I am also not a qualified lawyer but work a lot with them. From my perspective this is a group of people putting money into the hands of other people who they trust will spend it more or less wisely.
I think it would be much more complex if it were more formal, to obtain charitable status (which could be beneficial if the money got really large) would be a big step up.
Totally not required for this though.
I can see no legal issues for the people giving money to their contacts.
For the two people authorising the spend, I think your requirements as to the legality of the spend should be fine. I'm not good enough to say whether someone could complain against you if the money ended up being used for something illegal. I hope not but may be worth asking a professional.
Hopefully @Jints or @cabbles might take a look at this and express a view on any legal ramifications.
I know they both have or had a legal background.
EDIT: I have already donated, so have no concerns myself, and have given my views above but as the subject has been raised further input would be of interest if possible.
Hi Len, very kind of you to remember my education was in law. Unfortunately I never qualified as a solicitor. The one thing that does stick in memory was that everything around duty of care etc and if you're not qualified to give advice, then keep your trap shut and refer or recommend someone that can. I would imagine @Jints or @legaladdick would be a better shout.
I also think that if people like @bobmunro who has been so kind to pledge money for printing leaflets, then it should be okay. Just knowing him through LinkedIn and his current role, I don't think he would've done it if there were any ramifications to him or others. He's pretty experienced and clued up.
It's just good everyone is doing their bit. We've got some real momentum going and I've got massive respect for all everything is doing right now
The only legal issue I can see from my limited knowledge is if ANY unspent money was to be returned to the donors at the end of the day. The fund might then risk being in breach of the legislation the FCA oversees. (Yes, really but too complicated to explain here.) So handing over any unspent money to a good cause like the Upbeats would be prudent.
On another matter, how about tempting more donations by offering a free black & white scarf for donations over a certain amount?
The only legal issue I can see from my limited knowledge is if ANY unspent money was to be returned to the donors at the end of the day. The fund might then risk being in breach of the legislation the FCA oversees. (Yes, really but too complicated to explain here.) So handing over any unspent money to a good cause like the Upbeats would be prudent.
On another matter, how about tempting more donations by offering a free black & white scarf for donations over a certain amount?
Re the legal aspects, I had some very helpful advice yesterday and can confirm there is no risk at all to those donating, plus I know what steps we need to take to protect Curb_It and myself, which we will clarify when we start to invite applications for funding.
Even James Corden tweeted about the state of our club on the weekend! Sorry state of affairs and I think it's superb the support the protest got from Saturday!
I can just give a quick update to tell you that we have received over £2,000 into the bank account already, not bad in 24 hours!
Great stuff you generous people. I shall now inbox acknowledgements as I work through them.
Excellent. Of course, as a by-product, the NCA will now have a report on you regarding suspicious activity that may be linked to money laundering or terrorist financing....
The one thing that does stick in memory was that everything around duty of care etc and if you're not qualified to give advice, then keep your trap shut and refer or recommend someone that can. I would imagine @Jints or @legaladdick would be a better shout.
I also think that if people like @bobmunro who has been so kind to pledge money for printing leaflets, then it should be okay. Just knowing him through LinkedIn and his current role, I don't think he would've done it if there were any ramifications to him or others. He's pretty experienced and clued up.
First off, thank you to those who are organizing this.
I'm American, and also not a lawyer, but what LenGlover brings up is important, those that are lawyers (at least in the American system) cannot usually give formal advice, so don't expect them to respond to a thread like this. I would recommend running the concept and verbiage by a lawyer in an informal capacity, and they should be able to at least give an informal "yay/nay" or say "get yourself a lawyer who will be YOUR lawyer."
All told, and again, going on American law (which is far more litigious), you're usually okay with disclaimers. Going on the carefully structured verbiage, I'm thinking this has been considered by the authors. The only thing I might add is something to the effect of "peaceful and non-disruptive protests."
I'm done and sorry for adding to the discussion on this thread, again, thank you so much for putting this together.
Not sure we want "peaceful and non-disruptive". Is 2,000 chanting peaceful? And I would have thought we want to be disruptive, so long as it is legal. From my knowledge of the law (again not a lawyer), this would be a dangerous addition.
