I have to be careful what I say here. I know nothing about the organisation, but would like to just give some basic info about their status.

At the moment is seems that they have not had anything registered as a charity (NB – all charitable trusts in England and Wales must register as charities with the Charity Commission of England & Wales). Well, I certainly cannot find anything on the Charity Commission’s ‘Register of Charities’, although there is the chance that they have been registered since the last database update, or it’s been registered under another name, or user error on my behalf. On one page of the Wisdom Of The Ancients website they say they are setting up a charitable trust (which may well be a fair enough statement), but on another they say “The Ouroborus is a charity” (which may not be).

There are two companies registered at Companies House - one of which is said to be under a “Proposal to Strike off”. There is a registered company called “Wisdom Of The Ancients Company Limited” (no – 04412566 / registered on 09/04/2002). There is also another called “The Mereon Company Limited” (no – 04544498 / registered on 25/09/2002) which is said to be under a “Proposal to Strike off”. It’s not clear why there are two but it seems like the one called “Wisdom Of The Ancients Company Limited” is they one that will survive.

If they plan to set up a charity or charitable trust, it is rather unusual for the companies to be set up as Private Limited Companies (because they are shareholding companies, usually designed to make a profit, and where ‘membership’ comes from owning shares). It is far more usual for a project that is designed to be non-profit making or to have some charitable educational or social benefit to the public, to be set up as a “Company Limited by Guarantee” with no share capital. Dare I suggest that any charitable educational or social benefits are a bit of an after thought, and may be part of the growing trend of setting up charitable arms to help fundraising.

Sorry if this all seems pedantic to some people, and I pass no judgement on the project, but they should be clear about what they are. I have worked to support the voluntary sector most of my adult life and lack of clarity is a real problem.

NB – this is all public info – just search the databases at Companies House ( http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/info/ ) and the Charity Commission ( http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/registeredcharities/first.asp )