Corporate Trustee - Minutes of Previous Meeting

PUBLIC SESSION (Disclosable)

CT22/3/03

MINUTES FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING

3.1

The minutes from the corporate trustee meeting on 09.11.2022 were approved.

CT22/3/04

CFC REPORT TO TRUSTEE

4.1

Non-Executive Director, Neville Hounsome (NED-NH) provided a verbal update on the Charitable Funds Committee which had taken place on 11.01.2023. He confirmed the committee had agreed to support welfare wagon consumables. A legacy payment had been received of £300,000 with the potential for a further £200,000-£250,000 in unrestricted funds. The committee had received the Charity Strategy and was commending this to the Corporate Trustee for approval.

CT22/3/05

CHARITY STRATEGY

5.1

Kate Lott, Head of Charity (HoC) presented the Charity Strategy. She reminded the Corporate Trustee that the charity had previously been under-developed. The Covid pandemic had raised opportunities and awareness of the charity. More recently, the charity had received increased income exceeding £750,000 from NHS Charities Together, which was the overarching membership body for NHS charities. In 2021 the charity appointed its first dedicated charity support which had enabled the growth of the charity. The strategy was aligned with the Trust vision and values to deliver ‘outstanding care, exceptional people, every hour of every day’. The Charity Strategy should be viewed as part of the wider strategy framework to help EEAST realise its ambitions by focussing on grant themes and establishing networks or activities that support the strategic goals as highlighted in EEAST Strategy. The charity priorities were outlined as follows;

• Maximise our potential – Actively raising funds and demonstrating the difference made.
• Supporting our staff and volunteers to be the best they can be at delivering outstanding patient care.
• Enhanced equipment and training to support staff and volunteer skills, to ensure positive patient outcomes.
• Engaging communities through education and life-saving support.

5.2

To enable the delivery of these priorities, the charity would be assessing the key enablers for success – namely the maintenance of resources and partnership working, development of a strong communications plan and upholding of governance, and establishing a suite of metrics to measure impacts. The HoC confirmed charity branding had been developed which was presented to the Corporate Trustee.

5.3

Non-Executive Director, Alison Wigg (NED-AW) commended the charity branding which was new and exciting. She commended the activity of the charity to date.

5.4

Hein Scheffer, Director of Strategy, Culture and Education (DoSCE) confirmed the three-year strategy aligned well with the three year workforce plan. He enquired what measures of success would be in place for the charity. He noted there had been positive feedback from staff on welfare wagons, which the charity had supported. NED-NH confirmed each project was supported by clear project plans and measures of success, an example of these would report to the next meeting of the Corporate Trustee. He was confident in the governance processes at individual project level. Further work was required to establish KPIs for the charity as a whole, it was recommended this include engagement, case studies and income to expenditure. EEAST had contributed to three nationally recognised awards which was commendable.

5.5

Non-Executive Director, Julie Thallon (NED-JT) enquired what support was received from NHS Charities Together. The HoC confirmed this was a valuable network which EEAST played a key role in. EEAST had been involved in special interest groups pursuing collaborative fundraising schemes across the NHS which included outrun an ambulance and NHS 75. Additionally, communications support was provided alongside a significant source of income.

5.6

Non-Executive Director, Mrunal Sisodia (NED-MS) enquired how the charity was supporting beneficiaries in mapping projects to the areas of highest need. NED-NH confirmed there was a check and challenge to ensure funding was addressing the right issues. Over 50% of funding was committed to employee welfare schemes and community projects. The HoC informed the Corporate Trustee that case studies would be released to increase awareness of how the charity was supporting the Trust. One of the most significant projects was the Chelmsford wellbeing garden which had proven highly successful. Work was underway to establish a communications plan for this activity.

5.7

The CEO extended his thanks to the charities team for the activity of the charity which was delivering a genuine benefit for staff. The Charity Strategy would serve as the next stage of this.

5.8

There was no other business and the meeting closed at 12:15