Our Governance Services

Good governance is more than mere compliance with legislation – it spans many areas of a charity or impact organisation’s activities, which all contribute towards the establishment of a well governed, effective, inclusive and transparent entity.

At Social Practice ENT, we provide expert led workshops and consultancy services that help our clients work towards achieving strong governance systems.

Consultancy work

We help our clients to refocus and realign their organisations with their mission and values.

Our consultancy work includes:

helping boards to gain insights into their organisational culture by carrying out organisational culture audits (our culture audits are carried out in line with internal audit guidelines);
developing lived experience/service user trustee training programmes;
working with clients to identify pay gaps and working with leadership teams to put measures in place to help close the gaps
helping clients to report transparently on social disclosures in their Trustees' Annual Report, including reporting on Gender, Ethnicity and Disability pay gaps.
carrying out independent charity governance reviews

Inclusive governance workshop (2hours)

Having a range of trustees with diversity of lived experiences, characteristics, educational backgrounds and professional qualifications makes the board less homogenous – which is a positive step towards better governance.

As part of the inclusive governance workshop, we facilitate an honest conversation with the board of trustees/directors and the senior leadership team, about: power and privilege; board representation; anti-oppression practices; and, changes that can be made to help establish a more diverse, inclusive and welcoming culture.

Charity governance compliance training (1.5 hours)

Our governance compliance training is geared towards the specific needs of new charity trustees, especially trustees with no prior governance knowledge or experience.

We have experience delivering training to young trustees and first time trustees from under represented groups. Our governance compliance training can also serve as refresher training for existing trustees.

Our approach to governance training is engaging, innovative and simple. We pride ourselves in being able to break down complex governance requirements into simple accessible training material.

The key areas covered during the session include:

the legal responsibilities of trustees;
decision making, risk and control;
board effectiveness; and,
best practice in governance.

Lived Experience Trustees: Board Training (2 hours)

Our lived experience trustees workshop was designed following research which was conducted with existing and prospective trustees that have lived experience of the criminal justice system. Our workshops are geared towards the needs of charities looking to recruit trustees with lived expertise - specifically, charities that require support with the adjustments that may need to be made to ensure that lived experience trustees are recruited and included in an equitable manner.

Our training includes:

How to develop an inclusive trustee recruitment pack;
How to ensure that the recruitment process remains equitable, including short listing processes and interviewing panels;
How to create an inclusive board and organisational culture; and,
How to break down the barriers that trustees with lived experience may encounter.

As a registered social enterprise, we're participating in Social Enterprise UK's flagship campaign, 'Buy Social'.

Buying social is about using your money, as an individual or an organisation, to create a positive impact on the world we live in. When you buy from a social enterprise you are choosing to spend your money with a business that is giving something back, reinvesting their profits to address the most pressing issues, from homelessness and unemployment to ethical trade and climate change.