Preschool committee- any other legal organisation structures?

[SEsofty]

My son attended a local village preschool for his funded hours last year.

Last year I went along to the agm and ended up being on the committee, secretary, on the expectation that this would be a very minimal role. In reality it ended up being lots of work, setting wages staff recruitment etc.

Comes to this years agm and no one wants to be on committee, and that’s without knowing how much work it is.

It seems to me crazy that this has to happen every year and that surely there should be a different way of doing it.

Does anyone have any experience of doing something different?

Try to widen your net.
Are there people in the village, whose children have grown up, but who are community minded that might support (apart from anything else, are more likely to commit for a longer time)

I was in this position OP. It was one if the most stressful situations I have ever been in. Working for free and being responsible for people's livelihoods, children's welfare and all sorts of legalities and statutory rules, questioning by ofsted etc.

I did the role of secretary for 8 years. Our whole committee were on their knees. We asked and asked for volunteers to replace us. Nobody ever came forward.

In the end we sent a letter out to parents saying that if nobody came forward to be on the committee the setting would have to close. We have a cut off date. By that date we had a new committee to hand over to.

People won't stand up and volunteer whilst you're doing a good job. Their hands need to be forced. That's my experience.

It's bonkers isn't it. Every year we threatened to close preschool before parents stepped forward. It's not just preschools either, I'm thinking many community groups get to that stage before people step in.

Thanks for the advice and to know that we are by no means in a unique position. It just seems completely utterly nuts that legally these important responsibilities and jobs have to be carried out by volunteers and that no is allowed to be paid for the work

I did this and ended up in an Employment Tribunal, lost two years to solicitors, barristers, legal papers etc. We won in the end but I would never, ever advise anyone to go near a pre-school committee knowing what I do now.

I feel very naive that I walked into it.

It's a crazy set up. Look into setting up as a CIC. You will need advise from an accountant as to how to do it so you don't lose your assets and you'd have to find someone willing to be a director (manager?). You'll also lose charitable status, but quite frankly it's a small price to pay to ensure stability for the preschool.

Without the army of volunteers who run them, many community preschools would close. They're massively underfunded the business doesn't stack up if the committee were to be paid staff. Ours had a turnover of around £100k a year. Made £0 surplus. Staff of 7 very low paid mostly part timers. There's not enough money to pay a treasurer, secretary or chair.

Even more so if you end up with a situation like shutlingsloe had.

That said, I made some of my closest friends during that time, and gained skills which advanced my career. It means my PTA role is a doddle. I'd always still recommend getting involved.