Forming a management committee

^{Running a club > Legal & money issues > Forming a management committee}

Your management committee will form the backbone of your club, making sure that the club is successful in working towards its aims and objectives. There are 6 main areas that the management committee is responsible for

• Giving direction - planning developments, monitoring and reviewing progress.
• Managing people - recruiting paid staff and volunteers, ensuring there is proper support and staff development and acting as a responsible employer.
• Being accountable - for the service you provide; to parents, Ofsted, funders, any organisation or individuals with an interest in what you do.
• Keeping to the law - making sure that the club abides by all the legislation that is relevant to providing childcare, employing people and running an organisation. This also includes abiding by your governing document e.g. constitution, memorandum & articles of association.
• Managing your resources - making sure that money and property are used for the purposes stated in your governing document, there is sound financial management and there are sufficient resources to keep the club financially stable.
• Managing itself - making sure that the management committee functions well, meetings are held regularly, are effective and all members are fully involved and informed about the organisation.

Management committee members need to be enthusiastic and behind the ethos of the project. Parents often make up the core of the management committee but it is also important to involve other individuals from the wider community that are supportive and agree with your aims. By doing this the management committee will have a wide range of skills, knowledge and experience that it can draw upon to fulfil its responsibilities.

Drumming up enthusiasm can be difficult. Start by talking to as many people and organisations as possible in your area who may be interested. Make sure any initial publicity, surveys and questionnaires provide parents and other people a chance to register their interest in getting involved. Follow this up and invite everyone to an open meeting to enable you to create a shared vision for your club and to crystallise interest. The Business Development Team at Sheffield Out of School Network will be able to give you more ideas and help with the recruitment of management committee members.

The best management committees encourage openness and team working and keep the aims of the club at the top of their agenda. It is important that you have enough members to carry out everything that needs to be done but not too many so that it is unmanageable, between 6 - 12 management committee members is usual for most out of school clubs. The management committee should meet regularly, for example monthly or every half term, not just when there is a problem. A good idea is to try to ensure all committee members also have first hand experience of your club in action on a 6 monthly basis. This will help committee members to understand how the club operates on a day to day basis, what the issues are and to get to know the staff and volunteers.

Management committee membership also brings legal responsibility so it is important that members understand this and are willing to take a full and active part in the running of the group.
Although your management committee may have any number of members there are three major roles to fill - the Chairperson, the Secretary and the Treasurer. These people are usually elected at the first general meeting and at subsequent annual general meetings. In addition you will need to agree who will take on the role of Line Manager.

Other roles that need to be allocated include:

• Named contact person for Ofsted
• Named contact person for your child protection policies
• Named contact person for your health & safety policies

You may want to consider other tasks and responsibilities that could be allocated so that everyone is able to contribute to the management of the club. For example:

• Fundraising
• Publicity and marketing
• Parents newsletter/noticeboards
• Practical stuff such as decorating, maintenance, washing toys & dressing up clothes.

The Business Development Team at Sheffield Out of School Network is able to provide information about the roles and responsibilities for management committee members and where training and support is available.