Specialized becomes a Community Interest Company

we are happy to announce that The Specialized Project has now officially converted to a Community Interest Company (CIC). We applied to become a CIC in 2021, submitting an application form (CIC37) to Companies House stating our company’s aims and why its activities would benefit the community. Our application has now been accepted.
We chose to convert primarily to improve our success rate when seeking to win contracts and to open doors when engaging with the wider funding opportunities. In addition, we believe that this change better reflects who we are going forward as a business that supports community initiatives.
What is a Community Interest Company?
A Community Interest Company (CIC) is a special form of a non-charitable limited company, which exists primarily to benefit a community or pursue a social purpose.
It is different to a charity. Unlike charities, which are typically reliant on grants, donations and fundraising for a large proportion of its income, a community interest company is usually not dependent on these alone. A CIC receives income from a variety of sources including contracts, trading income and grants.
What does this mean for Specialized?
Paul Williams and Paul Ayriss are now registered as joint directors of The Specialized Project CIC. Company number 13681691.
Paul and Paul now hold the legal accountability and responsibility for all of The Specialized Projects activities. We also now hold the CIC suffix and are required to use it.
We’ll now move forward on implementing community projects such as the instrument library, workshops as well more events that benefit both community and our core benefactors like The Teenage Cancer Trust
This is an exciting time for us as we reach our tenth anniversary. The Specialized Project CIC has also replied on the support and good will of so many people, particularly the team of dedicated volunteers that have worked tirelessly for so long. Our incorporation starts us on a brand-new journey as a social enterprise and our team our as crucial now as they ever were. New horizons are ahead and we’d love for everyone to share those with us.
The Specialized Project CIC, ‘Good – with Music’