Where can I get a step by step guide to writing a constitution for a sports group?

We need charitable status to apply for grants from trusts and other sources who will only give money to charities.

Our organisation meets the criteria for charitable status, but our annual income is less than £5,000 so we have been told we cannot register with the Charity Commission but must instead get our charitable status from the Tax Office. How do we go about that exactly?

Are we required by law to install NS8 emergency lighting in the toilets in our community centre?

I am looking to set up a playgroup as a social enterprise. I know a lot of childcare groups register as charities, but I wonder if a CIC would be a better option. I am aware of the issue with charities whereby a trustee or management committee member cannot be employed by the charity. This could be a problem as I am very much the one driving this forward and I would want to work at the playgroup which would mean relinquishing control to trustees. However I am not really clear on just what the pros and cons are of registering as a CIC instead.

I'm working with a very new community group on an environmental project which needs to secure some grant aid. Many of the funding sources I've looked at require that applicants be somehow formalised and constituted.

The group has adopted a very simple set of rules, but it doesn’t have a bank account and I’m not sure what status it has legally, if any. It’s really just a group of enthusiasts.

The simplest and most quickly achievable way to get formalised appears to be to set up as an unincorporated association. Is this correct? and if so, what is involved in establishing an unincorporated association?

Alternatively, could the existing Community Association, which is a registered charity, apply for grants on behalf of this group and receive the funds?

Where a grant is convenanted to a company/charity for a number of years while they carry on particular activities - is there a minimum number of years that this needs to be in place?

At the end on the covenanted period the company/charity can write off the amount given in their books - is this correct?

What type of legal agreement will cover this - a simple line stating the terms and conditions of the grant - will that do it? 

An incorporated Charity is building a community centre on land leased from the land owners. The centre will incorporate a space that will be sublet to another group with a formal lease drawn up by the solicitor.

Another area will be shared by a pre school group and two other organisations. The pre school and these organisations do not want to enter into a lease preferring to have a licence agreement instead.

The solicitor hired by the charity is saying that a lease must be created in these circumstances. The solicitor is concerned that with a licence alone, the ongoing use might create a secure and protected tenancy under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954.

The head lease does require there to be a lease. Should the charity insist that the pre school and other users sign a lease as suggested by the solicitor?

What is the procedure for suspending a volunteer?

I am the treasurer and sometimes minute taker of a committee of 8 for a disabled centre. Are users of the centre that are not members of the committee allowed to see the minutes of committee meetings even though there maybe private and sensitive items discussed during the meetings and be mentioned in the minutes. Also can a member of the committee see the minutes of a meeting they resigned at.