Cam Care UK – Finding the right structure

Cam Care UK runs events and activities to improve understanding of different cultural traditions and bring people together to have fun and learn.

It works in Cambourne, a multicultural village in South Cambridgeshire.

In order to achieve their aim they use events such as dance festivals and the promotion of culture through food, regularly supported by the entire local community.

Cam Care UK also seeks to break down social isolation by running cookery activities which includes the Cambourne Experimental cookery club and the international cookery workshops. The charity also has plans to help older people learn digital skills so they are able to engage with online opportunities more readily.

Cambourne has a high proportion of young families, and Cam Care UK promotes extra-curricular educational activities for young people including a science festival and an electronics club.

Cambourne is a new town where nearly 30% of the population originate from outside the UK and 33% are aged under 17. As a new town there is a lack of services to support social integration across different ethnic groups, and thus address the sense social isolation people report. There is also limited provision of extracurricular science and arts activities for young people.

Cam Care UK founder, Shrobana Battacharyra met with Support Cambridgeshire partner Cambridge CVS to discuss her group’s ideas for pulling together their activities and registering as a charity. Cambridge CVS were able to outline the different types of charitable organisation they could consider, and Shrobana and her fellow trustees decided on a CIO Foundation model (Charitable Incorporated Organisation).

This model enabled the group to limit their trustees’ liability, keep the governance of the Charity manageable by limiting voting to the trustees, and enabled the organisation to qualify for grant funds to extend their work. Cambridge CVS supported the trustees to write their constitution, and then to complete the application to the Charity Commission for registration.

Cam Care UK is now a registered Charity with all the benefits and opportunities this gives. With Cambridge CVS help and the Support Cambridgeshire training programme they were able to make an informed decision about the best model of registration, and they were fully supported throughout the process. Cambridge CVS worked flexibly with the trustees to provide support as necessary to help them achieve registration, and to move forward as rapidly as possible.

Cambridge CVS has continued to work with Cam Care UK to advise on policies and guidance to support their work in promoting racial and social integration and the advancement of education particularly in science for young people in Cambourne.

Testimony:

Shrobana says:

It was only possible to achieve registration as a Foundation CIO because of the guidance Cambridge CVS provided throughout the process. They helped us develop our constitution and our policies and  have been instrumental in helping support our work promoting racial and social integration and the advancement of education particularly in science for young people in Cambourne.”