Public Benefit Requirement

In order for a purpose to be charitable, it must be for the public benefit. This means that it must be both:

• beneficial and
  
  
• must benefit the public in general (or a sufficient section of it)

Benefit to the general public can be inferred and a ‘sufficient section’ of the public will differ from purpose to purpose, depending on those it is intended will benefit from the charity.

A charity cannot be established to benefit a small number of people unless they can be said to come from the population in general. So, whilst it cannot be charitable to establish a trust to provide relief for a particular family suffering from a specified illness, it would be charitable to establish a trust to provide relief for sufferers in the Island, even though only a small number of individuals in the Island may benefit, if the illness is particularly rare.

In order to meet public benefit requirements, where benefits are only available to members, membership must be available to a sufficient section of the community, and eligibility criteria should reflect this. As such, where a charity wishes to relieve loneliness in older people by providing facilities and activities to its members, it must be for a sufficient cross section of the public.