In January 2024, campaign group Gymnasts for Change established a new charity structure registered in England and Wales. (Gymnasts for Change International: 1206512). The purpose of the new charity is to build on the strong foundation of the campaign group’s original mission to end abusive coaching practices in gymnastics and create sweeping reform for better athlete welfare within the sport worldwide.
Gymnasts for Change International
What advantages does G4CI enjoy from charitable status?
Being a registered charity makes it easier for G4CI to attract funding to fulfil its goal of ending abuse in gymnastics. Many large funders will only fund registered charities because they feel comfortable with the transparency, oversight and focus on public benefit that being a charity involves.
Being a registered charity makes it easier for G4CI to attract non-financial support from other organisations and stakeholders who are aligned with its organisational objectives such as pro-bono legal advice.
Funding allows the organisation to recruit and contract specialists and specialist services with the skills needed to bring about change in the sport on behalf of the G4CI community.
What are the legal responsibilities of a charity?
While being a charity has clear advantages, charities are also restricted in some areas of operation and must also fulfil strict legal obligations. These requirements are designed to ensure charitable organisations are robust and fair in the way they run.
Charities can only carry out activities which benefit the greater public, not specific individuals. This is called the “public benefit” requirement. This means G4CI cannot fundraise for specific individuals.
Charities can only carry out activities which fit within their legally defined “objects”. G4CI’s objects can be found here.
Charities in receipt of funding have an obligation to fulfil their contractual promises to their funders or risk losing their funding.
Charities cannot engage in “political” activity – which can mean restrictions on campaigning for law change and interactions with politicians.
Charities must fulfil charity commission laws on good governance. Meeting Charity Commission standards increases organisational bureaucracy with regards to record keeping, financial reporting and GDPR, which while essential can take resources from core campaign work.
Charities tend to attract a high level of scrutiny and so it is critical to comply with the law in all activities and ensure anyone acting in G4CI’s name upholds the reputation of the charity and that of its stakeholders.
How is G4CI as a charity managed and governed?
The ultimate legal responsibility for G4CI and its name sits with the Board of Trustees. As the founding Board responsible for setting up the charity, the Board came together to provide expertise in charity governance, legal, compliance and risk, finance, and employment practices. As the role of the Board evolves post the charity set-up period, the Board plans to refresh itself to include more Trustees with expertise in sports and human rights. All Trustees are volunteers and cannot be paid for their work which is the reason the CEO is not a board member.
What is the Board responsible for?
The Board is responsible for selecting and managing the CEO. The charity’s day to day activities are carried out by the CEO and their team. The CEO reports to the Chair of the Board. The Board has formal processes to select the best CEO for the charity and ensure that remuneration packages provide value for money to the organisation.
The Board is responsible for ensuring that the charity spends its funds wisely and effectively in pursuit of its aim to end abuse in gymnastics.
The Board is responsible for ensuring the charity and anyone acting in its name complies with the law.
HOW DOES G4CI RECEIVE FUNDING?
In January 2024, with charity status in place, G4CI received two years funding from the Oak Foundation under their Prevent Child Sexual Abuse programme (https://oakfnd.org/). This programme contains several strands, with G4CI being part of their portfolio of organisations working to make sport safer. Oak’s goal in funding organisations like G4CI is to support charities run by survivor-advocates, who are working in sport to safeguard children from all forms of abuse. As an Oak funded organisation, the charity must now fulfil its contractual obligations to Oak, who has funded G4CI to bring about changes in the sport; for better athlete welfare within the sport worldwide. As a charity G4CI has been funded to carry out work in three key areas: Support, Advocacy and Strategic Litigation. You can find out more about our work in these areas of our website.