Sir John Fisher Foundation is becoming a CIO
Letters will be sent to all current holders of grants from the Sir John Fisher Foundation to advise you of an upcoming change to our legal structure.
On 1st April 2025 we’re changing from a charitable trust with registered charity number 277844 to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with registered charity number 1209607.
For grant holders, your agreement with the trust and any information we hold on your organisation or your project will be transferred to the CIO on 1st April.
On that date, all our assets, liabilities and staff will transfer from the trust to the CIO. After that the trust will close and be removed from the register of charities.
The Sir John Fisher Foundation will continue to support charitable causes, with a strategic focus on serving needs and raising ambitions in Barrow-in-Furness and South Cumbria.
The CIO has the same trustees as the trust. Our funding criteria, policies and activities will not change and we’ll still be known as the Sir John Fisher Foundation.
Why have we done this?
Sir John Fisher Foundation has existed since 1979. We’re here because of a generous gift from Sir John and Lady Maria Fisher, left in trust after they died. The trust is unincorporated, which means it has no legal personality separate from its trustees.
The main benefit for us of moving from a trust to a CIO is that a CIO is incorporated, which limits the individual liability of our trustees. As a grantmaking foundation we have significant assets, and our trustees were taking the risk of being personally liable if something went wrong.
As a CIO, the charity can enter into contracts under its own name rather than in the names of our trustees.
Incorporating has also allowed us the opportunity to update our governing document, taking account of modern legislation and governance best practice. For example, the trust has a fairly restrictive limit on the maximum number of trustees we can have on our board, which is not the case for the CIO.
With the simpler and more modern legal structure of a CIO, it should be more efficient to run the charity and reduce administration for us.
What this means for you
As a grant holder, you don’t have to take any action. You shouldn’t notice much of a difference in your day-to-day dealings with us, other than the charity number we display. You also shouldn’t experience any disruption to your funding.
We’ve provided further information and things to be aware of in the letter we’ve sent to you.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at grants@sirjohnfisherfoundation.org.uk or call us on 07918 649 601.