Monday 27th April 2015
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Welcome Attendees: Christine Herron CH (Chair), Alison Hay AH (Manager), Lynn Rutter LR, Sarah Joiner SJ
(Treasurer), Shakiba Varsi SV, Shona McAllan SA, Eleanor Rathod ER (Secretary)
Apologies: Helen Gauld, Gayle McKerron. Not present: Grace Taylor
CH asked whether Board Members would be happy to share their contact details with her. If no objections, please email a
contact number to CH.
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Minutes of March 9th were reviewed and accepted with one correction of Heron to Herron.
Minutes of the AGM were accepted for distribution for the next AGM.
4. Matters Arising
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SJ confirmed that a statement had been drafted and issued to staff regarding inflationary increases
An initial Health and Safety list was submitted to SJ. SJ will work with her colleague to prepare the Risk
Assessments.
There was a brief discussion on the rationale for not allowing men to become members or serve on the board.
The following reasons were given:
o Rather than it being a negative reason to exclude men, it’s a positive reason to have a women’s
organisation which is led and delivered by women in support of women.
o Similarly Members and Trustees have voting rights, it’s critical that the charity be governed by women
only in support of the point above.
o GWA values its affiliation with Scottish Women’s Aid, one of the requirements of which is to be a
women only organisation.
It was agreed to look into the ‘Associate Member’ category and determine whether this could be used to allow
men to join without having voting rights. It was agreed that GWA is happy to receive support and contributions
from men eager to assist in its aims.
Action: AH to confirm the difference between Members and Associate Members with Scottish Women’s Aid
and the implications of allowing men to be Associate Members.
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SJ also noted that the M&A does not explicitly say that men cannot be Members or Trustees and so must be
amended to include this rule. SJ highlighted the offer from Sandy Mather to review GWA’s M&A to check it was
robust. Action for AH to make contact and set this up.
5. Manager’s Report
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Aberdeen City Council has agreed the Housing Support contract for two years. One small amendment has to be
made and then it should be reviewed for approval by 2 directors. Action CH to review the contract and then
meet with AH to discuss further.
AH reported she had a good meeting with the new Development Office for Housing Support and sought
reassurance on the council’s approach when the contract ends in 2017. A tendering process was not ruled out,
but GWA was encouraged to keep providing a high quality service.
The coffee morning fundraiser was a success and raised £400. The group are keen to purchase a Wii or something
similar for children to use when in Refuge.
On the subject of collaborating with Religious and Faith groups, SV suggested AH could give a talk at the Mosque
/ to a Muslim group. Action on SV to ask her contacts if this would be welcome and set up a time and place, or
put them in touch with AH.
6. Staff Issues
Sub-group on Service Review – LR and CH Summary:
Full review seemed premature until the strategy is broken down into a measurable, action plan which will drive the staffing
requirements and define any financial constraints. Action LR to circulate an example of an Oxfam plan, CH to circulate the
planning framework used in her life courses.
The target shape of the organisation will also need to be defined to ensure a long term ‘fit’.
It was agreed a tactical implementation was needed now with incremental updates. The following actions were agreed as
the priority:
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Review of salary scales and all pay related benefits
Analysis of existing HR policies and practices to ensure legal compliance and full documentation
Creation of a staff handbook
Action LR and CH will meet to prepare a work plan to complete these objectives.
At this point, AH suggested the charity employee a Fundraising Applications Administrator to assist her to complete the
high number of grant and funding applications. Action: AH to prepare a report detailing the costs and anticipated benefits
to present to the Board at the next meeting.
7. Refuge Issues
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The board discussed the latest resident booked into Refuge but with no recourse to public funds and no private
funds to support her and her child.
The latest case is complicated by the woman’s visa issues. She’s pursuing Asylum to establish a leave to remain.
However in the meantime the case prompted the board to put in place a general policy to help offer guidance when
ruling on such cases. Financially the charity cannot afford to support those without recourse to public or private
funding but equally it was felt GWA is a last resort for this most vulnerable of groups and so we must try to extend our
services to support this group.
The following steps were agreed:
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Ring-fence a pot of money to be used for those with access to no other funds
The value of the pot becomes the ceiling which the charity must not breach without Board approval
Increasing the value of this pot of money is now the charity’s highest fundraising priority
Ensure it is understood by our service users, partners, community groups and interested parties that the
charity does not restrict funding to these women, the funding source is placing these constraints
Build it into the charity’s strategy that we will endeavour to assist this most vulnerable group
AH presented the revised Refuge Occupancy report. It may be possible to add further dimensions to the report as
needed, e.g. whether single women or families are being housed etc.
8. Office Accommodation – AH summary
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Office move is likely to take place end May
Phone system will be moved into the cloud, number will stay the same
Literature will be printed to publicise the move
A notice will be added to the website
A removal company will pack up and move the contents of the old office
Mastrick Church (close to the office) has offered their meeting room for Board meetings
Additionally Queens Cross church has offered some storage space after their book sale. Action AH to make
arrangements if needed.
AH will arrange an open day for the board to visit the office once the team are settled
9. Pensions – SJ summary
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GWA has decided to go with the NEST scheme
The accountants warned that it may take up to 12 months to set up NEST. However with the small number of
staff, GWA should be quicker.
As the intention is to have the scheme set up by April 2016 work is starting now. Action AH to pass on the staff
details to SJ begin the process
10. Sub-groups
Risks and Issues – ER Summary
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Risk log format has been proposed
Risks were identified under 4 categories: Financial, Regulatory / Legal, Political, Organisational
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Those risks will then be prioritised, mitigating actions suggested and a ‘review by’ date assigned.
The risk group will present this back to the Board with recommendations for taking this forward
Finance – SJ and SV Summary
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New bookkeeping software is being rolled out
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A trainer is attending the GWA offices to train Pat, the intention is to have other people trained as
back up
o The software is expected to bring cost savings against the old system, SAGE
o The new system will be internet facing with cloud storage
o The reporting functionality is superior to the old system, once set up it’s expected the reports will be
presented to Board meetings
Accounts – SJ reminded the group that the accounts are due to the accountants by July
Deposit account for 3 month reserves – fixed term has expired, will be reinvested for next term. Action AH to
check what, if any, penalties there are for early access
Gift Aid policy is in the pipeline
Utilities review is underway.
o SV noted that all bills had been based on estimates only. Action SV to determine where meter
readings may be helpful and pass this on to AH
o SV was also checking that the correct VAT rate had been used across all providers
o AH advised that an exercise was conducted previously to try to find a better deal amongst utility
providers; this was not as effective as was hoped because some services are locked in, or in some cases
the savings were very small it didn’t justify changing
o SV confirmed that the charity is subsidising everyone’s use of utilities to a greater or lesser degree. The
intention is to calculate an average charge which will cover the charity’s costs
o It was suggested that there may be some incentive to residents not to leave heaters on full when not
needed as there would be no way to trace or recoup this ad hoc extra amount.
AOCB
11. Member Applications –
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Two new members were proposed and no objections raised. AH will email any further applications.
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CH recommended that members be charged £1 to join in future to cover administration costs of adding them to
mailing lists, AGM invites and to produce AGM materials etc.
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LR suggested a member’s mailing list be set up to highlight fundraising initiatives like the one discussed above.
12. Strategic Plan – covered above
13. AOCB
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GWA has received an invite to VE day. Action AH to circulate details for anyone who wishes to attend.
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SV requested headed notepaper and verified that she could use this to send thank you notes to people who had
provided assistance to GWA. Action AH to forward GWA banner image
14. Next Meeting – Monday 8th June, location tbc. Action AH to confirm whether Mastrick Church can be used.