Student groups are legally part of the Students’ Union, and so the laws regarding charitable companies also apply to student groups, and affect what the Union and societies can spend their money on.
The purpose for which Bristol SU may spend its funds are defined by the Union’s Articles, these are called the objects of the Union and are noted in the table below. Any expenditure other than for those purposes stated is classed as Ultra Vires and is therefore illegal.

The objects of the Union are the advancement of education of students at the University of Bristol for the public benefit by:

1. promoting the interests and welfare of students at the University of Bristol during their course of study and representing, supporting and advising members;
2. being the recognised representative channel between students and the University of Bristol and any other external bodies; and
3. providing social, cultural, sporting and recreational activities and forums for discussions and debate for the personal development of its members.

The Golden Rules

Ultra Vires is a phrase used legally to mean anything beyond our stated aim. Legally we are not allowed to make any ‘ultra vires’ payments, so we cannot spend money on things that are not achieving the stated aims of the Union or the society. Any donations are also affected by the legal rules on charitable companies – in their most basic form, this means we cannot donate union money to other charities, political parties, campaigns or trade unions.

When considering Ultra Vires we use the following three ‘golden rules’.

1. Students’ Unions shouldn’t use their resources to campaign on an issue that does not affect “students as students”.
2. Students’ Unions should maintain neutrality when it comes to political parties
3. Students’ Unions should not give money to other organisations to do things that they are not allowed to do themselves

The most common examples of Ultra Vires are:

Charity work

• The Union should not use money to subsidise charity fundraising but the Union can grant funds to a fundraising society to put on events / activities due to the personal development / educational benefits to the event organisers.
• The Union should not donate money to other charities.
• You can still fundraise, but you need to cover the costs from money raised or from society money that is not from the Union.

Campaigns

• Clubs and societies can only use Union money to fund campaigns directly related to members as students.
• You can only use Union money to subsidise places on demos which relate to student issues e.g. top up fees. If campaigns do not fall into these categories, the Union cannot fund them.
• If a campaign did not fall into the permissible categories, you can fundraise and use the club or society membership account to fund the campaign as you wish.