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Hi Trevor

I hope you get some responses to your request for ideas from other trusteenet members - in the meantime have you had a look at the NCVO website? They have some useful information at http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/?id=2571

Sue

Dear Trevor,

You might find it helpful to look at the guide that we have posted on the London Housing Foundation's website: http://www.lhf.org.uk/IMPACTProgramme/IMPACTthroughStrategyandBestPracti...

This guide is specially produced for heads of agencies and Trustees who have to think about the possibility of merger, yet don't know exactly what's involved or where the elephant traps might be. It's actually a 'guide of guides', letting you know what's available from different places and also commenting on it's usefulness. What we found was that there is very little that is helpful across the board. Some of the guides are good on some aspects and some on others. What we hope to have provided is something of a route map. (I'd be grateful for feedback from anyone as to whether we have succeeded!).

The reason why we produced this guide is that, as a funder that supports agencies tackling single homelessness in London, we have supported quite a few agencies over the past few years to investigate possibilites of merger. And in a few other cases we have seen agencies fold without merger. The operating environment is becoming ever tougher - one of the consequences of delivering public services through charities, I fear. A quick look at the grants we have made over the past two years (also available on our website) shows six different grants related to merger. We have also supported different examples of co-operative working as an alternative to merger.

Saddest of all, we have seen the results of what happens when trustees did not consider merger, but should have. A few years ago, in the space of a couple of months, three separate agencies ceased operating - two of these rather traumatically. We commissioned a confidential review of the circumstances surrounding those collapses. In both the traumatic cases it highlighted a failure of the trustee body to keep on top of the finances and set a realisable strategic objective, coupled with a weakness of management. The problems were mounting up, but no-one was noticing - or at least not admiting them.

On a more positive note, we have seen some very positive examples, where the trustees acknowledged the need to consider their future in good time and found a more sustainable solution that protected the interests of their clients (surely the ultimate objective?). I would cite the recent merger of Hammersmith Women's Aid and three other West London womens' aid agencies within Hestia Housing Housing and Support as an example of this.

If you would like contact details to look at specific examples, let me know at kevin.ireland@lhf.org.uk.

Good luck!