The Code of Governance for the Voluntary and Community Sector

The Code of Governance for the Voluntary and Community Sector has been published by the National Governance Hub (a partnership of organisations working to improve governance of charities and other voluntary and community organisations). The Commission has contributed to the development of the code in partnership with NCVO, ACEVO, Charity Trustee Networks and ICSA. The code is a practical and easy-to-use guide to help charities develop good practice. We fully endorse it, and would encourage all charities - from large to small - to use it.

The code is based on seven key principles that have been designed to apply to any charity:

• Board leadership
• The Board in control
• The high performance Board
• Board review and renewal
• Board delegation
• Board and trustee integrity
• Board openness

You can download copies of the code from www.governancehub.org.uk. There is also a summary version of the code, and a leaflet called Learning to Fly (for local voluntary and community organisations).