CIO Status for BHS Trust Fund
The BHS Trust Fund has just received approval from the Charities Commission to become a CIO, a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.
Whilst the Fund already has full charitable status, the CIO gives our Trust Fund a recognised legal structure approved by the Charities Act 2011.
What are the benefits of becoming a CIO?
The original Trust Fund Deeds were written more than 65 years ago! And given the huge amount of change since that time, in particular the sad news of the closure of BHS Stores last year, registering the Fund as a CIO gave the Trustees the opportunity to update the original Deeds, within a new Constitution. This included making sure that the Fund’s objectives reflect today’s needs and updating how we describe the Fund’s beneficiaries.
What stays the same?
We continue to be registered with the Charities Commission and our accounts are fully audited each year and sent to the Commission.
We can only use our assets to carry out the objectives of the Trust Fund and we must continue to operate in the best interests of the charity at all times.
Should you wish to view our Charity’s registered details they can be found from the GOV.UK website. You can find them yourself by searching to ‘find a charity’ or ‘search the charity register’. Then inputting our Charity name, BHS Trust Fund in the keywords box or using our charity number 1171705 to perfom a charity search.