How Wetherby became a CIC (Community Interest Company
Earlier this year, one of our local firms of solicitors suggested that it would be a good idea for our Association to convert to one of the relatively new Community Interest Companies. Several local organisations in Wetherby have already become Companies limited by Guarantee – the same thing by another name.
The rationale behind it is to protect members from possible financial problems as a result of litigation and also to give the Association an official status which might make it easier to access external funding.
None of us were actually aware that in the event of the Association being sued by an individual as a result of, for example, an accident at one of our events, we would all be personally liable. We held an Extraordinary General Meeting in February and members voted unanimously for the change in status. The solicitors offered to carry out the work on a pro bono basis for which we were extremely grateful as it would cost £500-£600 in total.
At our AGM in March, we opted to have 4 Directors, the remaining 4 members of our Committee preferring not to have the additional responsibility. We filled in various forms justifying why we felt we should have CIC status and these were duly sent off to the Regulator. Within a comparatively short time, we received notification that our application had been approved and that we were now Wetherby Twinning Association CIC.
The whole process was amazingly hassle-free – most of it can be done on-line. The only real change to the way we do things is in the accounts – annual accounts must be officially audited and submitted to Companies House. Fortunately, a local accountant has agreed to do this on a pro bono basis as our accounts are pretty straightforward. We have also had to find a registered office – our Town Council agreed that we could use the Town Hall. Otherwise, as we already operate on a fairly formal basis with minuted meetings etc., nothing has changed.
If anyone would like any further information, do not hesitate to email me on this link
Copyright 2009 Cindy Bentley
To the best of our knowledge Wetherby Twinning Association is the first Twinning Group to take this route,, if any other group wishes to know more about it please contact Cindy using the email link above.