Final public benefit assessments completed

28 February 2011

The Charity Commission, the independent regulator for charities in England and Wales, is today opening a public consultation on the advancement of amateur sport as a charitable aim.

Sport has often been used to advance charitable aims but, following a change in the law introduced by the Charities Act 2006, it is now charitable to advance amateur sports or games, which promote health by involving physical or mental skill or exertion, as an aim in itself. The Commission's consultation focuses on when it is appropriate for organisations to adopt the advancement of amateur sports or games as a charitable aim and what can be done by charities to advance that aim for the public benefit. Following the consultation, which closes on 31 May, the Commission will prepare guidance on advancing amateur sports or games, taking into account the responses and submissions received. A summary of the responses will be published with the new guidance later this year.

One of the key questions asked in the consultation is what may be needed to show that regularly playing games of mental skill or exertion promotes health. This was part of the Commission's consideration in registering Hitchin Bridge Club, the first club or organisation registered with the aim of advancing amateur sport by promoting a game of mental skill or exertion. Other games mentioned as examples in the consultation include chess and cribbage.

Rosie Chapman, Executive Director Policy and Effectiveness at the Charity Commission, said:

"For years, sporting activities have been used to further a wide variety of charitable aims, for example to advance the physical education of young people or to relieve disability or the effects of old age. Now that advancing amateur sports or games is in itself a charitable aim we want, with the help of the sector, to explore what that means. We are particularly interested in hearing views on what types of sport or game which involve mental, as opposed to physical, exertion might be capable of being charitable.

 

"We are also publishing reports on our final public benefit assessments, which looked at sport and recreation charities. We know that trustees and their advisors have found our previously published assessment reports helpful when planning how to demonstrate their charity's public benefit. We hope that today's reports will be equally useful to charities working in the sport and recreation sector."

The reports published today cover the assessments of the following four charities:

• Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust (registered charity no.1105278)
• Tintagel Memorial Playing Fields Association (registered charity no.1088744)
• Birmingham City FC Football in the Community (registered charity no.1086631)
• The Radlett Lawn Tennis and Squash Club (registered charity no.1117605)

Of these, the Commission found that all but one are being administered for the public benefit. Although the Radlett Lawn Tennis and Squash Club is a charity, it is not currently being administered for the public benefit because it does not provide sufficient opportunity to benefit for those who cannot afford the charity's annual membership fees. The trustees now have three months in which to confirm that they have considered their assessment report and will put a plan in place to ensure the charity will be administered for the public benefit, and then a further nine months to submit a suitable plan to the Commission.

End.

PR 10/11

You can view the consultation document, Hitchin Bridge Club decision and assessment reports on the Charity Commission website.

For further information on this story, please contact the press office

Notes to Editors

1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. See www.charitycommission.gov.uk for further information or call our contact centre on 0845 300 0218.
2. The Commission will shortly be publishing an Analysis of the law underpinning the advancement of amateur sport that explains the legal framework and relevant case law.
3. The consultation opens on 28 February 2011 and will close on 31 May 2011. Instructions for submitting responses can be found in the consultation document.
4. Prior to the Charities Act 2006, charities established to advance education or religion or to relieve poverty were presumed to have aims which are for the public benefit, and they were not required to demonstrate this further, unless there was evidence to the contrary. The Charities Act 2006 removed this presumption and all charities now have to demonstrate that their aims are for the public benefit.
5. The Charity Commission published its general guidance on public benefit for charities in January 2008, followed by four sets of supplementary guidance in December 2008. The Commission has also published a selection of fictitious example trustee reports, which aim to demonstrate how charities can effectively report on their public benefit. All guidance and examples are on the Charity Commission website .
6. The Charity Commission has carried out public benefit assessments of a range of charities operating in the religious, arts, independent school and care home sectors. Reports on these can be found on the Commission's website. These are accompanied by the report, Emerging findings for charity trustees from the Commission's public benefit assessment work: 2008-09.