Community Interest Company Training
Are you interested in starting your own local group or organisation?
What is a Community Interest Company (CIC)?
A CIC is a specific type of limited company that trades commercially as a social enterprise and has clear social objectives, whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners. By using business solutions to achieve public good, it is believed that CICs have a distinct and valuable role to play in helping create a strong, sustainable, and socially inclusive economy.
CICs have statutory clauses that cannot be removed.
An asset lock is a legal clause that prevents the assets of a company from being used for private gain rather than the stated purposes of the organisation. The asset lock clause ensures the assets are used for the benefit of the community and there are other clauses to ensure members retain control.
Other statutory clauses set it apart from other companies and prevent de-mutualisation and windfall profits from being paid to directors and members without the balances and checks of mutuality and charitable status.
Who are we?
Special Needs Community is a CIC started in 2017 by a group of parents and carers to serve all families in London with a child or young person with special educational needs and disability. We were the management team for our local parent carer forum for over 13 years. We believe the CIC model is the best of both worlds that offer parent and carers the benefits of a charity and business without the added headache of either. A CIC is unique in its structure and gives you and your group the freedom to do good for your community, get access to grant funding and pay you a wage. For us, it gives us the flexibility to continue our caring duties and earn a living while supporting other families. The cost-of-living crisis has affected our cohort of families the worst and we are on a mission to make a difference and help our families thrive and not just to survive.
If you need more information about what a CIC is and how starting one can help you fulfil your dreams of helping your community or if you want to know how your local group or parent carer forum can benefit from becoming a CIC then contact us for more information and a chat about how we did it.
KEXX LTD
To find out more about Kexx and Kelly Thorne, please visit https://www.kexx.co.uk/ and watch the countless useful videos on lots of topics relating to CICs on her YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@kexx_communityartist
