Trustee Recruitment Pack

Trustee Recruitment Pack

Contents

1.Advertisement

2.Recruitment Process

3.Description of the Charity and its Activities...... 4

4.Objects and Aims of Richard Cloudesley’s Charity

5.Role Description for a Trustee...... 6

6.What we are looking for in our New Trustee

7.Structure, Governance and Management

8.Trustee Vacancies – Further Information

9.Application to join the Board of Trustees...... 14

10.Equal Opportunities Monitoring (Optional)...... 17

Trustee Recruitment Pack – February 2015

1.Advertisement

Trustee Required for Charity in Islington (Voluntary)

Richard Cloudesley’s Charitywas endowed by the will of Richard Cloudesley made on 13th January 1517 and for nearly 500 years has worked to carry out his original intentions throughservingthe churches and the needs of sick and poor people in the Ancient Parish of Islington.

The Charity gives grants to address poverty and ill health - including mental ill health and disability - both to local organisations working with people who are in ill health and financial need and to help individual local residents. Grants are also made to 21 Church of England Churches in the “area of benefit”, i.e. what was the ancient parish of St Mary, Islington and is now the present London Borough of Islington excluding areas south of Chapel Market and City Road. More about this can be found on our website:

We believe it to be very important that all trustees have a professional or strong personal interest in the Charity’s mission and can contribute to this through their knowledge and experience. The Charity’s governing documents require all trustees to have a good knowledge of Islington and its communities through living or working in the area.

The Charity has a corporate trustee, Richard Cloudesley Trustee Ltd. Board members are called Trustees, and we are now seeking to recruit at leastone new Trustee. The Charity is particularly keen to appoint someone with strong financial services experience who is likely to be currently, or have recently been, involved with investment management,to add to the existing investment experience on the Board. Richard Cloudesley’s Charity values diversity and is keen to achieve a more diverse body of Trustees.

Successful applicants will be expected to have a good understanding of the principles which govern UK charities, experience of strategic planning (in the business or not-for-profit sector), as well as experience of setting goals and monitoring their achievement. Other details are set out elsewhere in the recruitment pack.

You will find more information about the Charity, details of the appointment and how to apply on our website: by email from , or by telephone on 020 7697 4220.

Closing date for receipt of applications: Thursday 26th February 2015, 9.00am

2.Recruitment Process

All applicants are requested to submit a completed application form (see Section 9) and current CV. The deadline for receipt of applications is 9.00am on Thursday 26th February 2015. Please submit your application by email, if possible, to the Charity’s Director at:

Following shortlisting, selected applicants will be invited to an interview with the Charity’s Appointments Groupon Monday 9th March at the Charity’s office. Before the formal interview, shortlisted applicants are encouraged to contact the Director if they have any questions about the role or the Charity.

We are currently seeking to recruit at least one elected Trustee. Following interview, we may invite selected applicants to join the Board immediately. It is also possible that an applicant may be invited to serve on one of the Charity’s committees in an advisory capacity, either on an ongoing basis or until another elected trustee vacancy becomes available. This could be explored further at interview.

All applications will be acknowledged, whether the applicant is invited to an interview or not.

3.Description of the Charity and its Activities

In 1517 the will of Richard Cloudesley bequeathed the Stoney Field of 14 acres to Trustees, the proceeds of which were to be charitably bestowed. This original bequest has been maintained over nearly 500 years to become what is today Richard Cloudesley's Charity. Using the fascinating will as a guide, the Trustees have sought over the years to uphold Richard Cloudesley’s wishes, which included bequests to the poor as well as providing for prayers to be said for his soul.

Today the Charity operates under a Charity Commission Scheme and is a significant grant-making charity in the Borough of Islington, which demonstrates extremes of wealth and poverty. In keeping with its purposes, the Charity seeks to address the effects of poverty and ill-health within the borough, not simply through the giving of money, but as a catalytic and creative grant maker.

The Charity's grant-making activities are split into two equal halves. Through its Health and Welfare Grants programmes, it continues to help sick residentsliving in poverty. Through its Church Grants programme, it supports the Church of England churches in the area of benefit. In its grant-making, the Charity seeks to be strategic and also to ensure its funding makes a positive impact.As an independent grant maker it seeks to be a supportive and creative funder of local organisations – for instance,by providing initial funding that may allow an organisation to attract additional resources or by granting core funding that a small local charity may have difficulty raising.

The Charity is a founder member of Islington Giving, a campaign started by a group of Islington-based charities to promote local philanthropy. Islington Giving asks residents and businesses to give what they can, be it money or time, to make a real difference to the borough's community. This successful joint activity has already raised a very considerable amount of extra resources for the borough. The three themes of the campaign —tackling poverty, combating isolation and investing in young people —parallel the aims and objectives of the Charity.

