Introduction
The AWGB is a Registered Charity in England Wales (No 1150255) and a Company Limited by Guarantee (No 8135399). This is referred to below as âthe Charityâ.
The Charity is governed by its âArticles of Associationâ which can be downloaded from www.awgb.co.uk/files/AWGBMemorandumandArticlesofAssociation.pdf
Basically, the Charity is managed by 15 Trustees which include 9 General Trustees, 5 Regional Representatives and an Executive President. The Trustees collectively are known as the Executive. All are elected by the membership on rotation as per the articles apart from the President who is elected by the Executive every three years. The President is not normally involved in the day to day running of the Charity although he/she has the right (as specified in the articles) to take part in the running of the Charity with the other Trustees.
All the Trustees are Directors of the Charity Company.
The Trustees elect the officers of the Charity which are the Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer.
The Executive meets at least twice a year (usually February and October), plus attendance at the AGM (usually held in Late March/early April).
In addition to the Trustees the AWGB has several volunteers responsible for aspects of the Charityâs work such as the Health and Safety Officer, Training Officer, Youth Training Officer and Regional Reps Assistants. Volunteers may attend Executive meetings on an âas requiredâ basis. Volunteers only act within the authority delegated to them by the Executive.
Additionally, under HMRC rules we are obliged to have a trading company as more than 25% of our turnover come from non-charitable activities (which is the seminar, held every two years). This is a standard limited company called AWGB Trading Ltd (No 8425064). This is referred to below as âthe Trading Companyâ
The Trading Company is VAT registered (No 141567713).
The Trading Company has two Directors, which are currently the Chairman and the Treasurer of the Charity. The affairs of the Trading Company are discussed with the Trustees of the Charity.
Some of the Trustees are also Directors of other Companies related to their businesses, or other organisations for which they hold office.
Split of Activities âTrading Company/Charity
The Trading Company is used for all sales which covers:
- Any seminar related purchases and sales
- Purchase and sale of promotional goods such as lapel badges, ties, smock badges, car stickers
- Sales of gallery items
- Sales of courses such as the e-learning Instructor course
All these activities attract VAT which is charged at the prevailing rate on all services offered. VAT is charged on:
- All goods sold
- Shipping of gallery pieces sold (as this is a service although we donât pay VAT for postage)
- Commission on Gallery sales
- Seminar fees.
The Charity is used for all other activities which include:
- Membership (Individual, Family, Corporate, Affiliated Branches and Associated Clubs)
- Arranging and running Member Development Workshops
- Publication of Revolutions (quarterly)
- Sale of advertising space in Revolutions
Company Accounts
There are two sets of Accounts â one set covers the activities of the Trading Company and the other covers the consolidated figures for both the Charity and the Trading Company.
Any profits made in the Trading Company are Gift Aided to the Charity. This means that there is no Corporation Tax liability in the Trading Company.
Accounts for both companies are submitted to Companies House and the Consolidated Accounts are also submitted to the Charities Commission.
AWGB Members may request a PDF version of all Accounts from the Treasurer. Non members may obtain copies of the accounts from companies house.