Roles & Responsibiliti

es of ExecAnt Scott

Societies Officer

Charity Law!

• The Union is a registered charity, and as such we are bound

by Charity Law.

• As societies within the Union, you too are bound by the same

law, and should see yourselves as “mini-charities”.

• The money in your accounts is charitable money and

should be spent according to your primary purpose to

benefit all of your members equally.

What does this all mean?

• Can’t spend hundreds of pounds of society money on champagne or grandiose meals in fancy restaurantso This would be like Cancer Research spending all their money on

Dominoes Pizzas

• Can’t spend a disproportionate amount of money on a minority of people, i.e. no freebies for execso This would be like Cancer Research spending all of its money providing

support for just the Trustees’ families and no-one else.

• Money spent on food and alcohol cannot be excessive

What does this all mean?

• Societies can’t tradeo Your society funds are donations not revenue.

• Consequently, events can’t be run to make a profit. You are simply running events to break even at 65% attendance.

• Money fundraised for charity is processed through the RAG accounto There is special dispensation for this in the Charities Act, 2011.

Constitutions & Primary Purpose

• What is my primary purpose?

• The stated aims and objectives of your society as outlined in your constitution.

• Every society has their own constitution, and it can be found in the Resources Room (2nd floor of SUHQ).

• This is why it’s so important that you keep it up to date!

Changing your constitution• Proposed changes need to first be approved by Socs

Committee.o This acts as a safeguard to ensure that societies aren’t duplicating the same

activities as other societies.

• This should be done by emailing uc017@warwicksu.com outlining the proposed changes.

• THEN, the changes must be approved by a quorate AGM. (This can be an email/online vote).o Quorum levels are given in your constitution. Most quorum levels are 20% of

membership.o Once passed, give a copy of the new constitution to Indy in the Resources

Room.

Legal Responsibilities• You are all legally responsible for your members

on events and socials.

• If there was an incident, you would be responsible for the students involved in a Court of Law.

• You therefore have a Duty of Care to all of your members (and those that they come into contact with).

Legal Responsibilities• What does this all mean?

• You have to fill out a Risk Assessment for all of your events, to demonstrate that you have thought about, and minimised, the risks involved in your events.

• If one of your members is outrageously drunk and can’t get home, you have a responsibility to ensure that they are looked after and that they make their way home safely.

• Wow – that’s pretty heavy, right?

Legal Responsibilities• That’s a whole lot of responsibility to hold!

• Don’t worry, we’ll help you through it.

• Duty of Care training – compulsory for all execs; now online!

• Event Planning Process is there to ensure that the risks of your events have been considered. This helps to cover you if things go wrong!

• Contact Gerard.Henry@warwicksu.com if you’re worried, or are organising a big/risky event.

Insurance• You are all covered by the Union’s Public Liability

Insurance (paid for by the SocsFed fee)

• What does this mean?• If a mirror ball fell from our ceiling and injured one of

your members, then you as an exec member would not have to pay the legal costs associated with that claim.

• Great stuff!• But, we are only insured for the activities that we know

about – hence the importance of Event Planning.

Insurance• There is absolutely no cover for personal accidents.

• What does this mean?• If one of your dancers broke their leg in a rehearsal,

then they are not covered by any of our insurance.• You will need to make your members aware of

this, and they will need to purchase their own travel/accident insurance for any trips and tours.

• But, if you think this is rubbish, we could provide personal accident insurance as an SU, but this would mean an increase in the SocsFed fee. It’s up to you!

Equal Opportunities• In addition to all of this, you have a commitment to

ensuring equal opportunities to all your members.

• How do you do this?• Equal Opps position on every exec• Complete the online Equal Opps training• Make sure your events are accessible to all kinds of

students

• Beyond that…• Socs Awards criteria based on Equal Opps, so even more

important to go the extra mile with this one!

Roles & Responsibilities

• It can all be a bit overwhelming, but unfortunately you all personally hold a lot of responsibility to look after your members.

• We’re here to help and support you through it all, so if you’re worried just drop us an email.

• Gerard.Henry@warwicksu.com• Rebecca.Quansah@warwicksu.com

Roles & Responsibilities

End of session

Note down any questions you may have now, and we’ll have time to go through them during and after lunch.

Roles & Responsibilities

Breakout sessions:

• President training with Nat in here

• Treasurer training with Jacqui in The Mighty Duck

• Secretary training with Chris in MR4/5