A Community Benefit Society (CBS) is a legal form for organisations that wish to operate on a not-for-profit basis for purposes that benefit the community as a whole.

Community Benefit Societies are known as exempt charities and are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rather than Companies House and the Charity Commission.

A CBS is owned by its members who usually elect a management committee who oversee the successful running of the organisation. To be a member and have a vote, you have to buy at least the minimum number of community shares.

Although our CBS is not officially a “co-operative”, we have adopted the seven co-operative principles as a guide to the way we would like to conduct our business.