Carrick-on-Suir-Community-Resource-Centre

The Centre is a registered charity with 8 voluntary directors, 1 part-time paid manager and one part-time paid finance administrator.  The  remainder of our staff is made up of trainees on schemes and volunteers.

Vision Statement

A vibrant centralized accessible Community Resource Centre for the people of Carrick on Suir and its environs.

Mission Statement

To provide a centre that will enable and support the development of new personal and social services by the community for the community and encourage and sustain the development of an inclusive and caring community in Carrick on Suir.

Ethos

  • To treat all people with dignity and respect regardless of gender, class, age, religion, race or ethnic origin.
  • For people to have the right to freedom from poverty and injustice.
  • For people to have the right to work and education.
  • For people to identify their own needs and those of their community and to work to respond to those needs.

Aims and Objectives

  •  To provide facilities (the centre) as a venue for a range of services to the communities of Carrick-on Suir and its environs
  • To build the capacities of the local communities through providing access to education and information
  • To tackle social exclusion through accessible and targeted resources (services and programmes)
  • To secure funding and support to achieve a self-sufficient, viable Community Resource Centre for Carrick-On-Suir.

GOVERNANCE ISSUES ADDRESSED:

Board Improvement

  • The development of the Governance Code, we were has made us more aware of the duties and responsibilities of the Board. A comprehensive Director’s Information Pack has been developed, the need for training identified and for much more frequent meetings than before. The pack includes compliance issues and information about the Centre.
  • The Board is now far more aware of the importance of good governance and board oversight of all major decisions. They are also directly involved in our 3-year Action Plan, as are all staff, trainees and volunteers. Board members are also being developed by rotating roles and we hope that new members will feed through from the sub-committee system.
  • At our last AGM we said that we were moving from 6-weekly to 3 monthly Board Meetings. This clearly was not a satisfactory situation and we made major changes.
  • The increased amount of work to achieve Governance compliance as a small Type B CLG , particularly the number of new policies and procedures developed and updating of existing ones, plus plans to develop and expand our services in a new direction, caused to alter our organisational direction.
  • We merged the Board and Management Committee, as all the directors were on both, and developed a sub-Committee system, with a director as chair of each one.

The Sub-committees are:

  1. Finance
  2. Staffing
  3. Planning
  4. Family Support

These are each chaired by a director and meet monthly, reporting to the Board at the monthly Board meeting. All have agreed their Terms of Reference.

  • A recent decision has been made to delegate all relevant policies and procedures to these committees for assessment and approval to the board in order to speed up the approval process. Directors are sent all policies and can raise any issues with the relevant sub-committee. We have completed virtually all the recommended policies and procedures and are moving on to the next stage of ensuring their implementation in practical terms.
  • This sub-committee system has enabled us to push forward developments and new initiatives, with the opportunity to concentrate on one area, which is not possible at board meetings and also, particularly in the Planning and Staffing sub-committees, to implement the new policies in practical terms. Governance is now part of Planning. This means that work can proceed at a faster pace and in greater depth, allowing us to delegate more widely and share the load more evenly. It also means that board meetings are more efficient.
  • A further development is that the new sub-committee structure is that the organisation feels much more dynamic and forward looking.
  • In addition, we are currently developing a new website for the Centre which will enable us to effectively manage activities and ensure standards are met through regular posts and information and to inform the public of our aims and objectives and invite communication. We will have links to social media and relevant organisations within our field of operations.