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Community Centres – possibilities for earnings etc

Part of the local Community Centres’ funding (the Church Community Centres’ may have different arrangements) arrives via a third party ‘lead organisation’ such as Groundwork from the Local City or County Council, in the form of a Grant (some Community Centres’ are their own ‘lead’ organisation) and there is the opportunity for a portion of the funds to help people back into employment, improve health and help young and old people. This grant help has to be accounted for and statistics are sent back to the lead organisation and/or the Council.

Most Community Centres’ have a Charity registered to run the Centres’, some have Limited Companies. The Charity Organisation/Associations are set up with Charity objectives and have a Constitution with their activities detailed. Charities are not able to make a profit.

The Charities are to promote community activities and their constitution often includes helping people in difficult circumstances but are not particularly designed to help people into employment – so there can be two criteria for centres’ to follow one for the Council and one for the Charity Constitution.

In case you hope to be able to run a business from a community centre there are a few considerations that have to be thought about – mostly to have a private business working from a community centre the community centre organisation/management needs to have limited company status or some such organisation, e.g. there is a new type of charity called an incorporated charity that might be able to allow a business to run with a profit from a community building. Mostly the charity based management systems can’t have anyone using their rooms to run a business and there is no way around their status.

PLEASE NOTE THAT BEING SELF EMPLOYMENT MEANS COMPLICATED BENEFIT RULES AND THEY MAY NOT BE PAID IF SELF EMPLOYMENT ENDS unless you have other income and that may deducted pound for pound – and this may have some conditions on you have PAYE and full National Insurance Contributions made perhaps from being an employee. – there are some very difficult rules. – There are documents available our MP Lillian Greenwood (obviously a different party MP would reply if they were elected) has sent some out but they are not able to be used for legal purposes so presumably the Councillor and/or MP Surgeries or Citizens Advice would be the place to find out specifics. This is a particularly difficult area if you take early retirement to go self employed.

More Community considerations

Having some kind of hope of employment using community resources is dependent essentially on whether the community centre can make profit or not and charities usually aren’t allowed to make a profit no matter how small.

Alternatively people who attend activities in a community centre may be able to pay for some services or run an activity that attracts a fee or a membership subscription and if these people are already in other employment (or have independent means) and it’s a hobby or evening activity – that makes things much simpler.

The Charities that are behind the running of local Community Centres do receive funding for things like improving health, helping people back into employment and activities for older people.

Sadly this does not necessarily mean they can promote or support self-employed activities in those areas because being a Charity means not promoting the acquisition of profit.

It’s up to each Community Centre Management Committee to manage how their organisation is run and how to link that with the Council grants in connection with their ‘Lead Organisation’

Most people who are out of work and need contributions towards a State Pension need to find PAYE (National Insurance and Tax – Pay as You Earn with individual and employer contributions – important if you ever need to claim benefits).