FS: SCIO STATUS
By: Emma Hartpence
In 2019, FS legally became a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO), a delineation reserved only for charitable organizations whose constitutions strictly adhere to the Office of Scottish Charities Regulator. In order to become an SCIO, FS had to demonstrate charitable purpose, public benefit, transparency in our finances, monetary charitable giving, and a record of continued advancement of culture and the arts. Outside of societies affiliated with the University of St. Andrews Students’ Association, FS is the only charitable organization in St Andrews to hold this type of stringent charitable status.
The shift of FS from being a non affiliated organization with a charitable focus to an SCIO, has allowed us to showcase how transparent we have always been with our financial charitable contributions and how we benefit the community around us. Our charitable purpose lies in our ever changing charitable partners who deal with current issues at the heart of FS’ mission. FS chooses to work with a different charitable partner every year in order to best deal with pressing social challenges.
For example, the onslaught of domestic abuses against men and LGBTQ+ people, as well as the dramatic rise in issues surrounding mental health and suicide, since the Covid-19 pandemic began nearly two years ago has been of focus of FS in our work with Fear Free and the Joshua Nolan Foundation, our most recent charitable partners. In the past our charitable partners have been as diverse as the issues the focus on; in 2019 we worked with Fashion Revolution whose work in creating a more equitable and environmentally focused fashion industry underlies FS’ own position, and have worked with multiple mental health focused charities like the Freud National Centre for families and children and the SANE mental health charity, in 2018 and 2016 respectively.
In proving our charitable status, FS is allowed to retain a 15% VAT tax imposed on for profit institutions, and redistribute that money to our charitable partners and create more events that will further FS’ ability to give back. This SCIO structure is more democratic than the typical committee structure and allows for equal voting among directors and more balanced say for all committee members. FS prides itself on valuing experience over any other factor in its committee members, and the SCIO structure allows us to implement our values legally into our bylaws.
FS is incredibly honored to be the only committee in St Andrews to hold this charitable delineation, as it speaks to our longstanding commitment to our charitable partners and to the values we strive to uphold.
