Registration as a CIO

[Roy Cadoux]

Has any shed successfully registered as a CIO using the short constitution on this site, or do we need to use the very long one based on the Charity Commission's model?

[SMS Network Coordinator]

Hi Roy,

The Short Constitution is a version used by Havant Men's Shed which is a CIO (I believe).
If you require further information I suggest you contact Steve Sadler (Chair at Havant Shed).

Email Steve Sadler at Havant

[SMS Network Coordinator]

For those who have become a CIO or are thinking of becoming a CIO
you may find the Charity Commission News Website Page a useful source of
information.


https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/charity-commission-news.

[Roy Cadoux]

Hayling Island Men's Shed has now successfully become a CIO, using the Charity Commission's CIO model constitution with minimal changes.

[Steve Badham]

We at the Colden Common Shed have recently been successful in registering as a CIO. We used the long 26 page version from Charity commission, with appropriate changes. I know it looks daunting, but if you put a couple of hours careful study into it, only a few bits need to be amended. The down side of it, of course, is that you then have to abide by it ongoing.

Best of luck

[Andrew Horne]

One practical point that I learned when I did it for The Silvers Workshop - you download the Model Constitution and it's a really long document that looks awful to type into - but you don't!  You just print it off and write on it by hand, then scan it in again and sent it off.

It looks like a massive talk, but read through it and you soon find that much of it does not apply to you, and you just cross it out.  It's not as difficult as it looks!

Andrew

[Mike Brading]

I suspect the Charities Commission wants organisations to apply to be CIOs using one of their two (long) model constitutions for two reasons:

1. If you submit their document, edited so that they can see clearly what you have changed, it is much quicker for them to decide whether they like what you've added or changed or not (they know they like what you haven't changed because they wrote it!). So, printing their document and making the changes additions using a pen, makes life easier for them.

2. There is a lot of detail in their documents and becoming a CIO is a serious, legal thing. So, having the initial trustees sign to say they agree to all 26 pages, is appropriate if you look at it from their point of view.

That said, I know a number of Sheds that have started from another Shed's successful CIO application and that seems to me to be the way to go - you still have to read and sign it, but there's less to re-invent (such as the objects, which have to meet certain criteria).

I can't speak for Havant but it seems to me that the simple, short constitution (which is really clear and simple) at: http://www.havantshed.org.uk/CONSTITUTION.pdf is not what was submitted to the charities commission; the submitted version is at http://www.havantshed.org.uk/CIOConstitution.pdf and looks like it is one of the CC's model constitutions duly completed and edited. It got them CIO status in Aug-2016.

The message seems simple: If you want CIO status, accept there's some work to do and use other Shed's successful applications as a model for yours. We're nearly there at Basingstoke having been guided by Reading's successful application. The only bits that got rejected by the Commission were the bits we changed!

[Alan Hawkins]

We have just registered and accepted within 7 days and could have been quicker if a couple of words were not lost on transcribing. We took advice from our Community Voluntary Service who also ran a short session on 'Being a Trustee'.  Preparing the constitution is not the only thing to get right, it is also ticking the appropriate boxes when applying 'on line'.
We also decided on a 'name change' so went down the EGM route, as advised by CVS.
The next task is sorting out the tax benefits we are able to claim. This looks like our Treasurer will need a new filing cabinet.
Poole Men's Shed  (formerly Men's Sheds Poole.)