The Charity Commission is running a campaign to encourage trustees to think about, and where necessary improve their knowledge around the role of being a charity trustee. Please bear in mind that if you are a member of your Local Church Council, Circuit Meeting, or any of the other Methodist bodies of Managing Trustees, then you are a charity trustee and are obliged to follow the duties placed on you under charity law.
The Charity Commission released its Trustee Quiz (Quiz) earlier this year. The Quiz is designed to enable charity trustees to test their knowledge. Managing Trustees are encouraged to take the Quiz and work together to identify areas where they need additional guidance and training using the resources available from the Charity Commission and the Methodist Church.
To help with this, the Charity Commission has also developed 5-minute guides being short, practical videos with accompanying information on key topics to help trustees understand their essential trustee duties. The videos and accompanying information are reassuring and signpost to more in depth guidance available from the Charity Commission. These guides cover: Delivering charitable purposes, Managing conflicts of interest, reporting information, safeguarding, making decisions, and managing finances.
Please also make use of the Methodist specific guidance on being a Methodist charity trustee available on the Methodist Church website:
- The Five Golden Rules of being a Trustee are a good place to start. This document summarises what it means to be a Methodist charity trustee and encapsulates the duties placed on you in five golden rules. The document also contains practical guidance on how to follow these rules in your day-to-day life as a Methodist charity trustee, gives information on trustee liability and provides links to further help and assistance from the Charity Commission. The five golden rules can be downloaded from the Methodist Church Website and used as a handout: (Handout: The Five Golden Rules of being a Trustee PDF).
- Guidance on Registration with the Charity Commission provides guidance on both registering with the Charity Commission and the excepted status of Methodist charities with a gross income under £100,000 per annum.
The Panel Solicitors can also be contacted to provide bespoke Methodist charity trustee training.
If you have any queries in relation to the your duties as a charity trustee or registration with the Charity Commission, please contact the LCP Team for further assistance.