Birketts Charities Team

Less than a week to go until the first session of 🌟 The Confident Trustee 🌟 . Delighted to share that we already have nearly 120 bookings. It takes dedication to be a #charitytrustee and an extra commitment to invest time in developing your leadership skills as a trustee. Fran Borg-Wheeler and I are looking forward to welcoming our first cohort to share our insights and experiences from the multiple perspectives we have had. We know there'll be great peer learning, too - there always is! The programme is designed as 'pick and mix' training to help new trustees understand the role and to provide refresher training for experienced trustees. Operational colleagues who support trustees are also most welcome. The 7 'pick and mix' sessions will cover: ✴️ First principles - six core duties and why being a trustee is like no other role ✴️ Being an effective trustee - a deeper look at the role, how to make a difference and where to find support ✴️ Successful board - SLT relationships - the difference between the two functions and how to work well together ✴️ Confident decision-making - understanding individual and collective responsibilities that will help your board make robust decisions ✴️ Health board dynamics - small group behaviour, how to sustain a health board culture and the part you can play ✴️ Developing yourself as a trustee - exploring your leadership style, identifying your strengths and enjoying the role ✴️ Knowing when to leave - helping with succession planning and passing on your legacy It's accessibly priced at £66 per session, and you get to choose which are most relevant at this point in your trusteeship journey. Thrilled with the number who have signed up for the whole programme. Still time to join our first cohort. Details and booking links are in the comments below. ⬇️ A massive thank you to Birketts LLP and Eastside People for sponsoring fully funded places to encourage those from under-represented groups to take up a trusteeship role. Thrilled to be working with our kind sponsors to deliver on our combined mission to ensure that trustees are well supported to carry out their role with confidence and even greater impact.

As part of Charity Fraud Awareness Week, the Charity Commission for England and Wales has published "a refreshed suite of guidance to help trustees protect their charities from fraud and cyber crime". https://lnkd.in/eH4dk2Gq? The guides follow the Commission's new style for its guidance, being shorter and simpler with the aim of engaging more trustees. The new guidance emphasises the "importance of establishing an internal culture of fraud and cyber crime awareness". The refreshed suite of guidance on 'Internal financial controls for charities: protect your charity from fraud and loss (CC8)' includes guidance on: 🔒 Why you need internal financial controls and what to address ✋ Top tips on how to protect your charity from fraud 👉 What to do if you discover or suspect fraud ✅ A useful practical checklist to use when reviewing policies https://lnkd.in/evRi2KGB Additionally, the Commission has updated its guidance on how to 'Protect your charity from cyber crime', which the Commission explains "is a key area of concern for many organisations that handle money and personal data" with the most common issue experienced by charities being phishing attempts. The guidance covers: ❓ What is cyber crime ❗ Why you charity is at risk from cyber crime ⌨️ The different types of cyber crime 🔓 How to reduce risks to your charity 👍 Links to further guidance, training, services and tools 👉 How to respond to a cyber attack and how to report cyber crime https://lnkd.in/eZqa7CAQ If you missed our recent free bitesize webinar on cyber security, delivered by guest speaker Simon Holden, founder of CyBur Ltd, you can watch it on our YouTube channel here: https://lnkd.in/e8qgrXuV

