Whilst it may seem that the need to link fund-raising to almost every event organised by, or on behalf of, the Worshipful Company increasingly tests the generosity of the membership, it is worth remembering that the purpose of a Livery Company affords the security profession an opportunity to direct benevolence to causes which it particularly wishes to advance on its collective behalf.
The public and tangible expression of its charitable aims is also a way in which members of the security profession give something back to other members who are disadvantaged or to other agencies which, directly or indirectly, complement the work we do to provide improved security for people and property.
Here, Richard Monk CMG OBE QPM the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Worshipful Company’s Charitable Trust explains how the Trustees do their work and the policies that guide the grants they make.
‘Since the company’s foundation in 1999 as a Guild and during its rapid advancement to Livery Status in 2008, the Charitable Trust has increasingly accumulated wealth from transfers of surplus from the company’s General Fund until, at the beginning of March 2008, the Charitable Fund account stood at slightly more than £500,000. Passing the half million mark is a milestone in an increasing number of financial targets which the Court of Assistants (the governing body) have set and reaching it owes a great deal to the drive and leadership of our present and past Masters. The Trustees have an obligation to periodically explain how, on behalf of the Company, they choose to honour the benevolent traditions of a City of London Livery Company, particularly in view of the outstanding generosity shown by the membership and sponsors.
The Trustees are nominated and elected by the Court of Assistants and serve for two years extendable for a further two years. Once appointed, the Trustees assume an individual and collective obligation to safeguard the Company’s charitable funds and to do this in accordance with conditions laid down by the Charity Commissioners which our Treasurer, Andrew Knights and Clerk, Bill Clark will attest, require increasingly scrupulous transparency and accounting. This means that the Trustees whilst acting as such in accordance with the provisions of the Charities and Companies Acts are not subordinate in any way to the Court but are accountable through their chairman to the Court for the way in which they invest company funds and make grants or disbursements from the interest paid on it.
Investing the company’s funds to achieve a maximum return has nevertheless to be consistent with a low risk or even a no-risk strategy, the worth of which has been brought into sharp relief by the losses currently suffered by others with higher risk investments. From the interest accrued from our funds, the Trustees meet four times a year to consider applications from would-be beneficiaries and to decide on the distribution of money or gifts in accordance with the objectives of our Trust. These objectives are listed in the terms of reference of the Trustees but of more interest will be the criteria for making gifts recently drawn up by the Trustees which are contained in the same document, have been noted by the Court, and which emphasise the intention to benefit good causes linked to the provision of security as distinct from the more general clauses favoured by many charities. Here they are:
‘The Trustees will consider making gifts under the following headings:
? To individuals, agencies or organisations, including other charitable organisations, linked to the provision of security or protection, of people and property.
? For other charitable purposes. (This clause accords with the general nature of the Company’s charitable trust deed and would in the main enable the Company to support requests emanating from within the City of London. The principal beneficiaries remain as above). .
Charitable organisations
The Trustees may consider appeals from other charities provided that:
? They further benefit, assist or promote the work or the objectives of people or organisations working within the scope of the wider world of security, and
? They are registered with the Charity Commission in England (or the equivalent in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). Therefore aid to foreign beneficiaries will be channeled through international charities with a UK registration, such as Red Cross, OXFAM, Age Concern, UNICEF, Christian Aid, VSO, Disaster Aid, etc; and
? The appeal is relevant to the security profession, or furthering the security of people and property.
To help the Trustees deliberate, some have specific responsibilities for taking a first look at categories of applications. What these are, appear in the list of Trustees below. Our Trust Deed limits the number of Trustees to 12 including, ex officio the current Master. At the time of writing (March 2009), the periods of appointment of Philip Willoughby and Sir Michael Bett are about to expire and we shall be asking the Court to appoint new Trustees to replace them in due course.
Quoting again from our Terms of Reference:
Specifically, the trustees are responsible for the administration, finance and operation of:-
The Sheriffs’ Award, an annual award to the person(s) or organisation(s) that have shown bravery or selfless courage in a security context.
