Answer
Is charity-shop.org a real charity?
Reviewed — desk-researched by Kaiser Khan
Legal claims match /about and Companies House record 17298990, checked 13 August 2026. Desk research, not a legal opinion.
Is charity-shop.org a real charity?
No. Charity Shop is not a registered charity and never claims to be one. It is the online shop window of World Animal Rescue Network CIC, an asset-locked community interest company that receives every donation and directs funds to partner animal shelters across Asia, Africa and South America. CICs cannot claim Gift Aid.
Who should skip this: Skip this if you already read the about page and only needed a yes/no. Skip it if you wanted a Charity Commission number we do not have — inventing one would be fraud. Skip it if you needed tax advice; we are not your accountant.
What is the exact legal structure?
Two organisations share one job. Charity Shop (charity-shop.org) is the shop window: it shows costed gifts and sends you to the till. WORLD ANIMAL RESCUE NETWORK CIC is the rescue partner: a community interest company, registered in England and Wales as company 17298990, that receives and processes every donation on its secure platform.
A CIC is a not-for-profit company form regulated by the CIC Regulator, with a statutory asset lock: no shareholders, no dividends, no private gain. If the company ever closed, remaining assets would pass by law to another asset-locked body — WARN’s nominated recipient is World Animal Protection, a registered charity.
Company type on the public record: Private company limited by guarantee without share capital, Community Interest Company (CIC). Registered office: 71-75 Shelton Street, London, England, WC2H 9JQ. Status: Active. Incorporated 2026-06-24.
Why not just register as a charity?
The CIC form lets a small organisation run fundraising infrastructure with charity-like locks without charity-registration overheads at launch. The trade-off that matters to donors is Gift Aid: a CIC cannot claim it. We would rather be plain about the structure than imply a status that does not exist.
Plenty of good animal work happens in registered charities. Plenty happens in CICs, community groups and overseas NGOs. The ethical failure is lying about which one you are. This page exists so you can leave if CIC is a deal-breaker.
How can you check this yourself?
Search company 17298990 at Companies House. You should see the legal name, CIC status, filing history and registered office. Then read /about on this site. If those two ever disagree, believe Companies House and email us — that would be a corrections-log row.
- Companies House record 17298990
- About Charity Shop — shop window versus till
- Editorial policy — how we source claims
- Corrections log — dated public fixes
Does Charity Shop claim Gift Aid?
No. CICs cannot claim Gift Aid, so it is never offered here. Any page asking you to add Gift Aid to a donation to WARN should be treated as a warning sign. Retail Gift Aid at a high-street charity shop is a different scheme on donated goods, not on this till.
GOV.UK Gift Aid rules (checked 13 August 2026): 25p per £1 of a qualifying donation to a charity, if you pay enough UK tax. That is not this checkout. See retail Gift Aid explained for donated clothes.
Who regulates World Animal Rescue Network CIC?
Community interest companies are regulated by the UK CIC Regulator and file annual accounts and a community interest report at Companies House, alongside the statutory asset lock. That is not the Charity Commission. Do not look for a charity number we have not published.
Contact for the shop window: [email protected]. Questions about a payment already made go to WARN, because WARN took the money.
Is “charity shop” in the name misleading?
The site is a virtual gift shop for animal-rescue care, and it also publishes a directory of physical UK charity shops. The name describes the format, not Charity Commission status. We state the CIC on about, answers, checkout-adjacent copy and this page so a skim still finds the lock.
If a reader left thinking we were a registered charity, that is a copy failure. Tell us. We will correct the sentence, not the Companies House filing.
When should you not give here?
When you will only give to a registered charity, when you need Gift Aid, or when you wanted to rehome a pet. Those are clean skips, not insults.
- You need a Charity Commission number on the receipt
- Your employer matching only lists registered charities
- You wanted a high-street till for clothes — use the chain directory
The verdict: is this a real charity?
No. It is a real shop window in front of a real CIC (company 17298990) with a statutory asset lock. Check Companies House. Do not Gift Aid it. If that is not enough, give somewhere else — we would rather lose the donation than fake a number.
Who this is for: donors who can live with a CIC if the care is costed and the filings are public. Who should skip: anyone whose rule is “charity or nothing”.
Common questions
Does Charity Shop claim Gift Aid?
No. CICs cannot claim Gift Aid, so it is never offered on this site. Any site asking you to add Gift Aid to a donation here should be treated with suspicion.
Who regulates World Animal Rescue Network CIC?
The UK CIC Regulator, with accounts and a community interest report at Companies House, plus the statutory asset lock.
Where do remaining assets go if WARN closed?
To another asset-locked body. The nominated recipient is World Animal Protection, a registered charity.