Charity registration and requirements

If your group has charitable aims and an income over £5000 per year, then the law says you are required to register with the Charity Commission. This section gives information on how to check whether your aims are charitable (this is defined in law), how to register as a charity, and what registered charities have to do.

Click the Links tab for details of other organisations and websites with useful information in this area.

The services listed below are not provided by the Resource Centre. These are websites and services we feel are particularly useful for small groups in Brighton & Hove, and which are not easy to find by searching the internet.

Most useful services for local groups

Notes:
Very comprehensive website with information how to set up a charity, legal guidance, and a database of all registered charities. Also has specialist guidance section specifically aimed at small groups wanting to become charities.
The Charity Commission is now part of the GOV.uk site, which can make it difficult to search for the information you need. They advise you to:

  • always include 'charity commission' in your search terms, eg 'report serious incident charity commission'

  • enter your search term, then select 'Charity Commission' from the drop down list of 'Organisations' on the search results page


Some specific guidance you may find useful:

Other services you might find useful