Cobseo Members provide a wide range of support to those in need across the Armed Forces Community. Many provide specialist services (eg medical, social care and education) that are subject to specific governance oversight, but most Cobseo Members are registered charities and, therefore, responsible for meeting governance standards set out in the Charity Governance Code (available here for large charities, and here for smaller charities).
In this increasingly more regulated environment, Cobseo Members also need to be cognisant of their safeguarding and data protection responsibilities, as well as ensuring that fundraising activities are conducted in accordance with the Fundraising Regulations. Compliance is not negotiable, and Trustees are responsible for the activities of their respective organisations.
Recognising that this is vital ground the Cobseo Chairman established a Governance Support Team to assist Members (and their Trustee Boards) in addressing their governance responsibilities.
This support is comprised of three main components:
1. A suite of Aide Memoires setting out governance requirements together with links to further guidance, standard policies, and examples of good practice for the following:
2. A user friendly Governance Practices Self-Reporting Tool that enables organisations to assess their governance status and identify any areas for improvement. Members are also requested to share their completed assessments, in confidence, with the Governance Support Team, so that sector-wide lessons can be learned. Members can accesss the report based on the analysis of the data collected to date here in the Members’ area of the website.
3. Additional support from the Governance Support Team; either one-to-one, or to wider audiences as appropriate.
The Cobseo Governance Support Team can be contacted as follows:
Roy Brown: r.brown@cobseo.org.uk
Natalie Chambers: n.chambers@cobseo.org.uk
Or via governance@cobseo.org.uk
Afghanistan support
In light of recent events in Afghanistan, please find information and support resources here