Paul Goldfinch, SYHA Hostelling Scotland President
explains a little further about SYHA Hostelling
Scotland's governance history and urges those of you with an
interest of being involved with our charity to get
involved...today!
SYHA Hostelling Scotland's founding
organisation is reflected in its roots. We had five district
committees, each of them quite large: Edinburgh and Glasgow both
had fifty district members, with strong competition to take part
and thus control the development of the Association. District
representatives were elected to a hundred-strong National Council –
the governing body, truly responsible for the Association, although
it elected a National Executive to oversee and control the
Association's activities.
That structure lasted a long time, and served
the Association well, but gradually it weakened. District control
of hostels and the associated volunteer work parties vanished in
1970 largely on safety and quality grounds, leaving the districts
much weaker.
In 2005 legislation on charities was the
catalyst for the move to the present governing structure – though
the word "catalyst" rather than "cause" should be emphasised.
The choice was ours, and it was made with the objective of creating
a structure in keeping with the concepts of educational purpose and
member control which started our youth hostelling history. So, now
we come to the point: what do we need to take those two points
forward into the future? We need volunteers – nicely in
keeping with 2011 being designated by the EU as the Year of
Volunteering!
We need
you!
Volunteering comes at many levels and takes
many forms. You may have noticed already that some of our
smaller and more remote hostels operate with volunteer managers and
these locations benefit from a limited range of maintenance tasks
undertaken by these volunteers. In both cases, appropriate
training and support are available – please see the SYHA Hostelling
Scotland website or contact the Chief Executive's office in
Stirling for more information.
A much different type of volunteer
is needed to take part in the governance of the Association,
those who will give of their time, skills and experience to take
the Association securely through the 21st century.
We have more than 20,000 members, from whom are drawn by election
approximately twenty to serve with others on Council – a body which
meets twice a year to receive reports on the progress of the
Association and, most importantly annually, to elect from their
number the nine members of the Board.
The Board
The Board (pictured above) is legally
responsible for the Association. Its members serve as
trustees (SYHA Hostelling Scotland is a registered Scottish
charity) and also as directors (SYHA Hostelling Scotland is a
company limited by guarantee); those are legal phrases, but not
ones to be frightened of. The Board is responsible for setting the
strategy of the Association, for approving the associated
operational plan prepared by the Chief Executive and his team, and
for reviewing reports which allow it to check that the progress
being made properly reflects the plans which have been
approved. It is a responsibility – and also a privilege – but
seldom is it a burden as so often in life you find that the people
with whom you are working quickly become your friends.
Commitment needed? That, of course,
depends how deeply you get involved. The necessary first step
is to be elected a member of Council and to attend two meetings a
year, presently being held on Saturday mornings. Board
members have another five meetings a year (the number varies
slightly from time to time), some held in the central belt but some
also held in hostels where there are points of issue to
explore.
More info: for further information about becoming
involved in SYHA Hostelling Scotland Governance please email
Paul Goldfinch at paul@syha.org.uk. You can
also phone 01786 891300 or write to SYHA Hostelling Scotland,
National Office, 7 Glebe Crescent, Stirling, FK8 2JA.
SYHA members are entitled to attend the
September meeting of Council, subject to registering in good time
with the Company Secretary. This gives you a good chance to
see how Council works, and to learn about the Board, but with no
commitment. Try it! Join today.