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Governance Beginner's Guide
This guide is designed to support trustees and new board members in understanding their essential roles within voluntary and community organisations. It covers the fundamental legal duties trustees must uphold, explains how to work effectively within your organisation’s governing framework, and highlights the importance of engaging actively with your organisation beyond meetings. Practical advice is provided on meeting key obligations and working collaboratively as part of a board. The guide also points to useful resources and toolkits that can help trustees navigate governance challenges with confidence.
Skills Audit Template
This practical tool helps organisations assess the collective skills, knowledge and experience of their leadership team. Designed to highlight team-wide gaps rather than individual shortcomings, it supports strategic recruitment, succession planning and personal development.
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The audit includes a flexible skills matrix, prompts for identifying development goals and guidance on prioritising the most critical skills for your organisation’s current context. It also helps boards track progress and align leadership capacity with evolving organisational needs.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy Template
This template, based on guidance from Acas, supports organisations in creating a policy that promotes fairness, respect and equal opportunities for all stakeholders. It outlines legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and offers practical steps to prevent discrimination, harassment and victimisation in employment and service delivery.
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The document includes commitments to inclusive practices, training, fair decision-making and regular monitoring of workforce diversity. Designed to be adaptable, it encourages organisations to embed equality, diversity and inclusion across their culture, ensuring everyone feels valued and able to contribute fully.
External Links
Charity Commission
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/list-of-charity-commission-cc-guidance-publications
Guides from the Charity Commission covering many governance topics.
NCVO
https://www.ncvo.org.uk/help-and-guidance/governance/
NCVO are a membership community for charities, voluntary organisations and community groups in England. Their website is full of excellent resources.
Association of Chairs
https://www.associationofchairs.org.uk/
The Association of Chairs champion all charity Chairs. No matter how big or small your non-profit is, no matter where you are on your chairing journey.
Charities Aid Foundation
https://www.cafonline.org/charities/trustees-and-governance
CAF is a leading charity, working at the centre of the giving world. We help donors to give more impactfully and charities to build their resilience so they can do more of their life-changing work.
Co operatives UK
We're all about helping co-operatives – from established businesses to new-starts – be the best they can be.
Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland
A chartered professional body dedicated to supporting governance professionals.
Acevo
https://www.acevo.org.uk/skills/workshops-and-training/
Deliver a number of workshops to support both CEO's and Trustees.
The Governance App
The Governance App is a new, free and easy way for your board of trustees to review and improve its governance, together.
• Gather responses from your whole board
• Get a performance score out of ten in seven different areas
• Highlight where board members have different views on performance
• Have targeted discussions about what’s going well and where to focus on improving
The Charity Governance Code
The Charity Governance Code is a practical tool to help charities and their trustees develop high standards of governance. They also include a diagnostic tool for trustees to help self-assess their own organisation in accordance with the Charity Governance Code.
Trustee Recruitment Portals
Are you looking to recruit trustees for your organisation? These portals may be helpful to you.
Contact us for extra support
