UK Charity Commission confers charity status on Tristan Association

Association becomes a UK registered charity

Tristan da Cunha Association gains full UK charity status

We are delighted to announce that the UK Charity Commission (CC) has reported that they were 'satisfied that The Tristan da Cunha Association is a charity and it has been entered onto the Register of Charities with the Registered Charity Number 1197018.'

The association adopted a revised constitution in 2021 which has the following Objects -

For the public benefit on the islands of Tristan da Cunha;

  1. The advancement of education and training of resident Tristan da Cunha islanders by the provision of grants, bursaries and support to enable them to study including participating in study outside the islands;

  2. Advancing the education of the public in Tristan da Cunha culture, traditions and economy
    and of the history, geography and wildlife of the islands;

  3. The preservation and protection of life and property by providing grant funding
    to assist the community to prepare for and recover from natural or other disasters.

This, therefore is our mission as a charity. We are taking steps to wind up the The Tristan da Cunha Education Trust Fund registered with the CC as Charity Number 1118779 but maintain a dedicated ring-fenced Education Fund in pursuit of the first object of the TDCA noted above. A full report will appear in the February Tristan da Cunha Newsletter.

Governor Philip Rushbrook and his wife Janis (right) meeting Chief Islander James Glass and his wife Felicity
at the Tristan Association Annual Gathering in April 2019. (Mike Faulds)

We were immensely pleased to receive such strong support from Chief Islander James Glass, the Tristan Administrators and the Island Council as we seek to build an enhanced partnership with the island community. This backing was furthered when we received a welcome letter from Governor Philip Rushbrook in which he wrote:

"I was delighted to learn that the latest application to the Charity Commission to register the Tristan da Cunha Association as a charity was successful.
The Tristan da Cunha Association is a great support to the island and I am grateful for the work that you have done over the years. This new status should enable you to continue and expand this support. Your new Charitable Objects, highlighting education, culture, economy, wildlife and disaster recovery, strike me as key objectives for the Association and the island going forward."