The Group Trustee Board is responsible for the governance of the charity. Although the Group Trustee Board is responsible for the charity, it is accountable to the Group Scout Council.
Good governance focusses on oversight and strategy and maintains focus on supporting and assuring the organisation’s strategic goals.
The Group Trustee Board is a team of volunteers who work together, as charity Trustees, to make sure the Scouts is run safely and legally. At the heart of their role is a focus on strategy, performance and assurance.
Trustees must collectively:
- ensure that the Group is carrying out its purposes for the public benefit
- comply with the Group’s governing document and the law
- act in the Group’s best interests
- manage the Group’s resources responsibly
- act with reasonable care and skill
Responsibilities for the Board include:
- Complying with the Policy, Organisation and Rules of The Scout Association.
- develop and maintain a risk register, including putting in place appropriate mitigations
- the maintenance of the Group’s property and equipment
- ensure that the Group’s finances are properly managed, including development and maintenance of appropriate budgets to support the work of the Group
- the insurance of persons, property and equipment
- ensure that effective administration is in place to support the work of the Group Trustee Board
- take responsibility for the Group’s adherence to Data Protection Legislation recognising that, dependent on circumstances, it will at different times act as a Data Controller and as a Data Processor
- put in place annually an open and transparent selection process to recommend to the Group Scout Council appropriate members to be appointed members of the Group Trustee Board, including Chair and Treasurer.
- Appointing and managing the operation of any sub- Committees, including appointing Chairs to lead the sub-Committees.
- Ensuring that Young People are meaningfully involved in decision making at all levels within the Group.
Members of the Group Board of Trustees
The Group Trustee Board should comprise a maximum of 12 Trustees (the total of all ex officio, appointed and co-opted Trustee Categories), with a minimum of five Trustees The maximum number of Trustees is agreed by the Group Scout Council at our AGM.
Each ex officio, appointed and co-opted member of the Group Trustee Board is a charity Trustee of the Group.
The Group Executive consists of some people who are members because of their role in Scouting (the ex-officio members), these are:
- Group Lead Volunteer (Group Scout Leader)
- There is only one ex officio Trustee role for a Group Lead Volunteer, so where there are joint role holders for Group Lead Volunteer, the role holders must decide, in discussion the Group Chair, which of them will be the ex officio Trustee.
In addition to the ex-officio members, there are two other groups of people who may be trustees of the Group:
| Name | Role | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Jenny Barrowcliff | Appointed | Chair Person |
| Karen Foggin | Ex-officio | Group Lead Volunteer |
| Sue Rosbottom | Appointed | Treasurer |
| Gary Austin | Elected | Secretary |
| James Barrowcliff | Elected | Member |
| Maxine Beckett | Elected | Member |
| Eliot Cooper | Elected | Member |
| Paul McLoughlin | Elected | Member |
- appointed members – these are appointed by the Group Council at the Annual General Meeting. This should follow a selection process initiated and overseen by the Group Trustee Board. There are normally four to six of them;
- co-opted members – these are co-opted annually by the Group Trustee Board and there must be no more than the number of appointed trustees (excluding chair and treasurer).
The membership is set up this way to ensure that the interests of the Group Council and the Group Lead Volunteer are represented, and balanced. The co-opted members are often used to bring particular skills into the Trustee Board, perhaps because of a particular project that is being undertaken or task that is being tackled.
All members (ex-officio, appointed and co-opted) are Charity Trustees of the 10th Widnes Scout Group which is registered as a non-profit making charity with the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
Resources
- The Trustee Board Factsheet
- AGM Documents
