Free UK Genealogy is becoming a Charitable Incorporated Organisation

We will shortly be opening a new organisation: Free UK Genealogy CIO.

CIO is the abbreviation for Charitable Incorporated Organisation (its a standard financial abbreviation, as Ltd. and PLC are). The CIO will have the same objectives and Trustees as the existing Free UK Genealogy. Like the existing organisation, the new organisation will be a registered charity.

Once the new CIO is set up, new contracts will be made with it, rather than with the existing charity. This will include the Transcribers Agreement. The existing contracts will be moved to it when time allows, the assets transferred and the old charity will be wound up after that. Unfortunately it is not legally possible to simply change the existing charity and its contracts to become a CIO.

We are doing this for two reasons: governing an unincorporated charity presents a risk to Trustees because they, personally, are financially liable rather than the charity. It is normal for a charity to change from being unincorporated to incorporated when it starts to employ staff.

The unincorporated status of the current charity also presents a difficult in forming a trading company because only an individual or an incorporated body can hold shares. All the shares in the trading company will be held by the CIO - and all profits will be given to the CIO. We need a separate trading company because while a charity allowed to trade, this is restricted to a small proportion of its income, and we earn most of our income from banner advertising.

You can read more about the kinds of charities on the Charity Commission's pages.

Welcome to Billy Davis, a new trustee

We are delighted to welcome Billy as a new trustee of Free UK Genealogy.

Billy brings with him significant experience in public affairs - having worked both for consultancies as well as "in house" at several NGOs. He has a strong personal interest in genealogy and is currently helping trace his own family tree. He is particularly keen to help us to raise our profile and communicate our message to a wider audience.

We have been seeking to increase the number of Trustees in order to develop the range of skills and experience that manage the organisation, and continue to do so.

Pat Reynolds

Executive Director, Free UK Genealogy

We need your help. Turn Black Friday into Give Back Friday!

We've joined Easyfundraising where whenever you buy anything online, you can raise a free donation for Free UK Genealogy. There are nearly 3,000 retailers including Amazon, John Lewis, Aviva, thetrainline and Sainsbury's, who will donate a percentage of the amount you spend to Free UK Genealogy to say thank you for shopping with them and it won't cost you a penny. There are no catches or hidden charges and by shopping in this way, Free UK Genealogy will receive funds which will help keep our data available, free of charge.

This Friday (27th November) shops across the UK will be holding the biggest sales of the year, meaning it's the perfect time to pick up party dresses, grab gifts and take advantage of tech bargains.

Collect free donations for us, all you have to do is:

1. Join - Head to http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/freeukgenealogy and sign up for free. In fact if you use this invitation link we will get an extra £1 donation - but you will need to look for us in the list of good causes.

2. Shop - Every time you shop online, go to easyfundraising first, pick the retailer you want and start shopping.

3. Raise - After you've checked out, that retailer will make a donation to Free UK Genealogy for no extra cost whatsoever!

Don't forget if this is not for you, there are plenty of other ways you can help us support our projects http://www.freeukgenealogy.org.uk/about/donate/

Please help us to keep history free and thank you for your support this Give Back Friday.

Delve into our treasure trove

As part of the Explore Your Archive campaign, which begins on Saturday 14 November, Free UK Genealogy is encouraging people to take the time to visit FreeBMD, FreeREG, FreeCEN to get free public access to family history records.

The Explore Your Archive campaign is encouraging people to discover the stories, the facts, the places and the people that are at the heart of our communities. Archives across the UK and Ireland are taking part to raise awareness of the value of archives to society and the rich variety of content that is held, preserved and made available to users.

While only a small percentage of material held in archives is available online, you can take part by exploring indexes of Births Marriages and Deaths, historic Parish Registers and 19th Century Censuses, free of charge from the comfort of your own home through our websites.

To find out more about the campaign and how you can start your own adventure visit http://www.exploreyourarchive.org/ or visit www.freebmd.org.uk, www.freereg.org.uk and www.freecen.org.uk