The Support Cambridgeshire Trustee Week ran within National Trustees’ Week, three days which focused on the boards and committees making decisions about our organisations. An upskilled, effective board is an essential component of any well-run charitable organisation, and all those who sit around that table must understand their role and responsibilities. These three days of events where free and open to all already carrying out this role, but we welcomed those thinking about venturing into this rewarding volunteer role.
AGENDA
Have you been a trustee for some years? Possibly it’s a new role you have just entered, or perhaps you’re thinking about becoming a trustee. Whatever your situation, we encourage you to join us as we examine how vital this volunteer role is and how being part of a board significantly enriches you and your community.
Trustees need to be people who care about their community and like to work with others to get things done, and you don’t need to have special qualifications or skills. Trustees provide leadership and a clear framework to help their groups or charities meet the needs of others. This online session combined an introduction to the essential responsibilities of being a trustee with the chance to hear from and ask questions of a panel of people who have experience of being a trustee.
Part 1 – Introducing the essential responsibilities of being a trustee – a presentation from Chris Trevorrow, Senior Development Officer at CCVS. Please note we are offering more detailed training as part of our offer check out our training page for more on that or email info@supportcambidgeshire.org.uk
Part 2 – A panel discussion featuring people who are currently trustees. The panel shared how they came to be trustees, the pros and cons of the role and why they would encourage more people to consider getting involved.
Presentation:
Slides
Please click on the title below to download the PDF.
What it is to be trustee presentation slides
Information on the host and panel
Host/Chair – Christine Trevorrow
Chris is a trainer and development worker at CCVS. She spent her early career working in marketing communications before moving on to spend the last 15 years in the voluntary sector to work in grant assessment with the Big Lottery; as a community and workplace mediator and as the casework manager for a community mediation charity and development worker and trainer for a volunteer centre. Chris is a CTLLS-accredited trainer.
Panel
Claire Hoather
Claire has worked in the Charity Sector for over 20 years, primarily in Fundraising and Development, spanning causes across society. Amongst others, Claire delivered for the charitable appeal of the Lord Mayor of London, was Director of Fundraising for ssafa – the Armed Forces Charity, and most recently led the transformation of fundraising at The Cambridge Literary Festival. Claire is Vice Chair of Trustees for Home-Start Cambridgeshire and has been a Trustee of The Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity, as well as a 5-year term as Governor at a local Infant School. In addition, she volunteers for a number of local community initiatives in her home town of St Neots, raising money for causes that are close to her heart. She focuses on causes that enhance the lives of people, with a real passion for the importance of the Early Years. Claire is married to Martin and is kept active, when not running for her own enjoyment, by their two young boys, Charlie and Elliot.
Graham Lewis
Graham Lewis strongly believes in the power of volunteers and the Community and Voluntary Sector to be a positive force for change in our world.
In 1996 I became a Trustee of the Cambridge and District Volunteer Centre, taking on the role of Treasurer and then Chair, leaving in 2004. From 2003-2005 I was also a Trustee of SexYouality – now known as The Kite Trust.
In 2014 I became a Trustee of the national charity ‘Stop Hate UK’. In March 2015 I became Deputy Chair and then in July that year became Chair. Stop Hate UK is one of the leading national organisations working on challenging all forms of Hate Crime and discrimination based on any aspect of an individual’s identity. As a Trustee at Stop Hate UK, I have led a restructure of the Board of Trustees. This has included developing a skills-based recruitment strategy, Trustee training and development programme, a refresh of the Memorandum and Articles of Association and the development of a subgroup structure to enable the Board to utilise their skills where they bring the maximum benefit to the charity.
Volunteering as a Trustee is a brilliant way of developing a person’s skills base, but also bringing knowledge and enthusiasm to a charity and its community.
Cara Cooper
Cara is a Chartered Engineer with a background in developing medical devices through technology consultancy. She is currently a Trustee for Romsey Mill, a Cambridge charity committed to overcoming disadvantage and promoting social inclusion with children, young people and families. She uses her extensive experience as a Girlguiding volunteer to support Programme Development at the charity as well as previous experience as a Trustee responsible for communications for OneSound, a youth choir and orchestra. Cara is an active Guide Leader and has also been an area manager and Trustee for Girlguiding South East Cambridge. When not occupied with her various volunteering roles, Cara enjoys photography and being a full-time mum to a busy toddler.
Insurance is a vital part of any risk management strategy, something all trustees must be aware of and constantly review. As part of this, all trustees must be aware of the different types of insurance, what they cover and what they don’t. Ensure all those who come in contact with their organisation are covered, including themselves.
Steve Gettings from Zurich Insurance Group will join us to talk about insurance. Including;
- Types of insurance trustees must be aware of
- Risk assessments
- Requirements from Zurich Insurance Group
Presentation
Slides
Please click on the title below to download the PDF.
Insurance 101 for small charities slides
A Data and Barring Check (DBS), formally known as Criminal Records Check (CRB), can be one way that trustees deal with minimising risk within the organisation. It can be a helpful tool for safeguarding risk assessments and contribute to the risk management strategy.
However, for it to be used correctly, trustees and those working within safeguarding need to understand how the system works. This means understanding what it can not guarantee against and how else you can minimise risk around safeguarding.
Georgina Mitchell, the Regional Outreach Adviser from the East of England, talked through:
- What level of check a role may be eligible for
- What each level of checks shows
- The filtering rules
- What counts as a ‘Regulated activity with children and adults
- What other safer recruitment practices
- What the update system is and how to use it
Presentation
This presentation was not recorded due to the changes in the law and it becoming outdated. If you wish to contact Georgie, please do on the details found on the slides.
