Charity Commission - Whitby Historic Lifeboat Trust

Charities are part of British life ranging from small groups meeting local needs with few resources to the well known major charities with budgets of millions. Whatever their size or purpose, however an essential requirement of all charities is that they operate for the public benefit and independently of government or commercial interests. The Charity Commission registers and regulates charities in England and Wales. The commission is responsible for making sure all charities meet all their legal requirements and to work with charity trustees to put things right when they go wrong. The Charity Commission comprehensive website allows people to search for information held on any of the genuine / registered charities. The Whitby Historic Lifeboat Trust is obligated to comply with the criteria set down by the Charity Commission like all charities and has its own desginated number.

However, a recent search of the charity number returned "no results" for the number 1111707 that the charity had when I was a trustee, further investigations revealed that the charity is now shown as "Recently Registered" as a CIO-FOUNDATION despite it having been originally registered in 2005. Reading through the rules for becoming a Charitable Incorporated Organisation there are a greater number of latitudes avaialble to trustees, though I would not see that initial advantages of the charity in terms of being an unincorporated association that needs to be incorporated into a CIO? There are buildings/transfer of staff and pensions to have to consider, one can only imagine there being finaicial incentives to wipe out the past hsitory of the charity to become a CIO-FOUNDATION.

the It is presented on the Comission website as having been registered on the 14th December 2021 it now has a new designated number of 1197124? As a 'recently registered' charity it does not have to update the charity overview, but more importantly it is not obligated to provide any financial history until 10 months after its first financial period, thus its past finaicial hisrtory seems to be obscure in view of this recently registered charity?.

When submitting the information for the charity there appears to be a degree of poetic licence for example:

What the charity does:	Education/training Amateur Sport The same peopel are usually the rowers with few exceptions and it would be hard to class it as amatuer sport.
Who the charity helps:	Children/young People Other Charities Or Voluntary Bodies The General Public/mankind None of the dozens photographs I have taken have any young persons on the boat, with few of the general public
How the charity helps:	Provides Buildings/facilities/open Space Provides Advocacy/advice/information The charity has never been in aposition to provide buildings, in fact it often struggled to find somewhere to store the boat. It would be hard to accomplish any form of Advocacy given its role.

Data for financial year ending 31 December 2021, were an income of just £500, a far cry from the £20,336 income in 2008 with the 2021 expenditure of £2,244

The William Riley trustees reveal that Mr Peter Thomson is no longer the chair though the boat does not move on the water without him at the helm, Mr David Charlton remains the only trustee in place from the very start of the resoration of the former lifeboat. although he is the primary contact for the the charity;

STANEGATE
NORTH ROAD
HALTWHISTLE
NE49 9ND
Phone: 01434320863
Email: dave.jch@btinternet.com

1) TO ADVANCE THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC THROUGH THE PRESERVATION, OPERATION AND EXHIBITION OF HISTORIC LIFEBOATS ASSOCIATED WITH THE TOWN OF WHITBY AND ITS ENVIRONS.

2) TO PRESERVE HISTORIC LIFEBOATS ASSOCIATED WITH THE TOWN OF WHITBY AND ITS ENVIRONS AND ENSURE THEY ARE OF EDUCATIONAL INTEREST, CONTRIBUTING TOWARDS YOUNG PEOPLE'S KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIFEBOAT SERVICES IN GENERAL.

3) TO PROMOTE ANY CHARITABLE PURPOSE OR PURPOSES WITHIN WHITBY AND THE SURROUNDING AREA AND WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE CHARITABLE WORK OF THE ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTE.

Financial Summary

Financial Year End (FYE)	Income	Spending	Accounts Received	Annual Return / Annual Update Received
31 Dec 2009	£5,577	£5,878	Not Required	01 Jan 2010
31 Dec 2008	£20,336	£20,668	19 Aug 2009	01 Jan 2010 62 days late)
31 Dec 2007	£1,729	£21,884	29 Sep 2008	22 Sep 2008
31 Dec 2007	£1,729	£21,884	29 Sep 2008	22 Sep 2008
31 Dec 2006			30 Apr 2007	Not Received 1223 days overdue)

As charities receive support from society in many ways the public have the right to expect charities to be open and accountable. You can find out how the commission regulate charities, sets out its approach as a proportionate risk based regulator, what its powers are and how and when they use them using the search facility located at the top of each page.