The Official Friends of Fortismere Constitution

Posted On: 20th March 2025

FRIENDS OF FORTISMERE

  1. Fortismere has not had a functioning PTA for a number of years. A group of parents have got together and decided to re- establish one with the aims of both boosting fundraising for the school and also building up a parent and carer community which can help with other things, such as careers advice and mentoring -and generally making parents and carers more engaged with the school.
  2. A new charity called “Friends of Fortismere” (FOF) is currently being registered with the Charity Commission.
  3. FOF will be a charitable incorporated organisation. A charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) is a legal structure for charities that combines the benefits of a company with charity regulation; CIOs have limited liability for members and trustees and can provide some of the benefits of being a company without the additional reporting and legal requirements. FOF’s legal constitution, as registered with the Charity Commission, is based on the government-recommended form and in line with the equivalent from the previous Fortismere PTA and those of other local schools.
  4. All parents/carers are Members of FOF, as well as teachers and governors, etc.
  5. The original founding parents will be the first Trustees and are working to get a Committee together. For this FOF will need a chair (and co-chair), a treasurer and a secretary, as well as people to be in charge of communications (newsletter, website, etc.) and fundraising and sub Committees to take control of specific events or initiatives.
  6. It is proposed that some of the first Trustees will be the first co-chairs and the secretary and it is hoped that volunteers will come forward with relevant experience to be treasurer and fill the other roles. Some of these will also have to be appointed Trustees.
  7. The Committee will meet at least once a term, and probably more often initially. FOF will have an AGM each year to which all Members are invited. At the AGM the Trustees will present the annual statement of accounts (duly audited or examined where applicable) and the Trustees’ annual report, and will elect (or re-elect) Trustees and other committee members. At each AGM a third of the Trustees will retire but can be re-elected if the Members agree.
  8. As a COI FOF does not have to have its accounts audited unless (or until) it has annual income over £1million or gross assets over £3.26million and income over £250,000 (so not yet). It will need a charity independent examination once its annual income reaches £25,000. However, it will need at all times to maintain proper books and accounts detailing all income and expenditure.
  9. Once FOF is registered with the Charity Commission, a bank account will be opened and FOF will be registered with HMRC for Gift Aid.
  10. FOF will become a member of Parentkind which is a national organisation for PTAs providing advice on all matters and also, importantly, insurance.
  11. The Committee will adopt policies (eg safeguarding, fundraising, spending, communication, conflict resolution, data privacy, financial management, meeting procedures, volunteer recruitment). It is anticipated that it will follow guidance from Parentkind on what is needed for this.
  12. The Committee will plan a programme of events for the following term and year and will also work with the School to coordinate with other school events. It is hoped that groups of parents/carers will also come forward with their own suggestions and initiatives.
  13. The key liaison with the School will be Sam Murray who is a Member of the SLT as Governance and Comms Lead. FOF will also work closely with Louise Prodromou who is Director Operations. Both Sam and Louise have been very supportive of FOF.
  14. The Committee will ask the School to requests bids from the teachers/departments for what they would like any funds raised to be used for. It is expected that the Committee will follow the lead of the School on this (they will know best what is most urgently needed) but ultimately it will be free to make its own decision from these bids.
  15. The Committee will report to the Members regularly on what has been raised (how much and from which events) and what it has been spent on. It is acknowledged that transparency on these matters is important and also is an encouragement to raise even more for the School.
  16. It is hoped that a website for FOF will be established (with a link from the Fortismere home page) as well as a termly newsletter. Sam Murray will also add a section when relevant to the weekly Fortismere newsletter and will be able to send ParentMails to the whole parent/carer body.
  17. The Committee will also ask for a number of parents/carers to be year reps for each year. This shouldn’t be an onerous role and will mainly consist of passing on messages (eg via existing WhatsApp groups) as well as asking for volunteers for events such as the summer fair.
  18. FOF will also work closely with the School so that parents and carers can share their experience with careers advice and mentoring for the sixth form (and also younger years).
  19. FOF will liaise with the School on fostering relationships with Fortismere alumni, with the aims both of fundraising but also building a community who can also support the School in other ways, including careers advice and work experience, etc.