Register of charities

The register of charities is where the public can look you up. It turns the abstract idea of “being a charity” into a concrete, checkable entry — and it is the first place a cautious funder or donor goes to verify you exist and are in good standing.

Every registered charity in England and Wales appears on the Charity Commission’s public register, which is free to search online and shows the charity’s purposes, trustees, finances and filing history. (Source: GOV.UK, Charity Commission register of charities, accessed 9 July 2026.) Much of the data comes from the charity’s own annual return, so accuracy is in your hands. Not every charity appears on the register: excepted and exempt charities follow a different route.

Check your entry as others see it, and keep it current — overdue filings show publicly. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own registers via OSCR and CCNI. See the UK Charity Compliance Handbook for keeping records straight.