Scorpio Community Development Arrives

In this episode we take about motivation and keeping positive during challenges.

This episode dips into the world of fundraising for your charity. We take a look at a few ideas to raise money to support your charity

This episode takes a look into the roles within the charity and give a glimpse into responsibility.

What is the Role of the Chairperson?

Chairing is a key role on any voluntary Management Committee. The Chairperson must ensure that the Management Committee functions properly, that there is full participation during meetings, that all relevant matters are discussed and that effective decisions are made and carried out.

The role of a Chairperson is time consuming, with work between meetings, external representation of the organisation, and work with staff. Chairing a large organisation requires diplomatic and leadership skills of a high level.

Main duties of the chairperson

The responsibilities of a Chairperson can be summarised under five areas:

1. To provide leadership.

The overarching role of the chairperson is to provide leadership, they must be an effective strategist and a good networker.

2. To ensure the Management Committee functions properly.

The Chairperson is responsible for making sure that each meeting is planned effectively, conducted according to the constitution and that matters are dealt with in an orderly, efficient manner. The Chairperson must make the most of all his/her committee members, building and leading the team. This also involves regularily reviewing the Committee's performance and identifying and managing the process for renewal of the Committee through recruitment of new members.

3. To ensure the organisation is managed effectively.

The Chairperson must co-ordinate the Committee to ensure that appropriate policies and procedures are in place for the effective management of the organisation.

4. To provide support and supervision to the chief officer and senior team.

The Chairperson will often be the direct line manager for the chief officer

5. To represent the organisation as its figurehead.

The Chairperson may from time to time be called upon to represent the organisation and sometimes be its spokesperson at, for example, functions or meetings.

A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations in which the personal interest of an individual or organization might adversely affect a duty owed to make decisions for the benefit of a third party.

The presence of a conflict of interest is independent of the occurrence of Inappropriateness. Therefore, a conflict of interest can be discovered and voluntarily defused before any corruption occurs. A conflict of interest exists if the circumstances are reasonably believed (on the basis of past experience and objective evidence) to create a risk that a decision may be unduly influenced by other, secondary interests, and not on whether a particular individual is actually influenced by a secondary interest.

About charitable purposes

The Charities Act 2011 defines a charitable purpose, explicitly, as one that falls within 13 descriptions of purposes and is for the public benefit.

Descriptions of purposes

The list of ‘descriptions of purposes’ in the Charities Act 2011 describe broad areas of potentially charitable activity.

Each item listed is a description or ‘head’ of charity rather than a fully-stated charitable purpose in itself. Under each of the descriptions lie a range of purposes, all of which fit the description, but each of which is a different purpose in its own right. The list of descriptions, taken as a whole with the purposes that underlie each description, encompasses everything that has, or may be, recognised as charitable in England and Wales.

There is no automatic presumption that an organisation with a stated aim that falls within one of the descriptions of purposes is charitable. To be a ‘charitable purpose’ it must be for the public benefit. This has to be demonstrated in each case.

In some cases, a charity may wish to adopt the wording of one of the descriptions of purposes as its stated aim. That may be acceptable where it is clear that what is being advanced is a charitable purpose for the public benefit.

However, in many cases, the wording used in these broad descriptions of purposes can have more than one meaning, and not all of those meanings are purposes that the law has recognised as charitable. In some cases, the wording used may not make it sufficiently clear what the organisation has been set up to do. Where that is the case, further clarification may need to be added to ensure that the purpose that is to be advanced is one that is exclusively, and unambiguously, charitable. The commission will consider each case on its own merits.

In episode three Governing Documents are discussed. Objects, Powers and terminology discussion. A revisit of terminology and structure of charity entities.

This session gives an insight into the set up of a charity and the structures used.

Introduction to Trustees Training for those new to the role or those just brushing up on existing knowledge. In this episode we talk about what a trustee is and their roles and responsibilities.

Escape the nightmare of entertaining the young ones this summer holidays in Salford. For 4 weeks we are operating a movie club from 9am - 3pm Monday to Friday. It includes breakfast, a full dinner with fruit and drinks throughout. Don’t miss out. Book at [email protected]