The Whittington Prize, a scheme for children from the socially deprived areas of London that shows them the opportunities of working in the City of London. Guest speakers visit schools prior to the Course, and then during the Course itself the children are taken to City institutions such as the Guildhall, the Stock Exchange, and Wood Street Police Station and stimulated by an exclusive view from the rooftops of Canary Wharf.
Hear 4 U [http://www.hear4u.org.uk/] is a reserved fund within the charity that runs a website and helpline for those who work in the security industry and need help with medical problems. We’re finding that bullying and addiction are high on the list. The scheme is overseen by a Sub-Committee of the Trustees under the chairmanship of the Immediate Past Master Peter French who has recruited the assistance of influential contemporaries to help publicise what’s on offer to everybody within the security community.
The trustees also feel that we should be maximising the company’s status in virtue of its collective expertise by working with other charitable organisations with similar aims. (In addition to making grants, we also offer to invite our members to contribute practical support or expertise which also represents a considerable financial value). One such organisation is Victim Support which has approached us with a request to fund the additional training of volunteers, to aid the victims of a terrorist attack. It is the trustees’ opinion that this proposal is wholly in keeping with our aims and that Victim Support is a distinguished charitable organisation with which we should be pleased to collaborate. We have therefore made a donation of five thousand pounds to this project – a relatively substantial sum given the limited funds available – not least because security guards are frequently victims of such crime. We hope to provide Victim Support with an opportunity to showcase the project immediately following the Company’s Inaugural Annual Lecture on the subject of terrorism currently being planned to take place in the autumn.
In a similar vein, we are considering an application from Child Victims of Crime, an organisation with very similar credentials and because the Trustees believe the membership would be keen to be associated with these types of organisation long term.
Annually, the Trustees have made grants to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court and to the Police Convalescent Home at Goring on Thames. Grants in response to other specific requests have included the Special Boat Service Association (£500), the University of East London (the Trustees increased the amount of a prize for the best criminology student to £100), and for the first time, a bursary for a student sponsored by The Security Institute. It is hoped that the latter will be able to link-in to the Company’s apprenticeship scheme if the mentor provided by the Security Institute also happened to be a member of the Company and could become the apprentice’s ‘Master’.
With regard to the Master’s Charity, the whole subject of fund-raising and grant-making touches on a proposal to encourage future Masters to choose a charity from among those already in receipt of a grant from the Trustees or to notify the Trustees in advance of their choice and perhaps arrange for that charity to make application to the Board of Trustees with a possible option of support for more than one year. It is not the wish of the Trustees to dictate to future Masters what charity they should nominate but merely that fund-raising for the one should not detract from the other. The current Master’s charity is Met Track for which £13,000 has been raised so far.
The Trustees are receiving an increasing number of applications for financial relief from individuals, or on their behalf from other charities eg SSAFA [Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, http://www.ssafa.org.uk/], and because we wish to focus on the welfare of individuals we have asked John Troon, one of the Trustees to assume a welfare role and in appropriate cases assess the level and type of assistance required. In other cases, we immediately make a gift of money or if possible refer the application to a charity where the criteria for grant-making is more fitted to the nature of the application. Furthermore and notwithstanding that the ability to earn a satisfactory return on the sum of money has been greatly reduced by the current depression, the Trustees have decided that whilst maintaining a balance of half million pounds, the annual level of financial donations they may make, will remain the same as last year on the grounds that at a time of crisis, our charitable character should take precedence over parsimony.
So that members will feel better informed about the use to which their fines (membership fees) and purchases are put and in the hope that other members, not yet so closely engaged, will take a few minutes to think how they might give more tangible assistance, here in summary form are our priorities.
? Assistance to security professionals who have encountered unforeseen health or financial difficulties
? Activities that further benefit, assist or promote the work or objectives of individuals, agencies or organisations, which may substantially contribute to the security of people or their property.
? The education, training and welfare of security professionals.
? Causes for which support is sought by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London
The term ‘security professionals’ includes civil security organisations related to the protection of people, property and liberty; the armed forces, and the uniformed emergency services.
Joint funding with one or more other charitable organisations is to be encouraged.
For more information on what a Livery Company is/does visit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livery_Company
