The Trust's Policies

FOREWORD TO THE POLICY MANUAL

This Manual is available for all, but most especially our managers, staff and volunteers. Its purpose is to provide information about policies Trustees require all who work for the organisation to observe.

The policies, and the procedures which set out how they are to be implemented, have grown with the Trust. As the Trust has gained more responsibilities – for more services, or more staff, or more financial resources, for example – so its obligations have increased. The Manual aims to help staff understand and use policies. It tries to avoid an excess of bureaucratic rules and complex procedures.

The whole Manual is subject to continuous review by Standing Committees for the main groups of policies (Health and Safety, Equalities, Human Resources and Finance). Any amendments or additions are taken to the Senior Staff Committee, to the Staff Council, and to departmental meetings for further discussion. After this they go to the Board of Trustees. When major changes have been agreed by Trustees, a new edition is created.

Improving the Policy Manual is a task which can never be completed. Some changes result from new legislation or new government guidelines, some reflect the Trust’s values, its status as a Charity and its aim of basing its work on good practice. There are two objectives to be met by involving all our staff committees in developing policies and procedures:
• to get everyone’s help in spotting mistakes, lack of clarity, over-complication and oversights
• to try and keep everyone up to date and informed.

We also work with other organisations. We are grateful to those who give us advice where they are ahead of us – and are happy for others to borrow from us if they think it useful. In this way the voluntary agencies help each other to build their capacity and the strength of the sector as a whole.

Policies should help us to be successful, prevent errors and mismanagement, and enable us to deal with situations efficiently. We think our Manual passes this test, and thank everyone who has worked hard to produce it.

Anita Halliday (Chief Executive)

If you need information, advice or guidance on developing your on developing your voluntary organisation please see our Development Agency web pages, which are located within the community section of our web site.

In this section

• General Arrangements
• Equalities Policies
• Employment Policies
• Finance Policies
• Financial Procedures
• Health and Safety Policies