Dorset Community Action

Our consultants can help you with almost any aspect of managing or running a voluntary, charity or social enterprise organisation. We can steer you to the correct resources, point you to the appropriate training and give you tools & templates.

We can help you at almost every stage of setting up a CIO, including:

1) Deciding if this is the right legal format for you and, if so, what type of CIO you want to be.

2) Deciding on your charitable objects and a name. Supporting the preparation work, including finding potential trustees.

3) Drafting your new constitution. We have access to template documents, including the ACRE template for village halls.

4) Applying to the Charity Commission and fielding any questions that come back.

5) Preparing the transfer of assets to the new CIO. You will need a solicitor if you have property, endowments or substantial assets to transfer, but we can help up until that point to minimise costs.

6) (If applicable) Closing down the old charity, including applying to the Charity Commission for permission to do so if necessary.

This can be a long and challenging process and we are happy to help. 

The amount of help can be tailored to exactly what you need. Typically it would take around 10 hours. The cost for ten hours is £600 plus VAT. That is £540 plus VAT for DCA members.

Please contact Caro at [email protected] for a discussion about how we can help you.