The Charities Regulator has partnered with Kerry Volunteer Centre to establish a Kerry based Charities Registration Hub within Kerry Volunteer Centre to support local organisations to register with the Charities Regulator. The establishment of the Kerry based hub is a key part of the engagement process to ensure full compliance with the Charities Act.
From October, Kerry Volunteer Centre will act as a ‘Charities Registration Hub’ to support local Kerry based organisations to register with the Charities Regulator. Speaking on the announcement of the joint venture, Geraldine Sheehan, Manager, Kerry Volunteer Centre said “Charities come in all shapes and in Kerry there are many small to medium sized volunteer led charities who we expect will benefit from having a locally accessible Charities Registration Hub to support their registration process. The service is totally free and we encourage any charity yet to complete their registration with the Charities Regulator to contact us to find out about how to avail of this free support in the Tralee office.”
Kerry Volunteer Centre has been working with community and voluntary groups in Kerry prior to and since the establishment of the Charities Regulator to empower local understanding of and compliance with the new statutory requirements introduced by the Charities Act. The Volunteer Centre strong relationships with local groups make it the perfect fit to provide the new supports service.
Head of Registration for the Charities Regulator, Eamon O’Halloran added “Under the Charities Act 2009, all charities operating in Ireland were required to register with the Regulator by last April and failure to do so is an offence. However, the Regulator accepts that there are many organisations out there that may require some assistance in completing their application.”
“While there has already been a strong level of engagement from the sector, international practices have shown that initiatives such as this have a direct impact in increasing compliance with the law, which is why we commissioned this venture.” The Charities Regulator has partnered with Kerry Volunteer Centre and the network of 21 Volunteer Centres across the country to offer support services to charitable organisations that have yet to complete their registration with the Regulator.
