Governance & trusteeship

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Advice and guidance - support for trustees and those who work with boards and committees
Downloads, briefings and best practice from CLB

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Covering a wide range of topics from national news to volunteer best practice, there will be something for every trustee board.

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Advice and guidance

National

Looking for guidance and information on trusteeship, committee and governance issues? There are two national websites were you can find a wealth of advice, information and guidance.

Governance Pages
This new site created by arvac (Association for research in voluntary and community sector) with Big Lottery funding is a comprehensive guide to governance issues. It provides Information on governance and management committees for community groups and small voluntary organisations. There are answers over 100 common questions on governance, includes quick guides on popular topics like recruiting new committee members, and has a selection of editable model documents. As a resource it is also ideal for your development workers and those supporting governance in any capacity. The site has no ads and is free to users. Visit the Governance Pages.
NCVO hosting the Governance Hub's resources The Governance Hub closed on 31 March 2008. So that you have easy access to the Hub’s resources they have been transferred to the Governance and Leadership section of NCVO’s website. Visit NCVO's website at www.ncvo_vol.org.uk. If you have a query that you feel could be answered by an NCVO governance advisor please call 0800 2 798 798.

Resources from the key partners behind National Trustees week

For information about the organisations behind Trustees’ Week, visit www.trusteesweek.org.uk or the websites of the organisations themselves:

The Charity Commission – www.charitycommission.gov.uk
CTN - www.trusteenet.org.uk/homepage
Getting on Board - www.gettingonboard.org
ICAEW - www.icaew.com/volunteering
NCVO - www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/governanceandleadership
Reach Volunteering - www.reachskills.org.uk

Free newsletter for chairs and trustees from Charity Trustees Networks (CTN)

CTN produces a free trustees’ newsletter and a free Chairs’ newsletter, as well as various on-line forums, peer support opportunities and more. Very useful and worth signing up to – membership is free. Visit the www.trusteenet.org.uk/resources for the links to the newsletters and the full range of other resources.

Local - support from Community Links Bromley

We do have a number of staff who can offer limited specialist advice in this ares. Please complete our web enquiry form and one of the team will contact you within 5 working days.

In order to support your research we have provided downloadable briefings, factsheets and model documents. And CLB has a Community Library with over 500 titles, including The Good Trustee Guide.

Downloads, briefings and best practice from CLB

Please follow the links:

New trustees induction pack
New trustees induction - training materials
Briefings and model documents
Running meetings
Insurance

New trustees induction pack

Who are trustees? Trustees, management committee members, directors...what's the difference? In this pack, we use the term 'trustee' to mean a voting member of the governing body of an organisation. You may use a different term, like committee member.

Trustees take ultimate responsibility for an organisation. In a charity, a trustee is defined as someone responsible for 'the general control and management of the administration of a charity' (Charities Act, 1993, section 97)

Thanks to the Governance Hub for funding this pack and the associated events:

Induction pack - cover - 115 KB

Induction pack - contents page - 37 KB

Example letter of introduction welcoming a new trustee - 22 KB

Example page for a new trustee to sign - 23 KB

Duties and responsibilities of trustees ** UPDATED ** - 59 KB

A beginner's guide to becoming a trustee - 261 KB - a short, straightforward guide to trusteeship, ideal for a new or prospective trustee to give them an idea of the roles and responsibilities involved.

Example role description for a trustee - 40 KB

Example skills audit - 73 KB - This short questionnaire can be completed by new and existing board members to identify skills and gaps.

Example induction programme for a new trustee - 54 KB - This factsheet contains an induction pack checklist and a suggestion set of headings for a new trustee's induction programme.

Charity Commission - The Essential Trustee - a new booklet that concentrates more on the legal aspects of trusteeship and is useful if you want to be clear about what you 'must' do as a trustee.

The Code of Governance for Voluntary and Community Organisations - - from the National Governance Hub. This detailed document is an agreed set of principles of good governance (agreed by the main national voluntary and community sector associations) and you could use it as a checklist for your governance operations.

Sources of further information for trustees - 28 KB