Governance weekly for 15th February
The weekly roundup from VANEL on good governance, charity trusteeship and non-profit leadership. News, information, resources and ideas. Complemented by our “aboutgovernance” online discussion space for leaders and trustees and our @aboutgovernance Twitter feed.
Just a quick, but important update this week:
The Charity Governance Code is perhaps THE tool for self-assessment and self-improvement of your governance practices at the moment. And if you’ve started working through the Code in an attempt to apply it, then you’ll have found there’s a lot there!
So BWB law firm have put together a few new resources to help with using and applying the Code.
The first is a very clear overview (what they call an infographic) explaining all the components of the Code. It helps to show how things connect or help with explaining the Code to others. Download it as a .pdf here.
They’ve also produced a new spreadsheet style document to help you work through the Code bit by bit, one principle at a time. This document can be found here.
I’m using this latter document as we work through the Code at VANEL. I recommend you take a look.
If you’re working through the Code then we’re here to help. I run a bespoke training course explaining the Code to your board/team and we can also provide consultancy to work through the Code in practice with you. Just contact me to discuss how we can help.
Does your charity follow serious incident reporting guidelines?
Guidance has been shared for Charity Trustees about how to spot and identify a serious incident in your organisation and how and when to report it.
In light of all the recent bad press about charities again related to ‘incidents’, it’s important that all Trustees take note of these guidelines. Would you know when an incident is taking place in your organisation? Would you know when it is deemed serious and how to report it?
Read this article here about Serious Incident Reporting.
A key statement in this article is:
“Trustees are always responsible, so it should be made clear to them that they should reserve the right at all times to make decisions on what is and what isn’t a serious incident. A clear flow of information from staff/volunteers to trustees is, therefore, essential.”
Take the time to discuss this with your fellow board members and senior team. Don’t ignore it.
As always, more governance news from next week.
Karl Elliott, Development Manager
karl@vanel.org.uk / 01472 287548
www.vanel.org.uk/governance – for an overview of our resources and information
www.vanel.org.uk/trustees – for the Trustee Network blog and information
www.vanel.org.uk/aboutgovernance – private discussion space for trustees
@aboutgovernance