In its nearly 500 years of operation in Islington, the Charity has worked to meet the wishes of Richard Cloudesley. It expects to continue to work strategically and creatively to tackle these issues into the future.

In recent years, the Charity has undergone a period of considerable change: setting up an office in the borough and employing its own staff for the first time. Over the past two years, the Charity has been reviewing a number of areas of its operation, including grant-making programmes, financial systems, estate management and investments.

4.Objects and Aims of Richard Cloudesley’s Charity

Rather unusually for a modern Charity the Scheme which governs it does not set out objectives but merely describes how the net income is to be distributed.

Clause 28 of the Governing Scheme of 2 July 1980 reads as follows:

28. Application of income. - (1) Subject as aforesaid the Trustees shall apply the income of the investments for the time being representing the investments and cashspecified in Part II of the schedule hereto and one half of the residue of the yearly income of the Charity for relief in sickness in accordance with the provisionshereinafter contained.

(2) The Trustees shall apply the other half of the residue of the said yearly income in making grants of such amount as the Trustees think fit towards the upkeep and repair of the fabric of, and the maintenance of the services in, the Parish Church of the Ecclesiastical Parish of St. Silas Pentonville and any churches of theChurch of England in the area of the Ancient Parish of Islington.

Clause 29 makes it clear that the payments made under clause 28(1) have to be made for the benefit of those who are in financialneed. There is an attachment to the Scheme which, whilst it has no legal force, was agreed with the Charity Commission at the same time and sets out a wide range of things which can be done to support those who are sick and poor, both directly and indirectly through organisations.

Over the last two years, the Trustees have been working to developprogrammes for both its funding areas which clearly describe what the Charityexpectsto be achieved with each grant. Programmes will continue to be reviewed in line with changing circumstances and local needs.

At 30th June 2014, the Charity heldassets of over £44 million. During 2014/15, the Charity has a grants budgetof £900,000.

5.Role Description for a Trustee

Richard Cloudesley Trustee Ltd is the sole corporate trustee of Richard Cloudesley’s Charity, and is responsible for the proper management and administration of the Charity. As members of the Company’s Board of Trustees, the Trustees have the roles and responsibilities set below.

The following is an extract from the Trustees’ Standing Orders:

Part 1 – General Role Description of a member of the Board of Trustees

Strategic: This involves:
ensuring that the Charity pursues its charitable objectives as set out in the governing instruments;
defining and approving the Charity’s Mission and Values, the Aims and Objectives arising from these, and arriving at appropriate strategic and policy decisions to take them forward;

Stewardship – to have responsibility for the Charity’s assets, their presentation and exploitation, and assessing and managing risks;

Monitoring – to oversee the effective management of the Charity and the delivery of its activity including selecting and supporting the Director or other managers of any executive functions of the Charity;

Governance – ensuring that the Charity’s business is effectively conducted, that appropriate standards of governance are in place and that, if one is adopted, the Code of Governance is followed; and

Promotion of and advocacy for the Charity to external partners/stakeholders.

Part 2 – The Charity’s Expectations of a Trustee

The Trustees, and committees acting on their behalf, act together as a group and what follows is intended to reinforce this.

Members of the Charity’s Board of Trustees will be expected to:

Ensure the Trustee Company and the Charity comply with the law and Charity Commission requirements;
Know, understand and support the Charity’s mission, goals, policies, programmes, services, strengths, and needs;
At all times when acting as a Trustee to act exclusively in the best interests of the Charity and to the exclusion of the interests of any nominator, beneficiary or any other person or body;
Participate in the decision making of the Company to:
Ensure that all decisions comply with the framework of the governing documents of the Company and the Charity;
Subject to such compliance, to support the majority decision on issues decided by the board;
Ensure the financial strength of the Charity and oversee the investment of its assets;
When there is a vacancy to be filled:
Assist in whatever way appropriate to help fill that vacancy with people knowledgeable about Islington and its issues;
Bring the vacancy to the attentions of people who might be qualified to fill it and organisation who might be able to nominate qualified personnel; assist in any reasonable way to ensure that the Company has available to it at Trustee level the skills it needs and that the board maintains reasonable diversity.
Avoid prejudiced judgements on the basis of incomplete information;
Avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest, and disclose any possible conflicts to the board in a timely fashion and in accordance with the Conflicts of Interest Policy;
Avoid pursuance of personal agenda through membership of the board;
Participate fully in at least one of the committees set up by the board;
Regularly attend meetings of the board and any committee to which that member is appointed and:
give apologies when not able to attend any such meeting;
prepare for meetings, including reading in advance the papers submitted;
participate fully in them including by asking timely and substantive questions and giving views on issues to be decided;
contribute to the preparation for any meeting or the follow up afterwards in any way reasonably requested.
Advise the Chair and/or other members of the board and/or others working for the Charity about:
matters relating to the Charity where this is useful based on personal expertise and knowledge; and
information or interactions which have been received;
Maintain independence and objectivity, and act with a sense of fairness, and personal integrity;
Maintain the confidentiality of the details of the Charity’s business and not to purport to speak on behalf of the Charity unless authorised to so;
Bring a sense of humour to the board's meetings and generally behave in a way which encourages others to participate fruitfully;
Show appropriate respect and politeness to other members, the Director and all others with whom the members may deal in connection with the Charity;
Be fully aware of the Code of Governance if adopted (as updated from time to time) and use all reasonable endeavours to ensure that the business of the Charity is conducted in the way required by it.

