It is near impossible to miss the headlines relating to our sector at the moment, but whilst it might be easy to consider these as ‘big charity’ issues, the problems surrounding Oxfam present important lessons for smaller members of the sector too.
All charities operating at an international, national or local level, have a duty not only to safeguard their beneficiaries, volunteers and staff but also to have clear and robust policies in place for reporting serious incidents. Last year the Charity Commission published concerns over the ‘significant under-reporting of serious incidents’ from charities, urging trustees to ‘act quickly and responsibly in reporting serious incidents as soon as they occur’.
Serious Incidents: What, Who & How?
The Charity Finance Group has published a guide for charities to support them in identifying what is deemed a ‘serious incident’, who should report the incident and how it should be done. Please read this and share amongst your network to build on the good work we know that many charities are already doing in creating a transparent and responsive sector.
Chelmsford CVS, thank you for your blog post.Really thank you! Awesome.