Forming a Friends Group

All over the UK, volunteers are now very much part of the services delivered in hospitals, GP surgeries, prison, courts, nursing homes and community centres. If you know a group of people, however small or large, who can give their time and energies to help others, forming a Friends voluntary charity
can be a very rewarding way to enhance the health or social care provision for your community.

Starting a new voluntary group can seem a daunting process. This factsheet gives a brief outline of the essential steps and further help is available from Attend. We have over 50 years experience in working with voluntary groups, giving advice and assistance to charities large and small.

For members, insurance cover is automatically taken care of, with significant savings on equivalent deals available to indi- vidual organisations. We also offer information, publications and one-to-one advice about running your charity, grants to help you develop projects and a high rate deposit scheme for your reserves. Call 0845 4500 285 for further information.

1. Define your mission
The first step is to define what it is your group is going to do, and formalise this in a mission-statement. If your group is go- ing to work to support an existing service, ie. a hospital, prison or community centre, you will need to liaise with representa- tives from your partner organisation. Once you have formed a committee (see section 2) you can encourage a good working
relationship by inviting representatives from your partner organisation/s to be on your committee (no particular interest group should be over
represented). As soon as you have de- fined your mission, you can begin to attract supporters. It is very important that you do not begin raising significant sums of money until your group is properly “constituted” ie: has a
governing document.

Whatever you set out to achieve, the rules by which your group will run its affairs must be described in a governing document, often referred to as a constitution/deed of trust. This document holds crucial information including your legal structure (see section 4&5), the aims and objectives of the group, how the committee/officers are elected, how it is run and what activities can be performed. Attend can help you to develop your constitution (see section 3). As a ‘live’ public document a constitution is important and must be updated to reflect any changes to the way the group carries out its work.

In 2006, Parliament passed new legislation for charities which, amongst other provisions, highlighted the requirement for all charities’ aims to be, demonstrably, for the public benefit. There are two key principles both of which must be met in or der to show that an organisation’s aims are for the public ben- efit. These are Principle 1: There must be an identifiable benefit or benefits and Principle 2: Benefit must be to the public, or a section of the public

2. Attracting supporters and volunteers
You can begin by organising an open meeting to discuss your aims and attract supporters, outlining what you will do. En- sure you plan your meeting well and record decisions and feedback. As always, word of mouth is one of the most effective ways to find support when starting out but don’t just rely on that.

Raise public awareness using posters, leaflets, local press/radio coverage, at the job centre/volunteer bureau. Re- member, if you are taking names and addresses for your records, make sure you are complying with current Data Protection regulations. You will need to explain how you will use personal data as you collect it and give the opportunity for people to opt-out if their details are being recorded (manually or on computer). List the types of roles your group needs to fulfil, and advertise these to your audience/supporters. Your charity will usually need a Secretary, Chairperson and Treasurer to act as the key people on the committee running your charity. Whatever the roles your group needs to fill, selecting the right people for each role is
important, making the correct checks for criminal records/health and
checking references as needed. For example, committee members (as the Trustees of your charities - see section 3) must not be legally disqualified from taking on this role. For guidance on volunteer recruitment and employment issues please consult the recommended references listed at the back of this leaflet.

3. Becoming a charity
No matter what kind of legal structure is adopted (see sections 4&5), a group can only have charitable status if all (not just some) of its purposes are deemed charitable, as defined by the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Registration is compulsory if the charity has over a certain amount of income, has use of or owns land, or has a permanent endowment. To register as a charity you will need to have a constitution which meets the requirements of the Charity Commission. Attend can supply a specimen constitution, designed to meet the needs of charities. Changes can be made to this constitution, but only according to the Charity Commission’s rules and as approved by them. In the case of Scotland and Northern Ireland, it is recommended that you use the specimen constitution, and then apply to the
Inland Revenue who register all charities in these countries.

Registering as a charity will bring a number of financial advantages, as well as the ability to apply for grants from trusts and private sources. All charities are run ‘in trust’ for their beneficiaries by Trustees. All committee members and appointed officers of charities are normally treated as the Trustees, unless it is clearly stated otherwise in the governing document. The Charity Commission sets out rules governing the conduct of
charities/trusts and keeps a register of their Trustees as well as copies of the
charity’s annual reports. Trustees are expected to put the interests of their charity before their own, and not derive any benefit from working for the charity. Therefore, Trustees should not be paid, except for expenses and payments allowed by their governing document. Although still volunteers,
Trustees are fully responsible for the affairs of their charity and must observe their ‘legal duties’ to their employees, beneficiaries and donors etc. or they can be liable for breach of trust/duty of care (see section 5).

