Homelessness Through a Lens

Homeless Through a Lens

by Grant Zahorsky

Title of this Milestone

Your Project Page Picture Caption

Abstract

The paragraph should give a three to five sentence abstract about your entire London HUA experience including 1) a summary of the aims of your project, 2) your prior experience with humanities and arts courses and disciplines, and 3) your major takeaways from the experience. This can and should be very similar to the paragraph you use to summarize this milestone on your Profile Page. It should contain your main Objective, so be sure to clearly state a one-sentence statement that summarizes your main objective for this milestone such as "a comparison of the text of Medieval English choral music to that of the Baroque" or it may be a question such as "to what extent did religion influence Christopher Wren's sense of design?"

Introduction

According to the Charity Commission for England and Wales, since the year 2000, the number of charities in the United Kingdom has gone up by 7,264. In 2013 alone, more that 6,000 charities were registered. This means that more and more businesses and people have been taking action and taking the steps needed to do good for Britain and for the world. The Charity Commission answers directly to the UK Parliament rather than through Government ministers. Because of this, the Charity Commission is considered a non-minstrel department that regulates the registered charities in England and Wales while maintaining the Central Register of Charities which provides all of the information from each and every charity that exists in the UK.

Section 1: Background

Step 1: Finding Trustees

Finding excellent trustees is one of the most important parts of creating a charity because they are the people who will run and manage the charity. Trustees serve as the governing body and can create a balanced and effective charity. For these reasons, the selection, recruitment, and induction of trustees can make or break a charity, but they are not the only processes that need to be made when creating such an organization. Before the search for trustees begins, a governing document must be created that outlines the rules and obligations of the trustees. These include how many trustees can be on the board, how they can be appointed, and how long they can stay in office. The other contents of such a document will be defined later in this article. After the document is created, the search for skilled and committed trustees can begin. The board of trustees should be diverse, as they play a pivotal role in the management and creation of a charity. A diverse board allows for a wide range of skills that will culminate in smarter decisions, knowledge, and experience. According to section 3.3 of the CC30 (the Charity Commission’s process of finding trustees for a charity) their goal is to reach “parts of the community which have traditionally not played a large part in charities, such as young people, people from minority and ethnic communities and people with disabilities.” In addition to the rules and regulations of the governing document, a charity must comply with the legislation laid out by the British Government. For example, the Equality Act of 2010 states that discrimination of any kind must be eliminated. This allows for an equal opportunity for anyone that wishes to become appointed as a trustee of any charity and provides a fair, yet diverse, board of trustees.

Step 2: Charitable Purposes

To create a charity, one must first decide what the purpose will be and if it is truly beneficial to society. Once the purpose is defined, the charity must legally be managed in a way that is consistent with the purpose. This purpose, or goal the charity sets out to achieve, must be philanthropic, but the charity can have multiple purposes. The commission uses the charity’s purposes to decide if it can be considered and registered as a charity. They also help Revenue and Customs decide if the charity is qualified for tax relief. When outlining the purposes for the governing document, the organization must state what the outcomes are, where the outcomes will take place, how it will achieve its goals, and who will benefit from the outcomes. These outcomes help trustees, those running the charity, those supporting the charity, and those benefiting from the charity understand who and what is benefiting the society.

Step 3: Choosing a Structure

Once the goals and missions of the charity are determined, an organizational structure must then be selected and followed. There are four different types of charitable structures: charitable company limited by guarantee, charitable incorporated organization (CIO), charitable trust, unincorporated charitable association. A charitable company is perhaps the most known structure. Trustees in a charitable company have little to no liability to the charity for its debts or liabilities. This allows the board of trustees to run the charity more easily and at less risk. It is also required to register with the Companies House as a charitable company. A CIO is designed for charities and is created by registering with the Charity Commission. Similarly to a charitable company, trustees of a CIO have little to no liability to the CIO’s debts or liabilities. Contrastingly, they are not required to register with the Companies House because it is not technically a “company”. Trustees are able to manage different assets like money, investments, and buildings through a charitable trust. An unincorporated charitable association cannot employ staff or own buildings and are run by volunteers.

Step 4: Name and Branding

The name is one of the most important parts of a charity. Not only does it represent the charity, but it represents the brand and creates an image for the charity. It is what people will remember when donating or looking to volunteer. When choosing a name, it is vital that it is not similar in any way to another charity. As of December 31, 2016, there were 167,109 charities registered in the Charity Commission’s register so finding a unique name is no easy task, yet it is one of the most important in creating a charity. Trustees are the ones responsible for choosing the best name possible for a charity and if the name is misleading, the commission will order the trustees to change it.

Step 5: Governing Document

This document will act as the rulebook and proposal for the newly created charity. It will define the charity’s purpose (objects), who runs it and how it’s managed (powers), how trustees are appointed, rules about trustees’ expenses, rules about payments to trustees, whether trustees can change the document and purposes (amendment provisions), and how the charity will be dissolved if needed (dissolution provisions). Each trustee is required to own a copy of the governing document so that he or she can review it at any time. When writing the document, it is important to not that the document may vary depending on which structure is chosen. Because the structures are handed different legally, different documentation must be done to accommodate. For example, when creating a document for a CIO, there are two different constitution types: foundation and association. If only members of the CIO can be trustees, a foundation constitution must be written. If the CIO has a wider membership, an association constitution is written. Smaller charities require less documentation as they are not necessarily required to register with the Companies House or Charity Commission and maybe be run by volunteers. An example of a governing document for a smaller charity can be viewed as part of the deliverable for this project.

Step 6: Registration

If the charity’s income is less than £5,000 per year or it is considered a CIO, it must be registered to the Charity Commission. It also must be registered if it is located in England or Wales as the rules are different for Northern Ireland and Scotland. Although the creation and registration processes are similar in Northern Ireland and Scotland as they are in England and Wales, they are not the same and require different documentation and different criteria. When registering as a charity, information on trustees, such as birth dates, names, and contact details, are required. The charity’s name, bank or building society’s details, most recent accounts, contact details, and a copy of the governing document are also required.

Section 2: Deliverable

Additional Image

In this section, provide your contribution, creative element, assessment, or observation with regard to your background research. This could be a new derivative work based on previous research, or some parallel to other events. In this section, describe the relationship between your background review and your deliverable; make the connection between the two clear.

Subsection 1

...use as many subsections or main sections as you need to support the claims for why what you did related to your Background section...

Governing Document

File:Milestone 3 Deliverable.pdf

Conclusion

In this section, provide a summary or recap of your work, as well as potential areas of further inquiry (for yourself, future students, or other researchers).