Barthol Chapel Community Hub News November 2023

 

Charitable Status Granted

A few months ago, a working group, largely from the Barthol Chapel Community Association, submitted an application to OSCR (the Scottish Charity Regulator) to form a charity that would facilitate the development of a community hub in the Kirk.

On 9 November Charity OSCR approved the application and a Two Tier SCIO (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation) now exists to progress this ambition.

Having a charity in place means that funds can now be applied for to try to purchase the Church for the community. 

The main charitable aim of Barthol Chapel Community Hub is, “The provision recreational facilities and the organisation of recreational activities.” However, we see the benefits of the Hub as being potentially much wider.

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A Two Tier SCIO

This refers to the organisational model for which charitable status was applied. It means:

Tier 1 Membership - Membership costs nothing (other than a bit of time filing in a form). It is open to anyone who supports the purposes of the hub and entitles them to have a say (through general or special meetings) on how the hub is run. It also provides a database of people who can be kept informed of events and activities in hub.

Tier 2 Trustees – Drawn from the membership, is a group of Trustees who are responsible for the governance of the SCIO. At the moment four people have put themselves forward as the initial Trustees, but we hope more people will want to join the Board.

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Next Steps

The next step will be for the SCIO to raise funds and buy the church. The recent local survey gave a strong indication that there is interest in having a local resource for a wide range of social, leisure and wellbeing activities, ranging from badminton to yoga, community café to youth group. There are lots of possibilities.

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Get involved

Become a Member – This will really help us see who is interested in using the Hub, either by taking part in or running activities. All personal information will be held strictly in accordance with data protection regulations. It will be used only to make contact with you in relation to the community hub developments and not shared with any other parties.

Become a Trustee – If you want to give some time to support this initiative and have any skills or expertise in this area, then please nominate yourself either as an individual or on behalf of an organisation.

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Find out More

For more information, or to get a membership form email info@bartholchapel.com

 

Look out for the Barthol Chapel Community Hub Facebook page, which will be made publicly accessible in the next few days.

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Barthol Chapel Community Hub, Scottish Charity Register SC052937