Governance Weekly for 4th November
The weekly roundup from VANEL on good governance, charity trusteeship and non-profit leadership. News, information, resources and ideas. Complemented by our monthly “View from the Top” e-newsletter (Trustee Network members only), our “aboutgovernance” online discussion space for leaders and trustees and our @aboutgovernance Twitter feed.
Don’t forget – next week (7-13th November) is National Trustees’ Week. Use it as a chance to celebrate your own trustees, support them, work out how to develop them and your board. Remember that your Trustees are all volunteers too. Keep an eye on our Twitter @aboutgovernance to see what we’re up to, or simply get in touch. This is the week to think about what issues you might be having and what support you might need – VANEL is here to help.
As part of Trustees’ Week, here’s a page of useful governance related resources that you can refer to.
The UK Charity Governance Awards return with a call for entries, a larger prize pot and a new additional prize category. Entry is now open to charities of all sizes in seven categories recognising outstanding governance, including the new category of ‘Embracing Digital’. Charities from all sectors can be in with a chance of winning one of seven £5,000 prizes of an unrestricted grant. The new category ‘Embracing Digital’ recognises charity boards who have successfully embraced the opportunities that digital offers, and harnessed them to innovate or improve its activities. Other award categories reward charities who have dramatically turned around their fortunes; those that have created inclusive and diverse boards; and those who have significantly improved their impact. All the information can be found at www.charitygovernanceawards.co.uk
A reminder from the Charity Commission to ensure your trustees are legally qualified to act: The Charities Act disqualifies some people from acting as trustees. Despite best intentions, some trustees are unaware that they or their colleagues may be acting illegally. For example, you can’t be a trustee when you have taken out an IVA, are undischarged bankrupt, have an unspent conviction for an offence involving dishonesty or deception, or are disqualified from being a company director. In most cases you are committing an offence if you act as a trustee whilst disqualified, and decisions that you take part in may be invalid. A charity should take reasonable steps to ensure that its trustees are eligible to act. Before appointing a new trustee, the board should obtain a form confirming their eligibility from them that they are not disqualified, search the register of removed trustees, and check the insolvency register.
A reminder that the Charity Commission are running a free webinar as part of National Trustees’ Week. “What should every Trustee know?” is an online session on November 8th from 7pm-8pm. Follow this link for more information. If you are new to the role or need a refresher, then this could prove helpful.
The communities that make up the Humber area help to contribute to a safe place for the people to live and work, however no community is immune from any crime, despite the positive work by Police, partners and local communities in North East Lincolnshire. Terrorism is a crime and as such it can be prevented and detected before it’s too late. The National Terrorist Financial Investigation Unit (NTFIU) support investigations and lead on prosecutions of terrorist financiers and with the help of partner agencies and local community members, including those in the voluntary sector, the unit can help prevent crimes linked to Terrorism taking place, whilst bringing offenders to justice. Last year, the NTFIU and the commission released an alert about the duties of trustees, and others involved with charities, under s19 of the Terrorism Act 2000. Please note that there is now a new email address to report concerns of a s19 offence being committed: S19Alerts@met.pnn.police.uk. Trustees must also ensure that any suspicions or beliefs are reported to us under the Serious Incident Reporting framework. Be vigilant.
A bit of controversy here – Charitable status may only be right for ‘entirely voluntary’ organisations. So only organisations entirely manned by volunteers could be called charities. Those employing staff would need another name. Read more about this thought provoking idea here. What do you think? We’ll be discussing this on our AboutGovernance network soon I’m sure.
And finally, something else to ponder. Lord Hodgson suggests that Charities are slow to scale up good ideas. Read the article here. Three of the key points focus around volunteering, better support for governance and leadership and getting more young people involved. All themes that VANEL is working on.
VANEL are here to help you with your Governance requirements
On Friday 11th November (during Trustees’ Week) we shall be holding a morning of short workshops. Three workshops tackling different aspects of the Trustee role:
10am – “Get on Board” looking closely at the Induction Process by which Trustees join your organisation
11am – “Valuing Volunteer Trustees” focusing on the support and development of the board – particularly focusing on the individuals.
12noon – “Technology for Trustees” continuing the digital theme as a workshop looking at how the board can lead or support the adoption of technology and using as our starting point the ’12 questions about digital for trustees’ that the Charity Commission has published recently.
Come along for 1,2 or 3 of the sessions – but please book and let us know your plans. All are held at VANEL offices at the Willows and book via Karl Elliott again. Sessions are free to VANEL Member and Friend organisations, otherwise £5 per person per session.
Follow @aboutgovernance on Twitter and #vaneltweek to keep up with our plans during Trustees’ Week.
Registration on the AboutGovernance Trustee Network forum is now possible. The site is www.vanel.org.uk/aboutgovernance but to register contact Karl Elliott direct first (karl@vanel.org.uk). Open to trustees and board members for any VANEL Member or Friend organisations or for anyone aged 25 or below who is looking to move into a leadership role.
To discuss governance, trusteeship or leadership, or to subscribe to the Trustee Network, please drop me a line.
Karl Elliott, Development Manager
www.vanel.org.uk/governance – for resources and information
www.theviewfromthetop.org.uk
www.youngleadersmatter.org.uk
@aboutgovernance