Our Governance

Norfolk Wildlife (NWT) Trust is a registered charity (no 208734) founded in 1926. It is also a private company limited by guarantee (no 217388).

Our governing document is the Memorandum and Articles of Association, last updated and adopted at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in October 2021. (Downloadable below)

Our governing body is the Council of Trustees, comprising the Trustees (the Company Directors) who have full decision-making authority on behalf of the Charity’s members. The charity has a number of committees and working groups. The trustees and members of the committee are all volunteers.

 

Annual Reports and Finances

We report annually to the Charity Commission and to Companies House. Our accounts are independently audited and formally adopted at the Annual General Meeting, which usually takes place in October.

We produce a statutory Annual Report and Accounts and also a summary document is made available to our membership and other interested parties (downloadable below).

Council and Trustees

The Council of Trustees is elected by the membership at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Council Members are elected for a determined period and serve as trustees of the charity and directors under the Companies Act. The Council may co-opt trustees for a specific purpose. 

The Council of Trustees shall comprise of up to a maximum number of 12, and not below a minimum number of 8, plus the Honorary Treasurer. Members of the Trust can be co-opted by the Council (Co-opted Trustees) as long as the aggregate of Trustees, Treasurer and Co-opted Trustees does not exceed 15.

The trust may appoint a President, Deputy-President and Vice- Presidents. These offices are honorary, elected at the AGM, but they are not members of the Council, unless otherwise elected or co-opted for a specific purpose.

There are also two non-voting, student observer roles available on Council, lasting for up to two years, open to those wishing to pursue a possible career in conservation and agriculture.

Our current council is listed on the right. Click on the names to read a biography.

Members of Council as at 10 November 2023


Chair: Alice Liddle
Vice-Chair: Jennie ffrench-Constant
Vice-Chair: John Sharpe
Treasurer: Lyndsay Whiteman

Andrew Clarke
Glenn Houchell
Greg Beeton
Kathy Gill
Mandy Loadman
Rob Lucking
Scott Pinching
Sue Roe 

Committees and Working Groups

The Council of Trustees has established specialist committees and specific working groups to help carry out the work of the charity.

At all meetings of the Council and committees, if any of those present have a possible conflict of interest it is declared and, if necessary, they would be excluded from Council business in relation to the matter.

The Finance, Audit and Risk Group advises the Council on matters relating to the financial management of the charity and its investments and other assets.


The Governance Review Group considers changes in regulations and current guidance to advise the Council to enable best practices to be implemented.
 

The Remunerations Group decides overall pay awards, following recommendations by the CEO, considering benchmarking and agreed-on budgetary limits, and reviews to all staff benefits.

The Nominations Group manages the process of Trustee recruitment and succession planning, ensuring the required mixture of skills and experience is included on the Trustee Board.
 

Working Groups are time-limited and tend to relate to strategic priorities and developments

Useful downloads

   AGM Papers - Download   
   AGM-2023-Questions-Answers-document - Download   
   Annual-Report-and-Financial-Statements - Download   
   Approved AGM Minutes 13-10-22 - Download   
   Impact-Report-2022-23 Download   
   Impact-Report-2023-Plain-Text - Download   
   Memorandum and Articles of Association - Download   
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