Community groups advised to hold their AGMs virtually
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
CAITHNESS VOLUNTARY GROUP UPDATE: Yvonne Hendry with our monthly column for the local voluntary sector
Caithness Voluntary Group has continued to work throughout the pandemic, offering support to voluntary groups across the county.
Caithness Rural Transport has continued to operate and its vehicles is following best practice to ensure that people can have confidence and feel secure using the service.
Befriending Caithness has adapted to a telephone befriending service and is still taking referrals and recruiting volunteers, with all the training done on a digital platform.
Many groups have been enquiring about holding their annual general meetings. The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator ( OSCR ) offers excellent advice on this. It recommends holding a virtual AGM, if possible, as meeting face-to-face is not going to be an option for the time being.
Some charities have specific provisions in their governing documents to allow AGMs to take place using options such as phone or online. If your organisation does not, you may be able to amend your governing document to change how or when your AGM is held.
If you can't make these changes, OSCR is happy for charities to hold their AGMs in this way even if the governing document doesn’t say anything about it. This will allow charities to have important discussions and to take decisions during this difficult time.
Where you decide to hold your AGM virtually, you should record this decision, including any voting mechanisms, to demonstrate the good governance of your charity. Full guidance can be found here .
If you are involved in a group that could make the move to digital and need some help to do that then please contact allan@cvg.org.uk and we will happily work with you.
If your organisation runs a building or hall that is used by a range of different groups you will be considering a more complicated set of risks. This video clip from Scotland's national clinical director Jason Leitch outlines the key points to consider if you are responsible for a shared-use community building.
Village hall guidance is now available for halls and community buildings to look at getting prepared for opening when Scottish Government guidance allows. The document includes sample Covid-19 risk assessments and information about planning for reopening and hiring. You can access it on cvg.org.uk or email yvonne@cvg.org.uk for a copy.
The Response, Recovery and Resilience Fund is now focusing on recovery. The focus of recovery funding is to provide:
- Support for the ongoing needs of vulnerable people to ensure their health and wellbeing is maintained
- Support to groups and activities supporting vulnerable people self-isolating (for example the elderly or those people with pre-existing medical conditions)
- Support for food banks and organisations working to combat hardship caused by the pandemic, including child hunger
- Support to aid community response coordination
- Support for volunteer costs for new and existing organisations
- Additional costs to support a move to remote working and adapting services delivered in the wider community
- Additional financial support as required for organisations providing emotional support, mental health and wellbeing and bereavement support
Grants from £1000 to £5000 are available.
- For more information, call CVG on 01955 609960 or 603453 and speak to Yvonne Hendry or Allan Tait; email Yvonne@cvg.org.uk or allan@cvg.org.uk
Related story:
