Terrence Higgins Trust is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee which is governed by a board comprised of up to 15 Trustees. The board has overall responsibility for the work of the organisation, and has the following role:
- To oversee the charity’s governance.
- To establish strategy.
- To performance manage the achievement of the strategy.
- To contribute to the leadership of the charity.
Our current trustees are:
- Dr Carla Barrett
- Asher Craig
- Luke Genevrier-Mallett
- Melanie Knight
- Charles Kwaku-Odoi
- Jonathan McShane (Chair)
- Ben Roberts
- Dr Thomas Waite
The board delegates to the Chief Executive who is supported by a team of directors. This enables the charity to draw on both trustee and officer skills and knowledge to maximise the quality of governance and leadership provided to the organisation.
Trustees will serve a term of three years and may be re-elected for two further terms (of three years each).
The board meets formally 4 times a year (quarterly) and holds 2 planning sessions – a 1-day event usually in January/February and another in July.
Time commitment
Approximately 12 days per year, including:
- 4 formal board meetings (quarterly)
- 2 annual planning sessions (1 day each)
- Committee meetings (trustees sit on at least one committee)
- Preparation, reading, and occasional events.
The board has a Chair and is supported in its work by three board committees:
- Finance, People, Audit and Risk Committee.
- Clinical Governance Oversight Committee.
- Development Committee.
These committees provide an opportunity to engage in more detailed scrutiny and discussion of the charity’s work than would otherwise be possible in an ordinary board meeting. Each trustee will serve in at least one committee.
The role of the Finance, People, Audit and Risk Committee is to maintain an overview of the financial health and corporate performance of the organisation, its controls assurance mechanisms, and of its compliance with statutory requirements.
The role of the Clinical Governance Oversight Committee is to support the board to discharge its organisational and front-line service governance responsibilities and delivery of quality services.
The role of the Development Committee is to provide expert guidance on fundraising and new service development, with a focus on unrestricted funding and in-budget fundraising products.
Each committee is chaired by a trustee and comprises a small number of trustees and external advisors.
The board each year reviews and adopts a Code of Corporate Governance Action Plan, which sets out the ways in which the board intends to work.
The board leads on development of the charity strategy and ensures that it fulfils its governance duties by producing an annual trustee report.
While it is important that trustees understand and meet their fiduciary duty, we also want trustees to enjoy their experience, to feel they are making a positive difference to the charities’ key service users and staff, and by the end of their period as a trustee feel that the whole experience has been worth it.
