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How Community Base is run
Community Base is a registered charity (1052456) and a company limited by
guarantee (3121688) with no share capital governed by a memorandum and articles of association. The membership of Community Base is composed of charities and other not-for-profit, non-governmental organisations that use Community Base services. All members of Community Base are listed on our register of members and are entitled to vote at Community Base's general meetings.
The annual
general meeting elects a board of trustees/directors to run the charity and the company. There are currently nine board members - Sylvia Alexander-Vine (chairperson), Mick Barry, Sarah Bourne, Ros Cook, Bob Cristofoli (treasurer), Adrian Davies, Paul Evans, Jane Frost and Lucy Stone - all of whom have signed a trustee code of conduct. Board meetings usually take place every two months.
Community Base is run on a day-to-day basis by its staff - our director Colin Chalmers, our building manager Annette Moss, our receptionist/administrator Deborah Sprackling and our locum staff. The director is also the company secretary.
Community Base uses income from rental and service charges to repay a mortgage on the building it owns and meet its running costs. Brighton and Hove City Council shows its support for Community Base by giving us 100% discretionary rate relief.
Community Base
has a statement of core values and policies to make its practice transparent and accountable and a development plan for 2009 to 2014. Every year the board of trustees updates this development plan's five year budget and assessment of risks to development and publishes audited accounts and annual monitoring figures including a comparison of these figures over the last five years.
All licence agreements to occupy space at Community Base specify the use space is licenced for as running a named participant group. Licencees are not allowed to host, sublet or share the space licenced for the use of this named participant group with another group, whatever its relationship with the licencee or participant group, without permission from Community Base.
A
participant group meeting is held every month offering everyone working at Community Base an opportunity to make suggestions, ask questions and raise any issues of concern with Community Base staff. Notes of participant group meetings are tabled at the next board meeting. Participant groups are also asked for their views on Community Base in an annual questionnaire.
Community Base publishes a twice yearly newsletter Community Base news. The Community Base director sometimes posts emails about Community Base to local email groups including Brighton and Hove e-democracy forum. You can become a fan of Community Base on Facebook, follow us on twitter or subscribe to our RSS feed.
This website has a page dedicated to Community Base's first receptionist Sue Cole who died in 2006.
Over the last few years we have run a number of events and initiatives including
• open days every other year since 2002
• events for refugee week every year since 2004
• essay competitions for local schools between 2004 and 2006
• occasional working lunches where people can discuss an issue with a guest speaker over a free spot of lunch
• a tenth birthday party in July 2007 where we premiered Welcome to Community Base
• Green Champion 2008 a campaign encouraging practical activity by local community and voluntary groups to fight climate change
• hosting a tenth birthday celebration in 2009 for Brighton and Hove Community Buildings Network.
We have also run or taken part in a number of consultations
• in 2007 we carried out a review into our policies and practices
• in 2007 we asked groups hiring our conference room for their views on making it a throwaway-free zone
• in 2008 we asked groups using Brighton and Hove volunteer search for their views on its first six months
• in 2009 we asked people working at Community Base or hiring our conference room for their views on smoking at Community Base
• in July 2009 we made a number of comments and recommendations on a draft volunteering strategy for Brighton and Hove
• in October and November 2009 the Community Base board of trustees consulted Community Base's membership about a statement of our core values and a new policy on membership.
