I AM Official

Application

On Tuesday 21st January 2020 we submitted an application to the UK Charity Commission to become a registered charity. The application itself was no small undertaking, with (understandably) a lot of detailed information being required. Having helped previously with a couple of applications we were aware that it wasn’t uncommon for the commission to come back to you with requests for further details, information, and  clairification. So we made every effort to include as much detail as possible. The application rounded out at about the 3,000 word mark, just as well we can wax lyrical about our passion to help families out of desperate circumstances.

Disappointment

After all that effort and hitting the submit button, it was mildly disapointing to be presented with a message along the lines of ‘due to the high volume of applications at present we may take upto 80 working days to review your application‘. 80 days! All that effort and now upto a 4 month wait! What a let down. Fast forward 2 days and we received an email, which in itself was encouraging, even if it was only to request more information? Well, it wasn’t! Literally 2 days after submitting our application came confirmation from the Charity Commission that we were now an officially registered UK charity (number 1187525). This unexpectedly quick turn around suddenly gave us a lot more work to do!     

Success

With the quick success of our application came a new workload, that we had anticipated having some time to process. The first and biggest challenge would be opening a bank account. If the charity application was thorough (which it was) then the bank account application was another level of complexity. We appreciate that verifying your activities, especially when working overseas, is a long process but WOW was it long! We preservered and eventually opened an account in February 2020. Next was a long list of donation websites, fundraising portals and online resource providers to register with. It’s hard work finding the time to fit this around regular life and work, but we’re determined!