advice

[Gwersalt]

Hi, Can anyone advise me. I am "novice" Chair of a charity, have never carried a role like this before and I am unsure of the etiquette. Can anyone advise on how I should respond to the resignation of a committee member and also who I should address my resignation to in the future should I wish to resign as I am unsure of the process.

Thank you in advance for your help,
Libby

Is anyone able to offer me some advice on this one as I am desperate to know. Thank you.

Have you had a look in the Charities Commission website? There are a lot of good guidance notes there.

But generally, I would think you could address any future resignation to the committee.

Hi there and thank you so much for responding. I have looked at the website and lots of others and I cannot find answers to those two questions I have raised. The sites refer to Trustees informing the Chair of an impending resignation or change in circumstances but doesn't refer to whom the Chair informs of a resignation? And also who/how a chair should respond to a resignation? The Trustee has declared their intention to resign on a group email to all Trustees but I am thinking I should perhaps acknowledge it in some way? And if so how?
Regarding the Chair resigning, can it just be announced at a meeting without prior warning to anyone or should a letter/ email be sent out to all the Trustees explaining it all and the intention?? I could be overthinking it but I don't want to appear clueless! Thanks again for any advice.

Hi
I've acted as a trustee in the past and normally in anything other than a very small charity, there will be a company secretary or similar who deals with the governance aspects. Otherwise, there is nothing preventing you from letting all the trustees know yourself as someone will have to step up and act as chair until there is a suitable replacement. In terms of the charity commission, changes of trustee are part of the annual return process. Hope that helps a bit!

In your situation, I would do reply-all to the group email, acknowledging & accepting their resignation and thanking them for their contribution (assuming they're not resigning for a controversial reason...). If there's anyone else who needs to know I'd let them know informally.

In the absence of any rules/guidance for the Chair, you can do it any way you like - I'm on 2 committees and recently one chair resigned via email, one announced at a meeting then followed up via email including some people who hadn't been at the meeting. You probably have a better idea of what your Trustees would prefer and what you'd feel more comfortable with...

Thank you all so much for your advice - It's really helped and reassured me of the best way to deal with both situations. Have a lovely evening.
Libby