Become a Member

As a not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC), Growing Better Lives is a social enterprise that has been established for our members, friends and associates to become more involved with their local communities. By becoming a member, we can support you with local Greencare projects, or help you to establish a new project, initiative or intervention that helps with your own mental wellbeing, and also benefit others.

As a CIC we must:

  • Meet the Community Interest Test

  • File a CIC report with our accounts every year

  • Keep the community in touch with our activities

  • Use our assets and profits for the community specified (or pass them to another body with similar features), known as an asset lock

  • Be registered at Companies House as a company with the same incorporation documents as other companies and organisations, but supplemented by a Community Interest Statement.

Guidelines to becoming a Member with Growing Better Lives

All our members have the right to attend our monthly Board meetings, and our AGM, and can:

  • Vote on any matter that is raised at our Board meetings

  • Receive a copy of our annual accounts

  • Elect our Directors by voting at a Board meeting

  • Approve the regulations proposed by the Directors relating to the governance of the CIC, including the procedures governing applications for, and approval of, grants from the CIC’s community fund

  • Vote on any fundamental changes to the nature of the CIC, such as its name, its purposes, its policies or what happens to its surplus income

As a member, you will not become liable for any Growing Better Lives debts nor will you become liable if a legal case is brought against us.  If Growing Better Lives ceases its operations and dissolves as a CIC (for example, if Growing Better Lives cannot pay its debts), as a member you would be expected to pay £1 to the CIC.

You will not be entitled to receive any dividend or other income from Growing Better Lives. If there is a surplus of funds at the end of our accounting year, this balance will be carried forward to pay for our activities in the next financial year.

To Apply for Membership

To apply for membership at Growing Better Lives we would like to request you to complete the form and submit this to us; alternatively, you can print and complete this form and send it to us at our registered address, for the attention of our Char.

All nominated members will be approved by the Directors under Article 23 and, in the event of more than the stated number of applications being received, the Directors will select those members which they believe will produce a balanced membership both in terms of locality and type of interest