Slides
It’s one of the most important relationships within a charity, yet the most overlooked is the link between the CEO and Chair of trustees. In theory, the Chair is there to support both the CEO and the board. In practice, it can be complex and one-sided but, at times, genuinely remarkable when both parties understand their role and step up.
Join is as D’arcy Myers from Getting on Board, talks through the role of Chair.
Looking at topic as;
- The role and responsibilities of the Chairperson
- Why it is essential for a good relationship between Chair and CEO
- What the pitfalls can be
- How to avoid a bad relationship and develop a good one
D’Arcy was then joined by a panel of experts who have experienced the relationship from either side and can talk from a personal perspective on how they have dealt with the good, bad and the ugly.
Presentation
Slides
Please click on the title below to download the PDF.
Information on the host and panel
This event is supported by Getting on Board.
Getting on Board is a trustee recruitment and diversity charity. It’s their guiding belief that board diversity is key to effective decision-making, better delivery of a charity’s services and the broader goal of creating a more equitable society.
Getting on Board supports people to become charity trustees, particularly those who are currently under-represented on trustee boards. They also help charities in their mission to become more representative of the communities they serve by recruiting and retaining trustees from a diversity of backgrounds and lived experiences.
Host/Chair
D’Arcy Myers
Coming from a commercial marketing background, D’Arcy Myers has been working in the charity sector for 30 years, initially focused on income generation and self-reliance around the world. He has been the CEO of three charities and, for the past seven years, has been a consultant helping charities with governance, leadership, strategy and training. D’Arcy is an active trustee. He was one of the founding trustees for The Small Charities Coalition, and has been Chairperson for The Parity Trust and The Charterhouse Group of Therapeutic Communities. He currently chairs both The Smallwood Trust and The Association of Charitable Organisations. D’Arcy has also spent eight years as a secondary school governor.
The Panel
Noelle Rumball
Noelle started her career in civil service business intelligence before it was cool (or called business intelligence), but has spent most of her time in Higher Education leading large, complex services in highly-regulated environments. After two years as a specialist internal auditor for a diverse group of providers, she is now providing consultancy and interim management across the HE sector, primarily in strategic planning and all things data.
On wet Thursday evenings, her favourite thing to do is attend charitable board meetings; she joined her first board at 24 and has never looked back. She is currently a member of four boards: Risk Committee Chair at Eastside Community Trust (a community cohesion charity including an adventure playground and a community centre); Chair of People Enabling Committee at ACH (a housing association for refugees with a training subsidiary); Deputy Chair of the Audit Committee at Leeds Arts University; and Co-Chair (with a student) at University of Bristol Students’ Union. She is in the midst of joining a fifth organisation’s board as their new Chair. She has, in the past, chaired a single-form primary school, and co-chaired a youthwork charity with a young person.
Judith Stewart
Judith Stewart has spent her 25+ year career developing and delivering programmes and strategy in the community, voluntary public and private sectors. From economic development to employability and skills, strategy writing to running an Arts centre, she has executive senior leadership experience alongside Board level involvement. For the last five years she has chaired Cornwall Neighbourhoods for Change, a charity supporting individuals and communities across Cornwall from food and benefits support, to job seeking, entrepreneurism and family development. She has also been the CEO of a Charity, giving her experience ‘both sides of the fence’, and currently works supporting innovation in the NHS. She is passionate about collaborative working, having a positive impact and doing what you can to make the world a little better for all.
Ri Chakraborty
Ri Chakraborty is a trained Broadcast Journalist, award-winning senior Executive Producer/Commissioner with global focus, 27 years’ experience in TV, Film, Arts innovation, and an elected Fellow of the Royal Society for arts, manufactures and commerce (RSA).
Currently a Chair on the Trustees’ Board of WizeUp Financial Education. Twice-elected member of Governing Council at Norwich University of the Arts (sits on Rem Co, Deputy Chair Nominations Committee).
Ri oversees and advises on arts strategies, creative education, innovation, commissions productions in the EU/UK and exec produces across numerous large teams in global film/tv slates; she is also an Ambassador with the Digital Poverty Alliance where she helps advise on content strategy.
William Butler
William Butler began his working life as a social and community worker in Northern Ireland and came to work for the Milton Keynes Development Corporation in the late 80’s, where he led a social development team that grew MK’s social infrastructure, including health, disability, education and other community services required to meet the needs of a growing population.
William is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a former director of the UK’s largest mental health charity, Chief Executive of a user governed national disability membership organization and Chief Operating Officer of a major voluntary sector provider of substance misuse treatment services. He has led transformational change projects, developed, and monitored strategic plans, understands how barriers to the creation of shared visions can be overcome and has a particular expertise in stakeholder engagement and social value analysis.
He has worked hard to deliver real user involvement in charity governance, recognising that going beyond tokenism requires organisational commitment and investment in structured support mechanisms. He believes that monitoring organisational effectiveness is critically dependent on clear feedback and the backbone of structured outcome-focused strategic plans. His strategic ‘antennae’ have also been sharpened through the insight and skills gained by assisting organisations to understand their social impact and as importantly, to consider what strategic actions they need to consider as a result of understanding the social value they create.
Currently William is Chair of trustees at Directory of Social Change (a national charity which supports an independent voluntary sector through campaigning, training, funding, information and publications); Chair of the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire & Berkshire West (BOB) VSCE Health Alliance; Thames Valley Cancer Alliance Executive Board member and PPG Chair; trustee (and inaugural Chair) of a successful Multi-Academy Educational Trust, a Leisure Centre social business and the Pavement (a small homelessness charity); and a Member of the Council of Governors of Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
