Tolkien Gateway:Meetings/31 July 2011/England and Wales proposal
From Tolkien Gateway
What you need to know[edit source]
Eligibility[edit source]
- As an education charity we are eligible;
- With an income of less than £5,000 per year, we are eligible to become a "small charity", which comes with all the same legal benefits but few of the legal requirements. We would not have to register with the Charity Commission and would not be scrutinised by them.
Location[edit source]
- Having the server located in the US is not an issue so long as its base in England and Wales is outlined in the Constitution and there is clear administrative direction from England and Wales with trustees from here.
Trustees[edit source]
- The Charity Commission recommends a minimum of three trustees (we do this already);
- Trustees are the decision-making body (we do this already);
- Trustees ensure that the charity remains solvent and complies with the law;
- They submit accounts and reports to the AGM;
- Trustees must be at least 18-years old; the method of appointment can be outlined in the Constitution;
- Can have trustees with a specific roles as "officers", e.g. "Treasurer" (currently Hyarion), "Secretary" (currently KingAragorn, in my opinion) and "Chairman" - we can have additional ones tailored for our needs such as "Webmaster" and "Societies Liaison" e.g.
Accounts[edit source]
- All charities have to produce financial reports - and present them to the AGM - in order to show that all monies have been properly accounted for;
- As a charity based in England and Wales, we can apply to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs for tax-exempt status.
Meetings[edit source]
- The Charity Commission recommends that small charities hold a minimum of two "Trustees' Meetings" a year (we do this already);
- AGM once a year for all members at which trustees' reports are presented;
- Meetings are defined as everyone seeing each other face-to-face - this would mean at least two meetings per year were held as video-conferences (e.g. using Skype);
- Minutes have to be taken (we sort of do this already);
- This can all be laid out in the Constitution.
Mith's View[edit source]
I would say that becoming a small charity under English and Welsh law is impressively straightforward. The server location in the US is not an issue so long as there's a clear administrative direction from the UK (as outlined in the Constitution). I also do not think that having two face-to-face meetings per year is an issue as we can hold a couple of meetings under Skype conditions, or else manoeuvre physical meetings to coincide with events such as Oxonmoot.
Indeed, the biggest problem would be creating accounts, but with such small income and expenditure I can't imagine it would be a laborious task. Copyrights could be a problem.
