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  • Girls laughing in class

    Why school governing boards urgently need volunteers with finance expertise at this time…and how you could help!

    • 21 Jun 2022
    • Dominic Judge, Director of Governance Programmes at Education and Employers

    Thank you to all those accountants who currently govern in a school or academy. If you don’t and you’ve ever thought about using your financial skills and experience to give something back to the next generation, there is no better way to do it than becoming a school governor or academy trustee. With such significant change in the economy and school structures, it is an exciting time to sign up and make a difference – through the DfE funded Inspiring Governance service.

  • The Charities Act 2022 – what are the practical implications for you?

    • 11 Apr 2022
    • Kristina Kopic, ICAEW

    In February, the Charities Bill received Royal Assent and passed into law as the Charities Act 2022. Find out what the implications are for charity trustees and their advisors.

  • Top tips to make your charity’s board meetings more effective

    • 9 Feb 2022
    • Kristina Kopic

    Board time is a precious and limited resource. Read our seven top tips on how your charity board can get the most out of its meetings.

  • Why become a charity trustee

    • 30 Dec 2021
    • Kristina Kopic

    Most charities are keen to recruit a chartered accountant to their board because their financial skills and business acumen can prove invaluable to building an organisation’s financial sustainability. In return, most trustees find their role rewarding, and enjoy learning new skills and building new networks.

  • Charting a path to more fulfilling careers and a stronger society

    • 7 Dec 2021
    • Alice Clementi, Charterpath

    Did you know only an estimated 10% of UK accountants volunteer their time and skills to non-profits each year? At Charterpath our mission is ambitious – to see 50% of all accountants giving two days a year to skills-based volunteering.

  • Public trust in charities 2021

    • 29 Jul 2021
    • Kristina Kopic

    The Charity Commission’s latest findings on trust in charities show that the sector’s efforts during the pandemic have been noticed: public trust in charities in England and Wales is on the rise (now 6.4/10, up from 6.2 in 2020) and approaching its 2014 peak, and only doctors and the police scored higher than charities.

  • kids in playground

    Kids Company: Mismanagement claims thrown out

    • 30 Jun 2021
    • Kristina Kopic

    More than five years ago, Kids Company suddenly closed its doors and faced intense scrutiny and criticism for its financial management and governance. Now claims brought on by the Official Receiver against the charity’s former trustees, and its founder and former CEO Camila Batmanghelidjh, were thrown out by the court.

  • Trustee recruitment: Free resources to improve your board’s recruitment cycle

    • 31 May 2021
    • Kristina Kopic

    Reach Volunteering has recently launched a website to support trustees with free guidance and tools to actively manage the board recruitment cycle and to increase diversity.

  • International volunteering in a global pandemic?

    • 29 Apr 2021
    • David Busby, Volunteer Services Manager at Accounting for International Development (AfID)

    UK Social Enterprise Accounting for International Development have been sending accounting and finance professionals, including many ICAEW members, on volunteer assignments across the globe for more than 10 years. But what happens when overseas travel becomes impossible, practically overnight?

  • The rise of micro-volunteering

    • 31 Mar 2021
    • Kristina Kopic

    If you want to offer support to your community or a local charity but are short of time, how can you lend a hand?

  • Skills-based volunteering with Cranfield Trust

    • 21 Jan 2021
    • Marie Langan, Project Manager at Cranfield Trust

    Cranfield Trust was founded in 1989 to provide pro bono management consultancy to UK charities using volunteers from the business community. Originally, this consisted of support with business plans, however there are now many ways to volunteer, especially for ICAEW members who have a wide range of transferable skills.

  • Join the Volunteering Community

    • 21 Jan 2021
    • Kristina Kopic

    Charities are an intrinsic and highly valued part of British society and culture but without trustees they could not exist.

  • Make giving back your New Year’s Resolution

    • 31 Dec 2020
    • Kristina Kopic

    Now more than ever, volunteers are needed to support the charity sector through the challenging times ahead. Charities have seen their income from trading and community fundraising fall sharply during the coronavirus crisis and need help to balance their reduced resources with increased demand in the coming months.

  • Being a voluntary board member – it’s a two-way street!

    • 9 Dec 2019
    • Dale Archer

    In our second blog of Trustees Week, we celebrate more great work of ICAEW staff in voluntary board roles. Charity trustees and voluntary board members come from all walks of life. What can you do to make a difference today?

  • Recruiting charity trustees - a practical guide

    • 2 Dec 2019
    • Penny Wilson

    The charity Getting on Board has just launched free guidance for the charity sector: How to Recruit Trustees for your Charity – a Practical Guide. We asked CEO, Penny Wilson, what prompted the guidance and how it could help to change the way charity leaders are recruited.

  • Case study: Accountants as school governors - how your expertise can help

    • 10 Dec 2018
    • Sam Butler

    All businesses need accountants – and that includes schools. From financial planning, to scrutinising budgets, to holding senior leadership to account, schools rely on their governing body. School governors are the largest volunteer force in education, but thousands of primary and secondary schools across the country need volunteers to bring their skills to a governing board.

  • Volunteers Week 2018 - take a look at some stats about volunteering

    • 10 Dec 2018
    • Lynn Cadman

    As we celebrate Volunteers Week 2018 we look at some of the stats relating to volunteering…

  • Feel confident in your role as a charity trustee

    • 10 Dec 2018
    • Lynn Cadman

    January saw the launch of the new Volunteering Community – and with it ICAEW’s new online Trustee Training Modules. We caught up with co-author of the modules, Lynn Cadman, to find out more about this online training and why she wanted to be involved in the project.

  • Case study – Tim O’Brien talks about becoming a trustee

    • 11 Dec 2017
    • Tim O'Brien

    I retired in 2013. Prior to that I worked for Shell in the UK for over 30 years, mostly located in London with a short spell in exotic Welwyn Garden City. My career included commercial management, economics, M&A, all kinds of accounting, and risk management. It took in large businesses and small “start-up” organisations and plenty of travel.

  • 10 reasons to volunteer

    • 11 Dec 2017
    • Lynn Cadman

    Volunteering for a charity or not-for-profit organisation can be immensely rewarding for you as an individual, as well as having obvious benefits for the organisation. Here are just 10 reasons why we think volunteering is great for ICAEW members.