Induction Training

VANEL run an “Induction and Refresher” training session for newer or more inexperienced trustees.  It’s an ideal starter if you are unfamiliar with the role, or perhaps into your first role as a charity trustee. 

It can even be useful if you are joining a board or committee that is not formally a charity (hence you are not a legal ‘trustee’ and some charity law will not apply), but it is primarily aimed at Charities.

The session is just two hours long and gives you a simple but in-depth introduction to everything you need to know.

As part of the Young Leaders project we will be able to subsidise this course by 100% for young people on your boards who you would like to put through the training.
If you are aged 18-25 and interested in the course then talk to us about booking.  Or if you are a charity with younger people on your board we can also discuss whether their places will be free.

But the sessions are open to any board members, trustees, directors of any age (but the fees will apply).

The next dates for the “Induction and Refresher Training for Trustees” are:

Friday 23rd September 2016, 10am-12noon at VANEL offices, Grimsby
Tuesday 18th October 2016, 3-5pm at VANEL offices.


More about the session

Over the course of two hours we’ll help you to understand the role of a trustee or committee member a bit better, so you know what you should and shouldn’t do, how you need to behave and what you need to do to be effective.

This short, introductory course is a great start for anyone joining a board for the first time (or needing a refresher). If you’ve been in the role for a while, then hopefully you already know what you’re supposed to be doing!

If you can’t make one of the sessions, then here’s a quick run-down of some resources that you should take a look at if you are a new Trustee or Committee Member. With a bit of luck your organisation should have introduced you to most of these during the induction process, but you may have missed some. We’ll cover these resources in the training session too.

About Trusteeship

Don’t forget:
If you are on the board of a registered charity then you are likely to be a Trustee, and the Charity Commission covers what you do.
If your organisation is also a limited company then you could be a Company Director as well, and will be addressed by Companies House and company law.
If your organisation is constituted but not necessarily a charity, then you are a Committee Member but not necessarily a Trustee, and your constitution or governing documents will be an important place to start reading.

Here’s an overview of the legal duties of a Trustee on the KnowHowNonProfit website:http://knowhownonprofit.org/leadership/governance/board-responsibilities/legal-duties-of-trustees

The Charity Commission website is here https://www.gov.uk/running-charity/trustee-role-board  with information about the Trustee role and managing the board. Their overview here https://www.gov.uk/charity-trustee-whats-involved  is a good place to start.

Every Trustee should start by making themselves aware of the “Essential Trustee”. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-essential-trustee-what-you-need-to-know-cc3

As part of a board or committee, you should be seriously looking at how your entire board works – it’s governance approach – and what your part is in this process. One good tool for this is the voluntary Code of Good Governance:  http://www.governancecode.org/

This sets out principles etc that you and the committee/board should be following. You can use the code in many ways (we cover this during our training), but in my opinion every Trustee should be knowledgeable about the code.

There’s obviously a lot more detail in being a competent, safe and effective Trustee, but at the very least you should be familiar with all those resources above.

Course Practicalities

Sessions are currently held at VANEL offices in Grimsby at the Willows, 23 Bargate, DN34 4SS (unless otherwise stated).

Please book your place via Karl Elliott, karl@vanel.org.uk, or 01472 361043

The cost of this session is currently being kept very low – £15 per person for Member or Friend organisations or £20 for individuals from other organisations. (Or Free for Young Leaders – see notes above).

What’s in the course?

During the two hour training course we will help Trustees learn:

what they must do
what they should do
what they could do
how to behave
how to be useful to the organisation
how to learn and develop themselves and gain from trusteeship
how to get support
how to work as an individual trustee but also as part of the team
and more…

We’ll take a look at:

Trusteeship – both an opportunity and a responsibility
The legal trustee
The principled trustee
The purposeful trustee
The well behaved trustee
The skilled trustee
The effective trustee
The supported trustee

To book or for further information, please contact us.