Commission publishes guide for trustees with learning disabilities

5 March 2010

The Charity Commission, the independent charity regulator for England and Wales, has today published a guide for trustees of charities who have learning disabilities to assist them in understanding their role.

'Being a trustee' has been produced in Easy Read format by the Commission in partnership with the learning disability charity Mencap and in response to calls from the sector to produce such a guide. The Easy Read guide covers many of the key aspects of the Commission's existing CC3 'Essential Trustee' guidance and is intended to be used by trustees with learning disabilities.

Easy Read format is becoming more widely used by organisations to support and include people with learning disabilities. The guide follows the format of Easy Read with communicative images, easy words and larger text, and highlights where trustees may need further assistance with more complex aspects of being a trustee. The guide is being distributed to learning disability charities and members of the Learning Disability Coalition.

Andrew Hind, Chief Executive of the Charity Commission said;

"We often talk about the need for charities to have a strong and diverse trustee board to help their decision-making. This guide will help ensure that with the right support, someone with learning disabilities is not excluded. Every trustee should have the opportunity to have their say on how a charity is run, and be able to participate meaningfully as part of a trustee board.

We are very grateful to Mencap for working with us on this guide. We hope that it will be a useful resource alongside our existing guidance for trustees."

John Phillips, a Mencap trustee with a learning disability said;

"Being a trustee is an important job. There is a lot to learn and remember. This guide will help people to know what they have to do. It is good because you can look up things you need to know about. It is also very useful for people who are starting up small charities as a starter pack as it is really clear.

Mark Goldring, Mencap's Chief Executive said;

"Mencap helps organisations develop easy read communications for people with a learning disability. We are pleased to have worked with the Charity Commission to help achieve its goal of accessible information. This guide will help charities to support trustees with a learning disability and anyone else who finds it useful, in fulfilling their duties."

The Easy Read guide can be found at www.charitycommission.gov.uk. Large print, Braille and audio versions can be made available on request.