Charitable Trust

2012 donations
2011 donations
2010 donations
2009 donations
2008 donations
2007 donations

The group has a charitable trust that gives money to community groups operating within the circulation area of its newspapers.

A committee meets four times a year - usually in March, June, September and December - to decide which charities to support. The Committee has flexibility, but works to the following guidelines:

  1. The recipient charity or group must operate within the circulation area of one of the Group's newspapers and spend the donation likewise;
  2. Donations should be made to a wide variety of charities and community groups throughout the Group's area of operation;
  3. Donations should benefit groups within the community and, therefore, donations to specific individuals are unlikely;

  4. Donations are normally in the range £100 -500, which means that, at this moment, we can help approximately 60-80 groups per year.

    The trust is administered for CN Group by the Charities Aid Foundation and its income is tax free. This means that all donations must be made to either registered charities or groups that fulfil the Inland Revenue's criteria.

    The Charities Act 2006 defines a charity as " a body or trust which is for a charitable purpose and is for the public benefit".

These are:

  1. Relief of poverty
  2. Advancement of education
  3. Advancement of religion
  4. Other purposes beneficial to the community

Section d. is obviously very broad, but, for example, does not normally include the purchase of equipment for a doctor's surgery, but would include purchase for a hospital.

If you are a registered charity please give your number when applying. There is no problem with schools, most churches and hospital-related groups, who do not have charity numbers - they should just apply as normal. Other groups who are not registered need to give us as much information as possible in order that the Inland Revenue can be satisfied.

Applications

Applications should be made in writing to either:

  1. An executive or employee within the Group whom you know;
  2. A member of the Committee (listed below);
  3. Direct to Gill Wilson, Charitable Trust Administrator (listed below).

Please state what the funds are required for, the total amount to be raised, the likely timescale, information about your charity/group and any other relevant information.

Remember to include your charity number if you are registered.

Applications should be made by the end of the month prior to the committee meetings (i.e. by the end of February, May, August and November) at the latest.

All applications will be acknowledged, and following the committee's meeting, everyone will receive a letter explaining the outcome. Donations are normally made by a senior executive from the local newspaper within the next month. However there can sometimes be a delay for non-registered groups if the Inland Revenue require further information.

We ask that in most cases any publicity or acknowledgement is made in the name of the relevant local newspaper and not CN Group.

Please note that at this stage the Trust only covers the area covered by the Group's newspapers.

Committee members:
Karen Whittle (PA to Publishing Director)
North West Evening Mail
Abbey Road
Barrow-in-Furness
LA14 5QS

Tel: 01229 821835
E-mail: karen.whittle@cngroup.co.uk

Julie Morgan (Reporter)
Times & Star
Oxford Street
Workington
CA14 2AL

Tel: 01946 595126
E-mail: julie.morgan@cngroup.co.uk

Sandy Rutherford (General Manager)
Hexham Courant
Beaumont Street
Hexham
NE46 3NA

Tel: 01434 602351
E-mail: sandy.rutherford@cngroup.co.uk

Robin Burgess (Chief Executive)
Tel: 01228 612288
E-mail: robin.burgess@cngroup.co.uk

Andy Swanston (Company Secretary)
Tel: 01228 612733
E-mail: andrew.swanston@cngroup.co.uk

Gill Wilson (Trust Administrator and PA to the Chief Executive)
Tel: 01228 612286
E-mail: gill.wilson@cngroup.co.uk

All are based at:

CN Group Ltd
Newspaper House
Dalston Road
Carlisle
Cumbria
CA2 5UA