Our highly rated biannual seminars are starting again this Autumn – look out for your invite.  There are still some COVID funding options available.  Plus updates from the Charities Commission and HMRC enclosed.

These are things we have found out about potential grant options for Charities plus some new accounting considerations and a general guidance helpsheet for trustees.

The ongoing message from the Charity Commission is that trustees must make sure that they are aware of their responsibilities and that their charity is being properly governed.

So our next seminars (Brighton 30 April, London 15 May) will focus on making sure you are up to date with governance and trustee responsibilities.

Safeguarding and fraud continue to be major themes in the charity sector. We remind you of the latest guidance in this newsletter.

We know that getting VAT right is also an ongoing matter of concern for many charities. Funding and income generation remains another key area for charities, and we have seen a number of charities look at using trading subsidiaries recently.

Is your charity safe?

The main topic of discussion in the sector over the last few months has undoubtedly been safeguarding.

We have titled our next seminars (Brighton 15 May, London 23 May) ‘Is Your Charity Safe?’ and we shall be looking at both the people and finances sides of keeping your charity safe.

The other issue everyone is talking about (not always with enthusiasm…) is GDPR. The 25 May is fast approaching and we include links to some guidance later (see Other Matters section) in this newsletter.

The key point is to get started soon if you haven’t and set in motion a process to ensure compliance as soon as you can.

 

Governance, Governance, Governance…

That seems to be very much the number one theme in the sector.

Of particular note are the New Governance Code and the House of Lords report. See more details in our separate Governance section below.

And this will indeed be the subject of our next seminars (Brighton 15 November, London 22 November) when we shall be taking you through the New Governance Code and helping you get the right balance and approach to the potentially overwhelming challenge of proper governance.

Please email Lucy Eldridge if you haven’t received an invitation to the seminar and would like more details.