, property, contracts and grants from the
original charity to the new one, as of the 1st April 2015. The
next stage of the process is that at an appropriate point in time,
the original charity (registered charity number: 515095) will be
wound up.
The new charity number will be the only external visible sign of
the change in legal status and the important thing to remember
is that for our supporters and staff ‘it’s business as usual’.
As a result of this change in legal status this, Annual Review will
be the last one for the charity 515095.
A word from our Chairman & Chief Executive
