Since its creation in 1973 GPF has had charitable status as a sub-charity of the British Caving Research Association (BCRA) even though its funds and committee and management were completely separate.
In 2018 the GPF trustees decided that the Foundation should gain charitable status in its own right and this process was completed in September 2019. GPF’s charity number is 1185385.
Having its own charitable status has advantages in terms of simplicity, reporting and financial controls. For practical purposes, links with other UK caving bodies such as BCRA and BCA remain unchanged.