Helping an entrepreneur navigate charity law

The Night Sky Foundation has been created to support disadvantaged young people by awarding generous grants.

Andy Weekes, ex-teacher and founder of iCandi Apps Ltd, is the creator of the popular stargazing app called Night Sky. With the profits, he wanted to set up a charity that would improve access to educational opportunities – especially in digital technology for those in difficult circumstances.    

And so the charities and governance team at Anthony Collins (AC) helped Andy establish Night Sky Foundation. He launched the Foundation at his 40^th birthday, having kept it all top secret.    

Avoiding conflicts of interest 

In his business, Andy is the sole shareholder and director which is perfectly legitimate and aligned for his commercial interests. But we explained this would be impossible in charity law for the Foundation. As iCandi Apps would be the main donor to Night Sky Foundation, there needed to be some distance between him and the charity to manage any conflicts of interest.

We shared best practice and explained he needed to appoint some independent trustees, (not relatives), to work alongside him in the Foundation. We outlined the duties and responsibilities of these trustees, highlighting their role was to make decisions in the charity’s best interest.

Getting up and running   

We managed to register Night Sky Foundation as a charitable company in an incredibly short space of time so that it was all set up for the launch party. On average, this can take up to three to six months but, as we act on the registration of such a large number of charities and understand how to work with the Charity Commission, we were able to get the application through in a few weeks. This meant grants could be made and the Foundation could start to have an impact right away.      

We also helped advise on a grant-making policy as a requirement of the Charity Commission.   

Making a tangible difference

The Night Sky Foundation has recently given its first grant to BAND, Bristol Association for Neighbourhood Daycare, to fund an online safety course. Other grants include one to the children’s charity, Make Them Smile, to enable them to buy two workstations – including computers, desks and accessories for children who have autism and to fund a trip for 30 students to the National Space Centre.

There is more funding available as Andy is keen to donate more money in 2023/24.

Using our expertise 

According to the Charity Commission, Anthony Collins advises on more charity registrations in a year than any other law firm. Putting that experience to good use, we helped Andy set up his charity without delay and helping others has been highly rewarding for the team.

“It was wonderfully refreshing to be able to help someone who wanted to do something positive with their surplus money for all the right reasons, especially in these difficult economic times.”
Edwina Turner, legal director, Anthony Collins