Margate is home to an established and burgeoning creative community and has been identified as a key production hub within the Thames Estuary Production Corridor.
While statistics show creative businesses have grown in the town, Margate has lost significant amounts of commercial spaces in the last 20 years. Coupled with rising rents for the remaining eligible spaces, this has created a lack of appropriate venues for the variety of artistic pursuits. Creative practitioners and businesses urgently need space to enable them to stabilise and see the sector grow in Margate.
Taking inspiration from other land trust models developed to provide affordable places to work and live, the Trust in Margate will ensure that its creative spaces and accompanying programming are inclusive. A central part of its mission is to support under-represented or disengaged communities to access opportunities within the creative industries, including mentoring, jobs, training and enterprise development.
The Trust was co-created with the community and local creative practitioners and was established as an independent entity on behalf of the Margate Town Deal Board.
Substantial funding has been secured from Central Government through the Margate Town Deal, and the Margate Creative Land Trust was registered as an independent charity in April 2022. Its goal is to purchase physical space in Margate, provide affordable rents and deliver community programmes to support inclusive, sustainable practice in the creative industries in Margate and across the area of Thanet.
Vision
A thriving, resilient and innovative creative sector that provides inclusive enterprise, employment and learning opportunities for people living and working in Margate and the surrounding areas.
Mission
To establish a variety of accessible and inspiring creative spaces that provide benefit to the community, creative sector and local economy in perpetuity.
Aims
* To protect, sustain and grow Margate’s creative sector through improved security and sustainability, and by increasing the quantity of places for creative practice in the town.
* To support the inclusive regeneration and economic growth of Margate and the district of Thanet.
* To support the creation of new jobs and training opportunities within Margate’s creative enterprises, and to address barriers to entry for Thanet’s diverse communities.
* To celebrate Margate’s creatives and the achievements of the sector and to support its growth and establishment as a regional creative hub.
* To add value to existing market activity and to avoid displacement or crowding out of initiatives by others.
* To support moves towards a zero carbon and environmentally sustainable economy through our investment decisions and operations.
* To be a fair employer and promote equality, diversity and inclusion in all that we do.
* To be evidence-based in our investment decisions to meet the specific needs of Margate’s creative community.
* To be timely in our decision making and delivery.
* To lead to enable the realisation of our vision.
* To work in partnership and collaboration with others to achieve our mission.
Values
* Open & inclusive: We are friendly, approachable, accessible and seek to work collaboratively and in partnership. We will design ways to ensure we meaningfully and regularly engage with the communities we serve.
* Innovative: We know we must play the long game to have lasting impact, but we are not afraid to test or pilot radical ideas in the short term. We are ambitious and we will disrupt the status quo to ensure more underrepresented groups benefit from creative sector opportunities.
* Sustainable: We are a commercially sound, environmentally and socially responsible organisation and we champion this within the sector.
Role summary
The Honorary Treasurer will monitor the financial standing of the charity and support the Board in the review of all financial matters and the overarching strategic management of the organisation’s financial resources. They will Chair the Finance & Resources Sub-committee and feed into the charity’s financial risk management process, reporting financial health to the Board of trustees at regular intervals. They will also advise on fundraising, income, and development of unrestricted funds of the charity. The Treasurer will act as a counter signatory on payments and applications to funders, and work with the Accountants and Executive Team to ensure that annual accounts are submitted to all relevant regulators in a timely fashion. They will provide input to ensure the organisation’s finances are responsibly managed and invested for the betterment of the organisation’s work and for the beneficiaries it serves.
Main responsibilities of the Treasurer
* Budgeting and strategic financial planning
* Ensure all strategic plans are financially appraised and budgets are aligned to both short-term and long-term objectives each year.
* Oversee planning/budgeting processes in participation with the Board and constructively challenge where required.
* Suggest alternative scenarios while evaluating strategic plans as a part of the risk management process and as a part of performance and reporting scenarios.
* Create greater transparency and accountability to improve resource allocation and charity’s image by adding specific measures as per Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) guidelines.
Management Reporting
* Ensure a high standard of management accounting is maintained in order to safeguard assets.
* Liaise with the accountants as needed and Executive team to review management accounts.
Statutory Financial Reporting
* Board level liaison with external auditors on specific issues in the auditing process and related board representations.
* Guide and advise fellow trustees to formally approve the annual report and audited accounts.
* Explain technicalities of accounts in plain language which is fully understood by the trustees.
Reserves Policy
* Help to develop reserves policy and safeguard the organisation’s finances.
* Keep the board informed of free reserves position regularly and advise to cope with changing circumstances.
Governance
* Lead the Board’s duty to ensure proper accounting records are kept, financial resources are controlled, invested and economically spent in line with governance, legal and regulatory requirements.
* Chair finance committees in line with standing orders and Terms of Reference and report findings/recommendations back to the Board of trustees.
* Advise on the financial implications of the charity’s strategic plans and overseeing the charity’s financial risk-management process.
* Lead in the development and implementation of financial reserves, cost management and investment policies.
Qualities of a Treasurer
Essential
* Qualified accountant.
* Knowledge of charity SORP.
* Competent use of IT skills.
* Proven ability to communicate and explain financial information to members of the Board and other stakeholders.
* Analytical and evaluation skills, demonstrating good judgement.
* Understanding and acceptance of the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of trusteeship.
* Good communication and leadership skills.
Desirable
* Demonstrated knowledge and experience of charity fundraising and finance practices.
* Committed to our cause and objectives and willing to act as the charity’s ambassador to external bodies, charities and companies.
* Skills and experience in one or more areas of non-executive governance and management e.g. strategic planning, business management, financial/accountancy, understanding of HR issues, experience of Trusts or other grant giving bodies particularly fundraising and legal knowledge.
* A team-oriented approach to problem solving and to management.
Time commitment and location
* Currently the Board meets at least six times a year and the Treasurer is expected to be available at key points in the accounting cycle.
* Board meetings are every 2 months (2-3 hours approx. per meeting)
* You will chair the Finance & Resources sub-committee which meet at least quarterly, online (1-2 hours approx. per meeting)
* Ideally meetings will take place in person although online and hybrid options are available.
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