Agenda item

Report of the Chief Grants Officer.

The Committee received the regular progress report of the Chief Grants Officer and discussed the updates provided.

London Metropolitan Archives and CBT’s historic records

Members noted that the grant making arm of Bridge House Estates had been operational since 1995, making 7,676 awards with a total value of £370m. Detailed records were produced for each grant awarded, including not only what was provided to the Trust by way of application and subsequent monitoring, but also what was produced by officers following assessment and site visits.

Quite extensive records now existed in secure storage, with many grant files dating much further back than the mandatory minimum 6 year retention period stipulated by the 2011 Charities Act. The oldest files had no practical value for grant management purposes, and were now very unlikely to ever be required for purposes of fraud investigations or any legal action. However, as London’s largest independent grant-making Trust, the City Bridge records contained a rich history of the capital’s voluntary and community sector, and could be of significant interest to researchers.

Discussions were now underway with London Metropolitan Archives as to how this material might be preserved.

RESOLVED – That permission be given for LMA to have access to the City Bridge Trust records as part of the history of London’s voluntary and community sector.

London’s Giving

Members were reminded that at the March 2017 meeting the Trust approved a grant of £300,000 over three years for London Funders to continue the development of the London’s Giving place-based giving initiative.  The grant was subject to two conditions. Firstly, that a consultancy contract be awarded following an open tendering process.  The second was that the post of Project Manager within London Funders be filled through an open recruitment process.

Eight bids were received for the consultancy contract, four of which were shortlisted for interview. The successful applicants were Clare Thomas and Deborah Xavier (who had undertaken the first phase of this project) together with Rocket Science.

With regard to the second condition of grant, in the light of the recent resignation of the current London Funders’ Director, together with the impact on the organisation of recent, tragic events in London, a variation of grant was approved to allow for continuity in the organisation by retaining the current, temporary Project Manager until six months into the appointment of the new Director of London Funders.

Human Resources Team Update

Head of Philanthropy Strategy:  An appointment had been made subject to reference and an update would be provided to this Committee once confirmed.

Grants Administrator: Elizabeth (Lily) Brandhorst had now been recruited to the 12 month fixed term Grants Administrator role. Lily currently worked for the Nordiff Robins Music Therapy charity and would be in post by September 2017.

Social Investment Fund Associate:  Interviews had been held and an appointment made with the successful candidate due to start in August.

A Member requested that an updated Organisation/Staff Chart of the Trust be brought to the September Committee.