We help you start your CIC, stay compliant and get funded.
Create your formation documents, put essential policies in place and get help writing grant applications, all through straightforward, guided tools.
Ben Ahern
I'm Ben. I've started and run a CIC myself, and I built CIC Tools to help you start yours and get funded.
New · Launching soon
The grant course that ends with your application written.
Short lessons, each finishing on the step it teaches, with National Lottery Awards for All’s real questions built in. Apply for up to £20,000.
See what’s insideHow can we help you?
Whether you're preparing to start your CIC or already running one, choose the help you need below. CIC Tools guides you through the paperwork with straightforward questions and practical next steps.
Start a CIC
Prepare your CIC36 and Articles of Association through straightforward questions, with guidance on submitting them to Companies House.
Write Policies
Create tailored safeguarding, data protection and other essential policies for the way your organisation actually works.
Find & Write Grants
Grant Builder, launching soon: learn how to apply for funding, then write your Awards for All application in the same place.
Get the FREE CIC Starter Checklist
It covers what to prepare, the documents you need, registration costs and your first steps after incorporation. Free, sent straight to your inbox.
“I used the formation pack after months of trying to understand everything. 100% recommend, everything submitted and incorporated within days.”
“Thanks so much to CIC Tools. My CIC was registered within 24 hours.”
About Ben
I'm Ben Ahern, co-founder of Homeless Aid UK CIC. We feed around 1,000 people a week, and I have done every job a small CIC asks of you: the formation paperwork, the policies funders want to see, the grant applications written at the kitchen table, and the annual reports nobody warns you about.
I built CIC Tools because that paperwork should not be the hard part. Every tool asks plain questions and writes the documents from your answers. You stay in control, you submit them yourself, and if you get stuck you can email me directly.
Co-founder
Homeless Aid UK CIC
1,000+
people fed every week
One founder
building and supporting it
Questions before you start
Clear answers, before you commit.
What do I get for £29?
Your completed CIC36 and Articles of Association plus six tailored core policies, all written from your answers. You can finish the whole wizard before deciding whether to pay, and your completed documents stay yours.
See what the formation pack includesHow does submission to Companies House work?
CIC Tools prepares the documents for you to download. You then upload the CIC36 and Articles as part of the online Companies House application, so you stay in control and receive the decision directly.
Read the step-by-step guideIs the £115 Companies House fee included?
No. CIC Tools costs £29 and Companies House charges its £115 online filing fee separately when you submit, making the normal total £144.
See the full cost breakdownAre the policies included with formation?
Yes. The £29 formation pack includes six tailored core policies. If your CIC is already registered, the standalone Policy Pack is £30 one-off.
See the Policy PackCan I use AI for an Awards for All application?
Yes. The National Lottery Community Fund allows AI tools, but you remain responsible for making sure the application is accurate and genuinely reflects your organisation and project. Grant Builder, launching soon, is built around that: it drafts from your answers and asks for missing facts rather than inventing them.
About Grant Builder