Although it is not expected that Trustees become experts in all aspects of managing a charity, they must have enough knowledge to be satisfied
that they understand how the charity is being run and whether current legislative requirements are being met. The Charity Commission can provide information on the responsibilities of Trustees (see the front of this leaflet for details) and information to help Trustees fulfil their role.

4. What type of organisation?
Apart from charitable status, one of the fundamental issues for any group is deciding what legal structure to adopt. UNINCORPORATED ASSOCIATIONS is the most common organisational structure, being formed when any group of people come together to act for a specific but non-profit making purpose. The vast majority of our members are registered charities which operate as unincorporated associations. How- ever, there are other structures for
voluntary groups to use if appropriate to them. These are CHARITABLE TRUST, COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE and INDUSTRIAL & PROVIDENT
SOCIETY (IPS). A Charitable Trust is an option if you don’t plan to have a membership. Both COMPANIES and IPS organisations are incorporated, which means that the organisation formed has a legal identity separate to that of its members (more about this below).

5. Protection for charities & trustees
The majority of voluntary groups and charities are Unincorporated Associations. This has many advantages in that the group is able to be flexible, drawing up and changing a simple governing document (where they are a charity this needs to be approved by the Charity Commission) without legal involvement and winding up operations quickly if necessary.

The main disadvantage of the Unincorporated model is that the organisation carries no legally recognised identity of its own. It is in law, a collection of individuals (or Trustees in the case of a charity) and these individuals will collectively carry the responsibility for meeting any liabilities arising from their actions. If the breach was the result of an honest but reasonable mistake then the Charity Commission allows liabilities to be met from the funds of the charity, or via insurance cover. In order to protect a charity’s funds, Trustees and supporters, it is vital that there is adequate insurance in place, though you need to ensure your constitution includes a clause allowing insurance to be paid for from the charity’s funds. Groups often
find it difficult to find appropriate insurance to cover all liabilities, so the

National Association of Hospital & Community Friends offers a comprehensive insurance package as part of membership, giving full protection against public, products, employee as well as Trustee liabilities and personal accident cover for volunteers. Optional cover for Commercial liabilities is also available - for example to cover theft, loss of income,
equipment or money.

If your organisation owns buildings or run a substantial trading operation where liabilities arise from contracts, then you should consider converting to/setting up an incorporated organisation ie. a COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE or INDUSTRIAL & PROVIDENT SOCIETY. Each model brings its own restrictions and benefits.

Although incorporation limits the liabilities of individuals who run the organisation (in most circumstances), it also makes administration more complex, especially when running a charity and a separate ‘trading’ company. Because of these complexities, incorporation should only be entered into after taking independent professional advice. At the present time the Government is considering proposals for a new form of Charitable Company, simplifying incorporation for charities.

The Charities Act 2006 introduced a new legal form of incorporation which is designed specifically for charities, the Charitable Incorporated
Organisation (CIO). The CIO will combine the advantages of a corporate structure such as reduced risk of personal liability without the burden of dual regulation. The CIO provisions are aimed to be implemented in late spring 2010.

6. Further information
We strongly recommend that you invest in good quality reference publications and take appropriate legal advice as necessary.

The Directory of Social Change
Publishes a wide range of high quality books including ‘The Voluntary Sector Legal Handbook’ and ‘Essential Volunteer Management’. To order or to find out more about their publications contact: 020 7209 5151 or look online at
www.dsc.org.uk.

Charity Commission leaflets
Titles include: Responsibilities of Charity Trustees; Charities and Fundraising; Starting and Registering a Charity; Charities and Insurance; Political Activities and Campaigning by Charities. A full list is available by calling the enquiry line 0870 333 0123. leaflets can also be printed from their website:
www.charitycommission.gov.uk. You can also contact the Charity Commission for general enquiries and assistance on any issues relating to charities.

Attend • 11-13 Cavendish Square, London, W1G 0AN • Tel: 0207 307 2570 • Email: info@attend.org.uk • Web: www.attend.org.uk