Trustee Board

The committee members are the decision makers, direction setters and arrangers of the Scouts locally.

The Group Trustee Board exists to support the Group Lead Volunteer; they play a vital role in the running of a Scout Group through making decisions and carry out administrative tasks to ensure that the best quality Scouting can be delivered to young people in the Group. The trustees are elected each year at the Scout Group’s Annual General Meeting. Being a trustee also means being a charity trustee of the Scout Group.

The volunteers that make up the Trustee Board give their time to ensure that the Group continues to meet its charitable purpose: safely and legally. They make sure that there’s enough money for the volunteers to deliver the programme and that equipment like tents and activity materials are available and safe to use.

Our Trustee Board is currently made up of a mix of Ex-officio members, elected members and co-opted members. Elected members are those who put themselves forward to represent the interests of the young people and co-opted members are chosen to take on a role by the Trustee Board due to specific skills or knowledge useful to the board. The Trustee Board usually meet once (sometimes twice) a term for one to two hours to discuss different aspects of the group such as safety, finances, fundraising, leadership, and behaviour.

Members of the Executive Committee must act collectively as charity trustees of the Scout Group, and in the best interests of its members to:

• Comply with the Policy, Organisation and Rules of The Scout Association.
• Protect and maintain any property and equipment owned by and/or used by the Group.
• Manage the Group finances.
• Provide insurance for people, property and equipment.
• Provide sufficient resources for Scouting to operate including supporting recruitment, other adult support, and fundraising activities.
• Promote and support the development of Scouting in the local area.
• Manage and implement the Safety Policy locally.
• Ensure that a positive image of Scouting exists in the local community.
• Appoint and manage the operation of any sub Committees, including appointing Chairmen to lead the sub-Committees.
• Ensure that Young People are meaningfully involved in decision making at all levels within the Group.
• The opening, closure and amalgamation of Sections in the Group as necessary.

The Executive Committee must also:

• Appoint Administrators, Advisers, and Co-opted members of the Executive Committee.
• Approve the Annual Report and Annual Accounts after their examination by an appropriate auditor, independent examiner or scrutineer.
• Present the Annual Report and Annual Accounts to the Scout Council at the Annual General Meeting.
• File a copy with the District Executive Committee; and if a registered charity, appropriate charity regulator.
• Maintain confidentiality with regard to appropriate Executive Committee business.
• Ensure line management responsibilities for members are clearly established and communicated.

Training for Executive Committee members

All adult volunteers who agree to take on the role of trustee and join executive committee are required to complete a small set of training modules within five months of the Annual General Meeting.  These modules can be accessed below and are completed online as e-learning, they will take between 30 and 45 minutes to complete.  Once you have completed each of the modules you should save the certificates, the certificates then needs to be sent to the group’s Training Adviser Corey Hogg (corey.hogg@northumberlandscouts.org.uk) who will be able to record your completion of this training in Compass.

Module 1 - Essential Information

Safety

Safeguarding

General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)

Trustee Introduction