Hi guys
As a Committee, we always, without exception act in the best interests of the Club and our members. To that end we must now take steps to protect the Club and those who run it by becoming a Registered Charity.
Due to our current financial position we could fall foul of both HMRC and The Charity Commission which could have detrimental consequences for the Committee and the Club.
Please read the details below for a complete breakdown of what we propose to do and why regarding the status of the BAFC.
If you have any questions or feedback please send them to me directly as a private message.
We will be asking members to vote on the proposed changes to the Club’s status at the AGM in Brecon on the 16th May 2026.
Many thanks
Nick Butler
Chairman BAFC
“Why We Must Now Become a Registered Charity.”
1. Introduction
This briefing explains why the British Airborne Forces Club (BAFC) must now take the step of becoming a formally registered charity, and why this is not a matter of preference, ideology, or committee ambition, but a legal and regulatory necessity.
This is about protecting the Club, protecting its members, and protecting those who serve it.
2. What the Club is already doing
In practice, the BAFC already operates like a charity.
We:
Support veterans and serving personnel
Preserve Airborne Forces heritage and esprit de corps
Provide welfare, community, remembrance, and support activities
Hold funds, collect subscriptions, and spend money for collective benefit
Act in the name of a defined community with a clear purpose
These are charitable activities in law, whether we label them as such or not.
The issue is simple:
we are doing charitable work without the legal structure that the law now requires.
3. The uncomfortable truth (put plainly)
At present, the BAFC is not legally incorporated and not registered with the Charity Commission or any other statutory body.
That means:
The Club has no separate legal personality
The Committee members are personally liable
Funds are being handled without statutory protection
We are outside modern charity and financial regulations
HMRC and regulators would view us as non-compliant
No one set out to create this situation. It is common in long-standing veterans’ organisations. But it cannot continue.
If we carry on as we are:
Individual committee members could be personally exposed to financial or legal claims
Banking arrangements could be frozen or withdrawn
Grant funding and support opportunities are closed to us
Regulators could intervene
The Club itself could be put at risk
Put bluntly:
doing nothing is the riskiest option available to us.
4. This is not a “committee power grab”
It is important to be absolutely clear:
This is not about control
This is not about changing the ethos of the Club
This is not about telling members what to think or do
This is not about outside interference
This step is being taken because the law has moved on, not because the committee has changed its mind about the Club’s identity.
In military terms:
the ground has shifted, and we must move or be exposed.
5. Why incorporation as a Charity CIO is the correct route
After advice, research, and comparison of structures, the Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) is the most appropriate form for the BAFC.
It provides:
Legal status in its own right (the Club becomes a legal person)
Protection for trustees and committee members
Clear governance, written down and transparent
Proper financial oversight
Eligibility for grants, funding, and formal partnerships
Credibility with banks, authorities, and other organisations
Long-term stability beyond any one group of individuals
Crucially:
A CIO is designed for organisations like ours
It is not a corporate structure
It does not change who we are
It simply makes us lawful, protected, and sustainable
6. What this means for members (and what it does not)
What stays the same
The Airborne ethos
The identity of the Club
The purpose of remembrance, support, and comradeship
The voice of the membership
The volunteer nature of service
What improves
Financial transparency and protection
Long-term security of the Club
Accountability (written, not personal)
Ability to plan properly for the future
Protection of the Club’s name and assets
Members are not being ordered to accept change for change’s sake.
They are being asked to support the only responsible course available.
7. Duty of care – to the Club and to those who serve it
Those who sit on the committee today are already carrying responsibility.
Without incorporation:
They carry personal risk
They act without statutory cover
They are exposed individually, not collectively
No responsible organisation asks volunteers to continue in that position once the risk is understood.
Moving to a CIO is an act of duty of care:
To current committee members
To future volunteers
To the membership as a whole
To the reputation of the Airborne community
8. The bottom line
This is not about wanting to change the Club.
It is about keeping the Club alive, lawful, and protected.
The choice before us is simple:
Act now, deliberately and together, or
Drift on, exposed to legal, financial, and reputational harm
The committee is not asking for blind obedience.
It is asking for understanding, support, and trust to do what is required — not what is comfortable.
9. Next steps
At the forthcoming AGM we will :
Explain the structure
Answer questions
Listen to concerns
Proceed transparently and properly, following a vote by members
Many thanks
Nick Butler
Chairman
