With the regulation of charitable enterprise becoming increasingly complex, all charities must ensure they are transparent and well-run. Vision Norfolk has been in existence for over 200 years, and inevitably governing documents, and management and governance processes, need to be reviewed and updated every so often.
As part of this process, the charity is revising how we are organised and governed, and in particular is in the process of becoming a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). This is a new form of structure for charities which enables them to (for example) employ staff or enter into contracts.
Vision Norfolk has grown over its many years of operation and has become a charity with a diverse range of services; we need to support this diversity within the management of our activity. So we are redesigning our organisation in a way that will help each part of the charity manage its area of operations in the most effective and specialist way.
The four new areas of operation are:
- Central Support Services
- NNAB Property Services
- Care and Support Services
- Community Services
By segmenting our operations in this way, we can concentrate the appropriate skills needed in each. We can refine our financial management and give our management teams and staff much greater clarity surrounding their areas of responsibility. It will give greater clarity and accountability and drive up quality and performance.
Making this change will enable the Board of Trustees and the chief executive to develop the organisation to meet with the highest possible standards of governance and manage the charity with clarity, openness, and care.
We must and we will: –
- Be Sustainable
- Provide services that are relevant and important to people with sight loss
- Hold onto our history and all that is good about the Charity
- Be more effective and professional in all that we do
- Find new ways to resource our work
- Be the “Go to Place” for people with sight loss
Changes to our organisational structure
The plans to change our governing instrument is underway, the changes to the organisation will happen more gradually, but work has already begun. The Board will publish a new strategy document nearer the AGM in October (we may have to hold our AGM in a different way due to the Covid 19 pandemic, but we will keep all our stakeholders notified).
Given that part of the restructuring will include a review of the position of members, it would be inappropriate to admit new members at this time.