Not sure we want "peaceful and non-disruptive". Is 2,000 chanting peaceful? And I would have thought we want to be disruptive, so long as it is legal. From my knowledge of the law (again not a lawyer), this would be a dangerous addition.
What you would be saying is that, as a fund, the monies are intended to go toward peaceful and non-disruptive, or maybe "legal" is a better term than non-disruptive, protests, e.g. any violence or otherwise illegal acts committed during the funded protests are not your responsibility. Non-disruptive in this case is meant as essentially legal). Nothing I saw from Saturday seemed illegal to me (apart from maybe loitering, and again, big disclaimer, not a lawyer nor a UK citizen).
As a protestor, you may feel differently about the nature of the protests .
I know there are more practical things to spend the money on, but it would be funny if we ordered a sofa from dfs c/o Katrien at the Valley and someone was there to get a picture of it delivered.
The one thing that does stick in memory was that everything around duty of care etc and if you're not qualified to give advice, then keep your trap shut and refer or recommend someone that can. I would imagine @Jints or @legaladdick would be a better shout.
I also think that if people like @bobmunro who has been so kind to pledge money for printing leaflets, then it should be okay. Just knowing him through LinkedIn and his current role, I don't think he would've done it if there were any ramifications to him or others. He's pretty experienced and clued up.
First off, thank you to those who are organizing this.
I'm American, and also not a lawyer, but what LenGlover brings up is important, those that are lawyers (at least in the American system) cannot usually give formal advice, so don't expect them to respond to a thread like this. I would recommend running the concept and verbiage by a lawyer in an informal capacity, and they should be able to at least give an informal "yay/nay" or say "get yourself a lawyer who will be YOUR lawyer."
All told, and again, going on American law (which is far more litigious), you're usually okay with disclaimers. Going on the carefully structured verbiage, I'm thinking this has been considered by the authors. The only thing I might add is something to the effect of "peaceful and non-disruptive protests."
I'm done and sorry for adding to the discussion on this thread, again, thank you so much for putting this together.
It was actually @cabbles in response to me but agree with your sentiments.
Thanks for the advice re legal aspects guys, but we can let that topic rest now. We understand the legal aspects and will be taking appropriate steps when we invite applications for funding.
I'm not in a position to help financially at the moment being heavily in debt after the Christmas period, but please let me know if I can help in any other way.
I know there are more practical things to spend the money on, but it would be funny if we ordered a sofa from dfs c/o Katrien at the Valley and someone was there to get a picture of it delivered.
By the time it arrives, she'll be long gone, hopefully. :-)
Comments
So handing over any unspent money to a good cause like the Upbeats would be prudent.
On another matter, how about tempting more donations by offering a free black & white scarf for donations over a certain amount?
Re the legal aspects, I had some very helpful advice yesterday and can confirm there is no risk at all to those donating, plus I know what steps we need to take to protect Curb_It and myself, which we will clarify when we start to invite applications for funding.
Great stuff you generous people. I shall now inbox acknowledgements as I work through them.
First off, thank you to those who are organizing this.
I'm American, and also not a lawyer, but what LenGlover brings up is important, those that are lawyers (at least in the American system) cannot usually give formal advice, so don't expect them to respond to a thread like this. I would recommend running the concept and verbiage by a lawyer in an informal capacity, and they should be able to at least give an informal "yay/nay" or say "get yourself a lawyer who will be YOUR lawyer."
All told, and again, going on American law (which is far more litigious), you're usually okay with disclaimers. Going on the carefully structured verbiage, I'm thinking this has been considered by the authors. The only thing I might add is something to the effect of "peaceful and non-disruptive protests."
I'm done and sorry for adding to the discussion on this thread, again, thank you so much for putting this together.
As a protestor, you may feel differently about the nature of the protests
Well done everyone you're amazing!
There are a few comments for you on the activity page.
Don't chase tho if you have transferred after 4pm as I will update all those tomorrow morning.
This will also invite the first requests for funding from protest planners/organisers.