Gloucestershire VCS Alliance
Interim Board Meeting
Monday 10th March 2014 10.00 am.
Shire Hall, Gloucestershire County Council, Gloucester
Present:
Claire Mould, Chair
Tracy Clark
David Owen
Christina Snell
Philip Williams
(CM)
(TC)
(DO)
(CS)
(PW)
In attendance:
Andrew Lee
Susan West
(AL)
(SW)
Matt Lennard (ML) joined the meeting for item 5 onwards.
CM welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced Susan West as the new
Administrative Officer.
1:
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING AND MATTERS ARISING
Two changes were made to the minutes.
Item 1 CS requested Health and Wellbeing Alliance be changed to Work and Wellbeing
Alliance.
Item 2 TC clarified that she agreed to take a lead on finances but is unable to make
payments.
Operational Board
AL has met Miranda Steele of People and Places. She is interested in joining the
Operational Board but would like further clarity about what it aims to achieve. It was agreed
that an interim appointment can be made without a person being voted to the Board through
a Forum.
Action: AL will to draw up a list of people proposed for the Operational Board and circulate it
to the Board. He agreed to set up a meeting for April, possibly tying in with the next Board
meeting on 9th April.
Legal position
CS asked if there was any timescale for when the Alliance would be able to move from the
current interim process and become more democratic. PW believed the timescale could be,
for example, when the Forums were established and had met on a few occasions. CM was
keen to ensure there were enough voting members who understand what the Alliance is
about. Establishing the Forums is crucial to achieve this.
AL raised the issue of when an AGM should be held. Given the organisation has operated
since September 2013, he thought an AGM may need to take place in September 2014. PW
felt the Alliance needs to be open and transparent with some form of public meeting to
publicise what is happening. An AGM can be short and form part of a larger event
summarising what’s been achieved in the past year and what will happen next.
Action: AL to check the constitution and clarify the legal position on holding an AGM.
Website
The website is now live and passwords set and allocated.
Bank details
Action: AL to change the signatory details on the bank account.
Communication
Work on the database has now started with over 80 organisations currently listed. AL
commented that Athena Web Designs have been very helpful.
Action: SW to ask Athena to change “add listing” to “become a member” so that this is
clearer for organisations who want to sign up.
Action: It was agreed to move the web hosting to Athena when the current agreement runs
out. SW to check when this will be as it seems the Alliance has signed up for a two year
agreement with the current web host company.
2.
ENGAGEMENT OFFICER INTERVIEW FEEDBACK
CM thanked David Owen and Rachel Wright (from Gloucestershire County Council) for their
help with the interview process.
There had been two strong candidates and CM had met both for informal second interviews.
Matt Lennard had been offered the post and will start on 1st April, subject to references. His
background is a VCS development worker in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. He has
strong IT skills and has recently been running his own business working with VCS
organisations.
Action: DO to confirm with Matt the position on his own business to avoid any conflict of
interest.
3.
DEVELOPMENT OFFICER’S REPORT
AL thanked the Board for their support over the past year and asked for any questions on his
report.
CS asked for clarification on the LEP/EUSIF bid. AL explained Gloucestershire has
identified three areas around social inclusion as possible recipients for any European
funding available through the LEPs. These are: young people; people with multiple and
complex needs; and social enterprise and entrepreneurship. On young people the focus is
on financial skills and employability in its broadest context. For those with complex needs
the bid focused on mental health issues which may have precluded people from achieving
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their potential. The third area looked at people who have been financially excluded and may
not have access to bank loans or other finance. The bid looked at how they could set up a
business and build on what support already exists. TC commented this is not a new idea
and a better county strategy is needed where organisations and initiatives are more joined
up. This will be discussed again at a future Board meeting. DO explained that
commissioning is unlikely to take place before the autumn this year.
Action: Outcome of LEP/EUSIF bid to be discussed at a future meeting.
CM raised the issue of Board members’ roles and responsibilities, especially sharing
attendance at forthcoming meetings more widely. Although acknowledging the pressures on
Board members’ time, it was agreed sharing attendance will give a more public face for the
Board.
Action: CM will circulate details of meetings to identify if other Board members can attend.
PW thanked AL for his useful summary of the current position and some of the issues. He
suggested Board members should identify their own strengths to support Matt going forward.
4.
FINANCES AND SPEND
After March salaries have been taken out, just over £7000 will be transferred to the bank
account for the next financial year.
Action: PW will confirm whether the GCC payment happens at the beginning or end of the
three month period. Payment at the beginning will ease any cash flow position.
5.
DRAFT ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY
AL confirmed this is still being developed and he will work with ML to finalise it. The strategy
is about how to engage with VCS and looks primarily at getting the best from social media.
It focuses on where are now and where we need to be in 12 months’ time.
PW is keen for more organisations to become engaged in the next 12 months, to understand
what the Alliance is, why it’s relevant, how to take part and keep up to date. He is keen to
see an increased sense of ownership with people and organisations seeing the Alliance as
their Alliance working for them in the most effective way. AL explained there is tension
around what VCS expects from the Alliance, which cannot do everything.
TC said there is not enough promotion internally and externally about what the Alliance is
doing.
Action: AL and then ML will provide a weekly update for Board members highlighting what
they have done and are focusing on next including meetings attended.
TC said the updates will be useful for the Alliance’s Twitter feed.
PW requested some information to respond to possible questions from a councillor, including
the current position on membership.
Action: AL to respond to PW
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There was a discussion on the concept of membership as currently any VCS organisation is
automatically a member of Alliance. It is then up to the organisation how active they choose
to be. CM would prefer a small, active and engaged membership.
AL explained that when a database listing is made an email is sent out explaining an
organisation can request to opt out. TC was concerned that people were not reading or
responding to the email and were becoming Alliance members by default but did not know
what the Alliance about.
Action: AL to look at the distinction between database listing and active engagement.
The Board agreed to phone around their contacts and actively encourage organisations to
sign up, especially those who are key stakeholders in the VCS in the county.
6.
FORUMS
a)
Children and Young People
TC is contacting a possible candidate to chair the Forum. The next meeting is on 19th March
at the Redwell Centre, Matson, Gloucester.
b)
Health and Wellbeing
CS and AL are meeting to discuss this on Wednesday 12th March. They agreed to inform
Board members of the outcomes from the meeting and to discuss the Forum at the next
Board meeting.
7.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
CM has met representatives from the University of Gloucestershire Students Union to
discuss setting up a Green Forum with a focus on green issues and sustainability. They are
keen to work with the Alliance and CM will continue discussions with them.
The next CCG event is on 27th April with a cross-county engagement meeting on 16th April.
8:
SETTING DATES FOR THE COMING YEAR
Next meeting:
Wednesday 9th April at OPENhouse, Stroud 1400 - 1630
Future meetings
Wednesday 18th June at GFirst, Gloucester 1000 – 1230
Action: CM will liaise with SW to arrange future meetings for August, October and
December.
The meeting closed at 1230hrs
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