What does the trustee board do?
All trustee board members are charity trustees and are responsible to the group scout council for the effective management of the scout group. They address all aspects of good stewardship and it is a role not to be taken on lightly.
There are reasons why a person may be ineligible to hold the position of a charity trustee. The group chair needs to be assured that everyone who is invited or offers to become a trustee is eligible. Click here to find out more.
The board is responsible for looking after the groups:
legal issues (charity issues, property deeds, insurance, etc.);
Finances (accounts, budgeting, cash flow, investments, etc.),
Records (minutes, correspondence, accounts, etc.).
The Group Lead Volunteer appoints the Group Chair of the Board (although it is a good idea to sound out other members of your group's teams as to whom you wish to appoint), and work closely with them to manage the group’s affairs.
The board is responsible for ensuring that the section teams have the necessary equipment, resources, materials and funds to provide an exciting, vibrant safe programmes.
Who is who?
Membership of the trustee board is agreed by the group council at the group’s annual general meeting. The group lead volunteer can nominate members, others can be elected by the group council and others can be co-opted.
All members of the trustee board are there to represent the interests of the young people and sections.
The district and county may attend board meetings, but unless invited specially or there are major difficulties, it is unlikely anyone would attend unannounced.
Doing its Job:
The trustee board will probably need to meet regularly to discuss issues to plan for the management and support the development of the group four to six times a year is a good number of meetings.
The group chair will manage these meetings and work to an agenda. A key skill needed by your chair will be the ability to run effective meetings.
Sub-committees
Sub‐committees can reduce the core workload of the board. For example, a finance sub-committee can report on its progress, meetings and plans. Which means the board meeting does not have to concern itself with the detail of any the groups finances, just the headlines and any decisions that need to be made.