(Note: As yet a Code of Governance has not been adopted.)

6.What we are looking for in a New Trustee

Introduction

The formal role description and expectations are set out in Section 5 above. What follows is intended to give more detail of what we are seeking. The Trustee Board has a wide range of skills, experience and attributes and many of those involved hold or have held senior positions in various walks of life. Trustees are keen to see that the group encompasses the range of experience and skills needed to fulfil their general responsibilities as Trustees and is also equipped to identify key challenges and solve problems within the Charity’s areas of operation.

General requirements

Anyone who becomes a trustee is likely to have several of the following:

A good understanding of the principles which govern UK charities
Experience of strategic planning in the business or not-for-profit sectors
Experience of setting goals and monitoring their achievement
Experience of working in groups to develop and implement plans.
A good knowledge of Islington and its communities through living or working in the borough

Individual trustees will have a wide range of skills of a more specialist kind to support the diverse needs of the charity as a whole.

Each Trustee must also be capable of being an enthusiastic ambassador for the Charity. This involves building up knowledge of the work of the Charity and of how it relates to the community it serves.

We value diversity and the Board of Trustees is keen that it reflects the diversity of those who are supported by the Charity and of the area it serves.

Because of the Charity’s size and the responsibilities that its Trustees carry, it is expected that Trustees will have previous experience of having served as a Trustee elsewhere and have a good awareness of what the role entails.

There are normally four Board meetings every year. There are Trustees’ Awaydays every two years, andextra meetings may be called if there is a need. Trustees are expected to attend and participate fully in these. Each Trustee is also expected to serve on and participate fully in at least one of the committees of the Board and to contribute to any working party set up from time to time where his or her skills and interests may be helpful.

A Trustee is a member and director of the companywhich is the corporate trustee of the underlying charity.

Specific skills needed

Having reviewed the skills and experience of currentTrustees we are now hoping to recruit an additional member who has substantialfinancial servicesexperience, preferably working on investment policies and investment management to add to the existing investment experience already on the Charity’s Board. However, we intend to fill the elected trustee vacancy with the best candidate taking account of everything overall.

In your application, we would like to see evidence of how you meet the general requirements mentioned for any trustee and, if relevant,the specific skill area described above. We will be looking for evidence of your own experience, talents and achievements and at any interview will want to explore this with you. In this connection, it would be helpful if at least one of your referees is in a position to confirm specifically from his or her own knowledge some of the information that you provide.

Process

Consideration of applications and the interview process will be directed to making an objective decision as to who, within this broad framework, can make the greatest contribution to the Charity’s current and longer term needs at trustee level.

Trustee Recruitment Pack – February 2015

7.Structure, Governance and Management

The Charity of Richard Cloudesley, which operates under the nameRichard Cloudesley’s Charity, is an unincorporated endowed charity registered at the Charity Commission under registration number 205959. The trustee, appointed by a Charity Commission Scheme of 15 November 2010 is Richard Cloudesley Trustee Limited, company registered under number 7425897.

Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees consists of the following:

Two ex-officio trustees (being the Mayor of Islington and the Vicar of St Mary’s Church, Upper Street, Islington). The term of office lasts for as long as the individual remains in office.
EightNominated Trustees, fournominated by the Islington Borough Council and fourby the Islington Deanery Synod.
Five Elected trustees appointed by the Trustees.

The nominated and elected Trustees serve for four years and may serve up to three terms.

The Board has four regular meeting times a year (normally in the late afternoon on a Wednesday in March, June, September and December). The dates of these will normally be fixed in July for the following calendar year. Trustees are expected to attend these save in special circumstances. Extra meetings will be convened if needed and there is likely to be a Trustees’ Awayday every other year.

Board Committees

The Board of Trustees has established two main standing committees to discharge functions relating to the direction and monitoring of various areas of the Charity:

Finance & Endowment Committee (normally meets quarterly). It has an Estate Sub-Committee which also meets quarterly
GrantsCommittee (normally meets quarterly)

The Committees will have extra meetings if their business requires it.