Charity Status

In 2006 Medsin-UK became a registered charity. This will provide many benefits to the Medsin network, however because of the level of bureaucracy required it was decided that individual branches and projects would not become charities - instead the National Committee formed a charity called Medsin-UK (note the UK).

What this means on a practical level is that Medsin member branches or projects cannot say they are a charity, because they are not. You cannot say:

"Medsin-Birmingham is a charity, Registered Number 1111824"

However, you can say:

"Medsin-Birmingham is a member of Medsin-UK, Registered Charity Number 1111824"

In addition, the Medsin-UK logo and name cannot be used without permission of the Medsin-UK trustees (the National Committee). You may continue to use your branch/project logo, or Medsin (without the "UK") logo as usual. This is very important, because the trustees are legally responsible for any use of the Medsin-UK name.

Where the Medsin-UK name is used, the registered charity number (1111824) must be present.

If you have any doubts about the use of the Medsin-UK name, don't use it!

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there any exceptions?

Yes. SKIP is a UK registered charity, no. 1099804. It goes through the same auditing and accounts process as Medsin-UK. It is a member of the Medsin network.

Can I use the Medsin charity number to raise funds?

Branches or projects can apply to the national committee to use the charity number to raise funds which they must give to the charity. But, If you need some money for a particular event/piece of equipment then you can apply for a grant from the national committee. The committee will then decide on your grant application and keep part of the donation as an administration fee to help with the day to day running of a charity. Have a look at the fundraising page for the forms needed.

Can I apply for a permit for street collections though Medsin-UK?

Sorry, Medsin-UK (your national committee) does not have the time to apply for permits for street collections at present.

Child Protection Policy

Every charity including Medsin-UK, is responsible for ensuring that the people it works with are not harmed in any way, through contact with the organisation. Charities must take all reasonable steps within their power to ensure that this does not happen. This is particularly important when a charity is working with children and vulnerable adults in the community. Many of the Medsin projects fit this description.

Medsin-UK's trustees (the National Committee), as well as project leaders, should familiarise themselves with the relevant law in order to adopt best practice.

Children are an especially vulnerable group and the Charity Commission is particularly concerned to stress the importance of proper safeguards within charities, for the protection of children. This applies both to charities working in the UK and other countries where children may face different or additional risks of abuse or exploitation.

Medsin-UK has a child protection policy as a safeguard for dealing with issues of concern. To view Medsin's child protection policy, a guide of how to implement this and incident report forms, click here.

Police/CRB Checks

What are CRB checks? These are checks made by the Criminal Records Bureau (www.crb.gov.uk) on anyone who might work with vulnerable persons. They look into their criminal record for things that might put the vulnerable person at risk and then can disclose them to the person/organisation requiring the check.

Who needs CRB checks? Anyone working with vulnerable people (especially children) are required to have a CRB check. In the context of Medsin, projects or partner organisations usually know if a CRB check is required for their volunteers. If you are in any doubt, check the CRB website and talk to the project coordinator (whether a Medsin project or an external organisations).

Aren't these done by Medical Schools? Yes. However, there are 2 types of checks - Standard and Enhanced.

  • "Standard checks are primarily available for anyone involved in working with children or vulnerable adults, as well as certain other occupations and entry into professions as specified in the Exceptions Order to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974."
  • "Enhanced checks are available to anyone involved in regularing caring for, training, supervising or being in sole charge of children and vulnerable adults. It is also available for certain licensing purposes and judicial appointments." (From CRB website)

How does this relate to charity status? Volunteers are entitled to free CRB checks. However, you cannot just approach CRB as an individual to ask for a check - only registered bodies can ask for checks. If Medsin were to become a registered body, it would cost £300 plus we would have to fulfil obligations which would stretch our capacity.

Consequently, Medsin is unable to process CRB requests at the present time, mainly due to the financial constraints of becoming a registered body, but also due to the high level of administration involved. An alternative is to apply for CRB checks through an Umbrella body. These are organisations (like councils and hospitals) that already are Registered bodies and are happy to submit applications on behalf of other organisations, such as for Medsin members.

How much does it cost? The checks themselves are free to volunteers, but the Umbrella body may charge an administration fee. You can find a list of all Umbrella bodies on the CRB website.

The Data Protection Act

Any organisation holding information about its members is, by definition under the Data Protection Act, a "Data Controller". In terms of the Act, this means that the Medsin National Committee, by holding phone numbers and email addresses of Medsin members (in particular branch, project and campaign coordinators, but also the alumni) has a responsibility to handle this data in accordance with the law.

Data controllers face obligations in relation to the personal data they hold. A data controller is required to comply with the eight principles of good information handling (the "Data Protection Principles"). The most important of these is to ensure that personal data is kept secure.

As a non-governmental organisation which holds member information "for purposes of establishing or maintaining membership or support for a body or association not established or conducted for profit, or providing or administering activities for individuals who are either members of the body or association or have regular contact with it", Medsin does not have to declare itself (and pay a fee!) as a data controller; however, Medsin is legally bound to keep information confidential unless permission is given to share information with third parties.

In practice, this means Medsin WILL NOT give your personal details to third parties (such as the BMA, MDU or other agencies whom we work closely with) unless you consent to it.

To safeguard your personal details, Medsin has the @medsin.org email addresses in place. These allow us to make Medsin's branches, projects and campaigns more accessible to new Medsin members, without handing out personal information.

More Information

For more information or for clarification on charity status or any of the above contact the National Committee.

Last updated on Friday 18 January 2008 at 13:38.