@pEp Can you split this topic to create one that discusses Trustee’s as it is an important topic
Don’t we already have a few of those? civcom chat seems to drift that way!
We may also need one that discusses apostrophes!
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Our Civcom was forced to sign up to all be trustees?
Yep. That’s the committee’s job.
They are elected from within the Squadron Association to be the trustees of the fund.
Though it sounds as though that wasn’t properly explained to your committee. Not an uncommon occurrence.
It still seems that there is a general lack of understanding which is not helped as Rumpole said, by a general lack of clarity surrounding ACP11. Whilst the Squadron Association is a new term recently introduced, it is not new because it is the Association which has always existed as the Unincorporated Association, who are overseen by a Committee, and according to all Legislatures, it is the Committee who are the Trustees of the charitable non-public funds.
Now into the arena comes Fundraising Regulations - actually since 2016, with a totally separate Regulator. This actually places certain obligations on Charities, and that means the Trustees, and there does not seem to be any exemptions or provisos.
The inference is then that the trustees are the fundraisers, because they are constituted in law to raise and manage non-public funds. The uniform chain are specifically excluded from this (except for the GPF which seems to have uniform presence, but is actually a quite separate charity).
Meanwhile there are several Squadrons now using media forums to access donations, but not one seems to have any charity reference and certainly no contact for the Charity Trustees - strange when you consider that the Trustees are the legal entity, but the uniforms are not, and that is not me talking as there is a Government response which says ‘All four Cadet Forces are national youth organisations that exist without any formal status under the law’
Interesting that the overall picture is that the Civcom has far greater role than the ATC projects and that is essentially because in Law they carry the can. Unfortunately many Civcoms seem oblivious to this.
It does not seem to suggest that there is a required presence at say bag-pack, but that I should have thought was vital, so that the cash is quickly in Trustees hands - but also as a bit of morale support - noting of course that the Civcom cannot be responsible for cadets.
The fundraising regulations also refer to minimum age for involvement in cash collecting, but this reference is interesting:
Records MUST be made of donations for specific purposes (certain appeals/projects etc) to ensure that the terms of donations are complied with. Such terms MUST be complied with.*
I think there may be some individuals who might have difficulty with that requirement.
I’m not sure that many uniformed volunteers get this - great to those who do. But for the majority it is a serious commitment to the organisation and while no medals are required, some training should be given for those innocent soles who think they are dipping in and out while the offspring are involved.
souls