Charity Governance

Trustee Training

All trustees, whether new of those individuals who have been trustees for many year, must be aware of their legal responsibilities.  

The regulatory and compliance requirements that can impact charities are constantly changing, and new guidance and best practice is regularly issued by the Charity Commission.  Ensuring that the whole Board remains up-to-date is essential so we believe that trustee training is not something that only new trustees should receive.  

We provide trustee training and have designed a rolling quarterly training programme that ensures all trustees receive training on their responsibilities, finance, risk management and governance.  We can, of course, adjust the training to suit specific needs for Boards of Trustees.

Keeping the Board fresh with the appropriate skills is essential to the running of a charity.  However, we also know that too many changes can provide a lack of continuity or clear and focused direction.  

Whilst there are no legal term limits, the Good Governance Code recommends that where a trustee has served more than nine consecutive years, re-appointment is subject to vigorous review.

We are able to advise on this and recommend various disclosures in the Trustees' Report explaining the position.

Charity Governance Code

Good governance helps to provide a strong foundation as you work to achieve your aims and help your beneficiaries.  It supports compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and promotes attitudes and a culture throughout the organisation that can help to unite everyone and everything as you fulfil our objectives.

Good governance can also send a strong message to funders, regulators and other stakeholders.  It allows you to demonstrate that you are a well-run organisation, helping to increase trust and confidence.  It may also help to attract funding for expanding current projects or for running new ones.

The Code has been developed with the aim of being a support tool that charities, their trustees and key management can use to aid improvement in governance matters.

The Code is formed of seven different sections:

• Organisational purpose – guiding the Trustees and management on understanding your charity’s aims and objectives
• Leadership – helping promote the organisation’s culture, values and ethos
• Integrity – maintaining your charity’s reputation, and managing conflicts of interest
• Decision making, risk, and control – guidance on delegation of day-to-day management and risk management process
• Board effectiveness – promoting board behaviours and skills, and effective monitoring of board performance
• Diversity – encouraging openness and inclusivity
• Openness and accountability – building public trust and confidence