Don't Bluescreen — applying to register as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
Help us become a charity: join our founding board
We're looking for two trustees to complete our registration with the Charity Commission. We'd especially welcome someone with clinical or mental-health experience — but that isn't a requirement, and first-time trustees are very welcome.
Worried about liability, your address being published, or credit checks? Straight answers below ↓
The facts, with sources
The questions everyone asks — answered honestly
Becoming a trustee of a new charity sounds riskier than it is. Here is what it actually involves, with every answer linked to the official source so you don't have to take our word for it.
| Am I personally liable if something goes wrong? | A CIO is an incorporated structure: once registered, the charity has its own legal personality, and trustees are not personally liable for its debts or contracts. Personal liability essentially requires acting in breach of your duties. Until registration completes we deliberately don't enter contracts or hold funds — the aim is that there is nothing to be exposed to in the interim. Source: Charity structures (CIO) — gov.uk Source: The essential trustee (CC3) — gov.uk |
|---|---|
| Will my home address be published? | No. Only your name appears on the public register of charities. Your address and contact details are held privately by the Charity Commission for identity checks only. You can see this for yourself: look up any charity on the public register — for example a charity you already know — and notice that only trustee names are listed. Source: Addresses and trustee names in your charity's public details — gov.uk See it yourself: the public register of charities |
| Will I be credit-checked? | No. There is no credit check to become a trustee. You sign a declaration confirming you are not disqualified (for example by an undischarged bankruptcy or certain unspent convictions) — and that's it. A bank may run standard identity checks if you become an account signatory, the same as opening any account. Source: Automatic disqualification rules — gov.uk |
| How much time is this, honestly? | No more than a few hours a month — typically 2–4 — plus 4–6 board meetings a year, held remotely. There is more to do in the run-up to registration; it settles down after. It is unpaid, and reasonable expenses are covered. |
| What does a trustee actually do? | Three things: decide what the charity does and doesn't do; make sure the money and the rules are handled properly; and keep it honest about what it can deliver. You don't run the day-to-day — you steer. Source: The essential trustee (CC3) — gov.uk |
Every claim above is time-qualified and sourced. If anything here doesn't match what the official guidance says, tell us — we'll fix it.
Who's already involved
You wouldn't be doing this alone
Don't Bluescreen was founded by Martin Byrne, who has spent his career in the UK IT sector and started this organisation because the industry looks after its systems better than its people. He's joined by a treasurer-designate with finance experience and a steering committee who have already adopted a founding constitution.
We publish roles rather than every name for now — full trustee names appear on the Charity Commission's public register as part of registration, which is the proper place for them. More about how we're set up is on the governance page.
Who we're looking for
Two more trustees to complete the founding board
- Someone with clinical or mental-health experience — to help us design support that is safe and evidence-based, and to keep us honest about what we are (and aren't: we're not a crisis service). If you'd rather advise than govern, we'd also welcome you as a clinical advisor — no trustee duties, same influence on what we build.
- An open profile — governance, HR, legal, fundraising or IT-sector leadership experience are all valuable. What matters most is caring about the people who keep the industry running.
No previous trustee experience is needed — most trustees in the UK are doing it for the first time, and the Charity Commission publishes plain-English guidance for exactly this.
Curious but not sure?
That's the right starting point. Have a 30-minute conversation with no commitment — ask anything, decide nothing.