Coronavirus continues to have a major impact on charity events and trustees need to consider how and if they can hold meetings.
Trustees need to check if their charity’s governing document allows them to hold meetings online or by telephone. Where it does not, an alternative may be to amend it to allow meetings to be held in this way.
Some charities may feel virtual meetings are not a viable solution, or socially distanced face-to-face meetings.
In such instances trustees may consider they have no choice but to cancel or postpone their AGMs and other critical meetings.
If you do consider such a decision is necessary, you should follow any rules in your charity’s governing document that allow for postponement, adjournment or cancellation
If there are no such rules, but you decide that this is still the best course of action for your charity in the current circumstances, you should record the reasons for this decision to demonstrate good governance of your charity.
Wherever possible, the commission asks you to get your annual reports to them on time. However, where this situation impacts on the completion of annual returns and accounts, charities with an imminent filing date can email them. Please include your charity name and charity registration number when you email them about an extension.
You can contact the charity commission at this email address regarding this situation – filingextension@charitycommission.gov.uk
The revised guidance can be accessed here.