Governing Document
In May 2021, Iolanthe Midwifery Trust became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) which is governed by a Constitution. Prior to this, Iolanthe was a charitable trust, governed by a Trust Deed since 1983.
The Constitution is based on the Charity Commission's Foundation Model Constitution for CIOs whose only voting members are its charity trustees. The objects of the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust are to advance and promote training, education, professional development and research in the field of midwifery, and the disseminating of useful results of such development and research.
Public benefit
It is the responsibility of the Trustees to run the Iolanthe Midiwifery Trust in a way that carries out its purposes for the public benefit.
The charitable objectives of the Trust are achieved by making financial awards to appropriate selected individuals, who have made detailed applications for funds according to criteria set by the Trustees. Iolanthe Awards fund student and qualified midwives to undertake further study and development, with the aim of improving the care of mothers, babies and families.
The Trustees comply with the duty in section 4 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to public benefit when reviewing the Trust’s aims and objectives and planning future activities and awards.
Monitoring of awards
The Trust takes care to see that money paid out in awards is spent as intended and, where applicable, the 'product' represents good value for money. All award winners are required to provide evidence of expenditure and to provide a report on the activities funded by the award. More detailed monitoring of progress is required for the large awards such as the Research Fellowship.
Details of awards made can be found in the annual report.
Trustee expenses and payments
The Trust has only two salaried positions, that of the Executive Director and Admin Support Officer. Trustees do not receive payment for their work, but are entitled to claim reasonable expenses for items such as travel to meetings. These expenses are detailed in the annual financial statements. Other payments can only be made to Trustees with the prior approval of the Charity Commission.
Conflicts of interest
Trustees act to ensure that they do not put themselves in a position where their personal interests conflict with their duty to act in the interests of the Iolanthe Midwifery Trust. Trustees complete a form declaring any conflicts of interest and this is reviewed and updated annually at the Trust's meeting.
Finance Sub-Committee
The Iolanthe Midwifery Trust has a Financial Subcommittee (FSC) that considers all matters relating to finance and to recommend policies to the Board for adoption.
Members of the FSC include:
- Deepa Verma (Financial Trustee) - Chair of FSC
- Johanna Rhys-Davies (Legal Trustee)
- Sheona Brown (Midwife Trustee)
- Logan van Lessen (Interim Chair)
Details of accounts can also be accessed from the Charity Commission web site.
Accounts for the previous Iolanthe Trust are available in the register of removed charities.
Accounts for the new Iolanthe Midwifery Trust CIO are available in the register of charities.
Listing photo ATTRIBUTION: victor camilo under Creative Commons licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
