Compliance

• Safeguarding for small charities →

  The policy, the practice and the Reporting Serious Incidents duty — what you actually have to do.

• DBS checks for community-group volunteers →

  When checks are mandatory, when they aren’t, and the cost of getting it wrong.

• GDPR for community groups →

  UK GDPR for a charity with a mailing list and a member database, in practical terms.

• Charity accounting and audit thresholds →

  Receipts & payments, accruals, independent examination and audit — including the rules for years ending on or after 30 September 2026.

• Independent examination →

  Finding an examiner, what they need from you, and what the new SORP 2026 changed.

• Gift Aid for community groups →

  The 25% top-up most small charities under-claim, plus the GASDS small-donations scheme.

• Business rates relief for community organisations →

  80% mandatory plus up to 20% discretionary for charities; CICs and non-charities get only the discretionary route.

• Running an AGM →

  Who needs one, what the law requires, and how to run a useful AGM rather than a procedural one.

• Community group governance basics →

  The six core trustee duties, conflicts of interest, what Charities Act 2022 changed.

• UK community group legal structures →

  The structure question that shapes which compliance regime applies to you.

• Community association constitution template →

  The model constitution most small unincorporated groups should start with.

• Community group treasurer guide →

  The role, the year-end cycle, and what a good handover looks like.

Compliance for small UK charities has shifted more in 2022–2026 than in the preceding decade. The headlines:

• Charities Act 2022 phased in across four tranches, completing 27 November 2025
• Charities SORP 2026 applies to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026
• New financial thresholds for accounting years ending on or after 30 September 2026: audit income threshold £1m → £1.5m; independent examination floor £25k → £40k; receipts-and-payments option £250k → £500k
• ECCTA identity verification compulsory at Companies House for new directors and PSCs from 18 November 2025; existing directors verify when they file their next confirmation statement, within a 12-month transition ending 18 November 2026 (applies to charitable companies and CICs, not CIOs)
• Data (Use and Access) Act 2025introduced the charitable-purpose “soft opt-in” from 5 February 2026
• New Code of Fundraising Practice in effect from 1 November 2025 (published April 2025)
• Online Safety Act 2023 illegal-content risk assessments due by 16 March 2025; illegal-content duties enforceable from 17 March 2025

Each guide flags the changes relevant to that topic. If you're a long-standing trustee who hasn't reviewed governance in five years, work through the cluster systematically.

• Charities Act 2011 (as amended by Charities Act 2022)
• Charities SORP 2026 (published 31 October 2025)
• DCMS announcement on charity financial thresholds (31 October 2025)
• Charities Acts 1992 and 2011 (Substitution of Sums) Order 2026 (SI 2026/427)
• Charity Commission CC3, CC8, CC11, CC19, CC47, CC49 guidance suite
• Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023
• Data (Use and Access) Act 2025
• UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018
• Code of Fundraising Practice (Fundraising Regulator, 1 November 2025)