The Playgroup Trustees
St Mary’s Playgroup is run by a board of trustees, who follow the Constitution of a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (Foundation Model) The trustees are an important and essential part of life at the playgroup and is made up of volunteers from the community who have an interest in keeping the playgroup running for future generations and who wish to contribute to the running of the playgroup.
The activities of the trustees are to:
- Ensure that the manager and staff are meeting all their legal responsibilities.
- Hold regular meetings to make decisions on spending and how playgroup is run.
- Help to employ staff members, carryout appraisals for existing staff members.
- Oversea the finances and ensure that the accounts are kept in accordance with accounting practices
- Invite interested parties to join the board of trustees when an existing trustee resigns.
- Help organise contractors for required maintenance of the playgroup
- Support, identify and help write funding/grant applications
- Provide emergency cover within the playgroup.
The trustees meet about once a term, usually with the manager to review and make decisions about matters concerning the playgroup, such as staffing, health and safety, budgeting, purchasing of new equipment, special events etc.
As a trustee it can be rewarding to feel more involved with your local community, to feel you are contributing to a successful playgroup and learning more about what is involved within the running of the setting. The playgroup requires a minimum of four trustees
As parents/carers you can volunteer the gift of your time, talents, creativity and energy to help with the fundraising events. If you are interested in joining a fundraising committee, please speak to the playgroup manager.
What do the Trustees do?
The playgroup has become much more than a place to socialize your children before they start school. There are OFSTED inspections, a curriculum of early learning goals and many layers of affiliations for funding and accreditation. The playgroup manager Jennifer Smith and her lovely team do a huge amount of work to co-ordinate all of this with the support of the trustees. The secretary organizes termly committee meetings and minutes them, writes the committee newsletter and any other letters as needed. The Treasurer overseas the playgroup finances and liaises with the playgroup administrator to ensures all financial matters are dealt with in a timely and transparent manner. Another big part of the committee’s job is fundraising. There are various other roles within the committee that require less of a commitment. In order to work efficiently, the playgroup requires a maximum of twelve people to volunteer to help it run. It is a great way to know what’s going on with your children and to feel you are helping the community at large. All members of the staff and committee are required to hold an enhanced criminal records certificate, through the Criminal Records Bureau and subscribe to the DBS update service, committee members are also required to complete the Ofsted EY2 process for suitable person checks.
Current board of trustees invite interested parties to join the board of trustees when an existing trustee resigns.
If you would like to join the committee please get in touch with the Playgroup Manager and come along to a meeting – we look forward to meeting you!