With the publication of the statutory inquiry report into The Captain Tom Foundation by the Charity Commission for England and Wales yesterday, I had a busy day commenting on the findings. I also feature in a BBC documentary on the story now available to watch on iplayer: https://lnkd.in/e9akpM2u If you missed me speaking on the radio, you can watch videos of a couple of my interviews on YouTube: The Sun (I’m on from about 2 mins 55 through to the end of the video): https://lnkd.in/eGtUirr8 Times Radio interview with Hugo Rifkind: https://lnkd.in/eba2X3Br You can also listen to my interview with Nick Ferrari on LBC via the Global Player app (I was on at around 7:43am). Finally, I’ve provided some commentary for the Times and if you receive their daily briefing, I’m quoted in article number 4 in their list of top stories for today. I will be writing an article for the Birketts LLP website providing more detailed commentary on the findings and lessons to be learned for the sector. Philanthropy is hugely important for the charity sector and, done well, can make an enormous positive impact. But people need to understand their duties as charity trustees before getting started. There is lots of training available, including a fantastic new programme of training by Claris D'cruz and Fran Borg-Wheeler - The Confident Trustee - which I’m very proud to say is being sponsored by Birketts in recognition of the huge difference it makes for charities to be well governed by trustees who understand their role and responsibilities. Watch this space for more details about The Confident Trustee programme! p.s. if you do watch the Times Radio interview, watch out for Hugo’s interesting pronunciation of “Birketts” 😂🫣

Christmas wreath making with the Birketts Charities Team. I think we did ok! Liz Brownsell, Jennifer Marley, Louisa Saunders, Hannah Harbottle, Amy Bradburne, Helen Horslen, David Upton, Reggie Singh, Kye Strowbridge, Jessica Bowers

❓ Take it or leave it: the ethics of gift acceptance and refusal Rogare, a fundraising think tank, has released a new paper with the above title, which is intended to accompany the Chartered Institute of Fundraising and Charity Commission's guidance. Well worth a read 📕 https://lnkd.in/eAH5ye8W

🎉As #Trusteesweek draws to a close, we join with others to thank the dedicated individuals committing their time, energy and expertise to the charity sector.   💪 Largely unpaid, often unseen and rarely thanked, trustees carry a huge responsibility for driving forward the work of charities.   👍 Encouragingly, most trustees see their work as hugely rewarding and 8 out of 10 would recommend being a trustee to others.   🤝 Equally encouragingly, the Charity Commission's CEO David Holdsworth, said in a speech (https://lnkd.in/eJDA5WSr) celebrating trustees this week, "We’ve been working with Pro Bono Economics on research to better understand who trustees are, and what their skills are. We intend to use the findings to help us better support trustees through the advice and guidance we provide."   When the social media noise ends this week, we understand that your work as trustees continues. We continue to celebrate you and thank you, and we commit to using our time, energy and expertise to supporting you whenever you need it. 👏

The new duty to prevent sexual harassment The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 came into effect on 26 October 2024. The Act introduces a legal duty for employers to proactively take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment. It was recently reported that four out of five charities are concerned about the new duty, which requires proactive steps to be taken. If you are uncertain about how to prepare, you might be interested in our Employment Team's upcoming webinar on 12 November. Link to sign up below. https://lnkd.in/eJaAtWrm

Charities and conflicts of interest: is the guidance clear enough? An article by Liz Brownsell that was first published in New York Law Journal is now available on our website. https://lnkd.in/e8XCzx5z In this article, Liz examines the recent case of Goodband v Charity Commission in which Suzanne Goodband appealed the Commission's decision to disqualify her. Liz explores the issues in the wider context of the increase in regulatory action by the Commission on issues relating to mismanagement of conflicts or personal benefit issues and asks the question: is the guidance in this area clear enough? You can read the original New Law Journal article here: https://lnkd.in/esDr78pc

Charity trustee disputes and the importance of resilient governance As with most relationships, no one ever thinks people are going to fall out until they do. When this happens amongst charity trustees, the consequences for a charity, its work and its beneficiaries can be significant, long-lasting, expensive and hugely disruptive. Jennifer Marley has written an article on this topic, in which she focuses on the recent high profile dispute at the Actors' Benevolent Fund and provides top tips on how to avoid disputes escalating within your charity. https://lnkd.in/efwVcqnV #charity #trusteedisputes #disputeresolution #charitydisputes #actorsbenevolentfund

What has Labour's first 100 days meant for Charities? In this short article, we look at where the new government has captured the attention of the sector and where the jury is still out. https://lnkd.in/ez2Hptpi