Advocacy with the Charity Commission

Guidance for NFASP members on the Charities Act 2006
Solicitor Nicholas Sharp has prepared a NFASP members-only guidance note for NFASP members. The note summarises the main changes brought about by the Charities Act in the area of ‘charitable purposes’ and ‘public benefit’ and the Charity Commission’s new Public Benefit Guidance. It considers how the new Guidance may impact on studio providers and if there is any action they need to take to retain, or gain charitable status. Last update of this guidance was: 2010. Go to Resources.
NFASP has also published a new case study - Becoming an Organisation with Charitable Status for Artists' Studio Providers. This latest NFASP case study is now available for members to download from Resources. It draws on NFASP members A Space's experiences in setting themselves up as a charity.
Artists as ‘key workers’
The NFASP aims to make a case for artists as ‘key workers’ whose presence in our towns and cities is threatened by rising land values and the difficulty of securing permanent, affordable space in which to work.
NFASP is working to secure recognition by the Charity Commission that studio groups and organisations which are primarily established to provide affordable workspace for artists deliver substantial public benefit through this alone, without the additional requirement to directly run public programmes of activity that charitable status frequently demands.
The purpose of this is to develop a model constitution or set of rules which will be acceptable to the Charity Commission. Once completed, this is a resource that will be available free to NFASP members.
Public benefit
In June 2007, the NFASP responded to the Charity Commission’s Draft Public Benefit Guidance. Charities will have to follow this Guidance in reporting annually on the public benefit their organisations provide. This is a particular requirement of the most recent Charities Act of November 2006.  The final Guidance was published in January 2008. Find out more at: www.charitycommission.gov.uk
In the first half on 2008 the Charity Commission also ran consultations on supplementary guidance: Public Benefit and the Prevention or Relief of Poverty
and Public Benefit and the Advancement of Education.
Public benefit toolkit
The NFASP Public Benefit Toolkit, enables studio groups and organisations to record and make visible the public benefit that they, and their member artists, deliver through the provision of affordable workspace for artists. Using the toolkit will help studio groups that are registered charities to report on their public benefit. It will also help others facing difficulties in negotiations for funding or property to demonstrate the public benefit they provide.
The Toolkit was launched at the NFASP on 30 November 2007.