Support group launched for charity chairs

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Support group launched for charity chairs10

Governance | Andrew Hind CB | 12 Oct 2012

A new support group for charity chairs was launched in London this week at a meeting hosted in the Charity Commission’s offices at Millbank.

Provisionally referred to as an independent ‘Institute of Chairs’, the initiative is the brainchild of governance expert Ruth Lesirge and Rosalind Oakley, chair of Charities Evaluation Services.

An invited audience of 25 chairs and chief executives was addressed by John Gladwin, chair of Citizens Advice, who said that he knew from personal experience that being the chair of a charity could be an isolated role.

“Chairs are on their own,” he said, “there is no support body for them.”

Gladwin, who is also a former chair of Christian Aid, made the case that, at a time when society is making greater calls than ever on the services that charities can offer, it is essential to find new ways of strengthening the support that is available to trustees, and in particular chairs.

Lesirge added that, as well as providing peer-to-peer support and improving the skill-set of chairs, she hoped the new Institute would be a source of research to demonstrate the close linkage she believes exists between “good chairing and the effective delivery of social change”.

British Red Cross chief executive, Sir Nicholas Young, said that he had been involved in several attempts to launch such a group over the past ten years, and felt that this was a timely initiative.

Charity Commission chief executive, Sam Younger, also welcomed the launch of the new body, as did a number of charity chairs who were present to express their support. They included Alan Craft from the Scout Association, Alice Maynard from Scope and Ed Smith, chairman of WWF UK.

Free seminars: Reputational risk - the role of the chair

To mark Trustees’ Week Governance magazine and Farrer & Co will be hosting three FREE seminars to bring together chairs of major charities with common interests to discuss how to prevent and control reputational risk. Each group will be led by an experienced chair who will begin the seminar with remarks about his own experience in this area.

For more details and to book email jenni.cahill@civilsociety.co.uk or call 020 7819 1210

Mon 5 Nov - Trusts & Foundations (chair Sir Roger Singleton, The Diana Fund)
Tues 6 Nov - International charities (chair Andrew Purkis, ActionAid)
Wed 7 Nov - Religious charities (chair Peter Jeffries, Urban Saints)

Place a comment

Neil Hartwell
Chair
Community Energy Plus
5 Dec 2012

I'd be interested in taking part, as long as the group is not too London-centric. Cornwall is a long way away from the Great Wen.

To satisfy the needs of our client base we have to maintain key relationships with our Council, and Central Government policies for Fuel Poverty are in flux.
It is hard to keep a team motivated team to go for our aspirations when they are so busy hanging on by their fingertips

[Reply]

Alison Marshall
Chair
Childrens Rights Alliance England
30 Oct 2012

New Group for Chairs sounds good - how can I join and get more information?

[Reply]

John Colquhoun
Chairman of Trustees
Barnwood Trust
24 Oct 2012

I would wish the focus to be on supporting chairs in their roles of leading and harnessing the knowledge and experience of their trustees, and of supporting and challenging the chief executive.

[Reply]

Elaine Willis
Chair
The Beth Johnson Foundation
15 Oct 2012

I agree with Martin and Gerald - the issues for smaller charities of around £1m are very different to the larger ones cited in the text. I hope the Institute will have something to offer us as well especially in these times of reorientation and change.

[Reply]

Andrew Malin
15 Oct 2012

This does sound like an interesting initiative, and I like the suggestion about smaller charities. For smaller charities, a regional focus may also be helpful.

[Reply]

Martin Shaw
Chair
Haringey Shed
12 Oct 2012

This sounds a good idea - BUT he might like to consider a separate group for Chairs of smaller charities - say with a turnover of under £1 million. Smaller charities have different agendas and issues.

[Reply]

Gerald Oppenheim
Chair of the Trustees
The Camden Society
12 Oct 2012

I'd like to know more about the new Institute as well, very welcome initiative. I hope though it will not be dominated by the very largest charities.

[Reply]

Stewart Crocker
Chair
Think Global
12 Oct 2012

I'm delighted to learn about this group. I'd like to learn, to share ideas and to contribute from my experience. Please could you tell me how I can join the group

[Reply]

Andrew Mills
Chair of Trustee Board
Carers in Hertfordshire
12 Oct 2012

Please keep me informed about the new support group for chairs. My main interest is to have the opportunity to share experiences and ideas with the chairs of other charities that are highly dependent upon statutory core funding - particularly in the social care field.

[Reply]

Chris Robinson
Board administrator
Association of Chairs
14 Jan 2013
Response to [Andrew Mills]

Thank you for your interest. Since our event on October 10th, we have been developing a website. This is progressing well and will include an email address so that people can make direct contact with us.

We took into account comments on the name of the organisation: as of November 9 2012, we have incorporated with the name ‘Association of Chairs’; charity registration is now in hand.

The board will be having an away day in January to tackle, amongst other things, finalising our vision and values; updating our action plan for the year ahead and refining our thinking on what we will be offering to members, and how.

I have noted your particular interests. If you'd like to join our mailing list, please email me at the address above.

Best wishes for 2013
Chris

[Reply]

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