Volunteers, often bringing professional or managerial skills, can serve as school governors, or on the management committees or boards of voluntary or public sector organisations.
School governership
School governors form the largest volunteer workforce in the UK with around 370,000 governor places nationally. About 10 -15% of these places are always vacant, and the vacancy rate rises to 30% or more in some inner city areas where many positions have been unfilled long-term.
Any adult can apply to be a school governor. Representatives from all backgrounds bring different perspectives to the decision making process and school governing bodies aim to reflect the diversity of the pupils and surrounding community.
The School Governors' One-Stop Shop was set up to help address the particular problems being faced in inner cities with governor recruitment and to support and complement recruitment activity already undertaken with in these areas. The School Governors' One-Stop Shop helps people who want to be a school governor by matching them with schools with governor vacancies. For more information on the School Governors’ One-Stop Shop, go to www.schoolgovernors-oss.org.uk
For further information on school governors, go to:
www.governornet.co.uk
Case studies
Pat Ashworth, HR Development Manager at the Co-operative Insurance Society in Manchester and a serving governor at St John Bosco High School in Liverpool.
“I wanted to put something back into the community in which I grew up and because I care about the education of our future generations. St John Bosco is the school where I was educated, so I owe a lot to the school, particularly the teaching staff and management team. When I became a governor I was welcomed with open arms. The time I spend at the school varies but there is usually one meeting per month. My training has been on the job, listening and getting to grips with educational terminology. I have also received formal performance management training. The course was in the evening which enabled me to balance work and Governor commitments.
Being a Governor is challenging in many different ways from understanding educational terminology and procedures to tackling day to day management issues. My people management experience and the support of Sr. Helen, head teacher, have combined to help me respond positively to these challenges. The process is also two-way and I have learnt so many new things that have helped me grow personally and professionally. I feel more motivated because I am getting a chance to make a difference to my local community and at the same time, learning new skills to help me become a better manager.”
(Case studied supplied by the School Governors' One-Stop Shop)
Board members
Board membership offers high community visibility and gives good experience in the strategic management of a whole organisation. Board membership usually requires a minimum one year time commitment.
Following are some initiatives, which will help if you are thinking about serving on a management committee, or are looking for new trustees and governors.
Trustee & Governance website and Trustee Bank
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has a developed an online Trustee Bank, which lists agencies who can match trustees to vacancies and will also advertise vacancies. There is a comprehensive database online and the opportunity to sign up for the Trustee and Governance Team online newsletter.
The website also provides online trustee brokerage, with a number of agencies providing matching services on the internet.
The trustee bank can be found atwww.ncvo-vol.org.uk/tgt
For more information contact:
Email: trustee.enquiries@ncvo-vol.org.uk
Telephone: Please contact the NCVO helpdesk on freephone 0800 2 798 798 or Textphone 0800 01 88 111 (minicom)
NCVO's Trustee and Governance Team also provide advice, consultancy and support. Visit the website for further information www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/tgt or email: trustee.enquiries@ncvo-vol.org.uk
Job descriptions
The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators has developed specimen job descriptions for charity trustees, chairs, secretaries and treasurers, together with a code of conduct. They are free to download at
www.icsa.org.uk/news/guidance.php