About the organisation
The advancement of the Christian religion for the benefit of the public, by supporting the Third Order, Society of Saint Francis (TSSF) and making grants.
We are a small charity looking after the interests of five separate Provinces of this Anglican Order, which together form TSSF worldwide.
Our work concentrates on facilitating Ministers to meet face to face every two years and for three Provincial representatives to meet every six years at the Inter Provincial Third Order Chapter (IPTOC), covering international flight costs and accommodation for all delegates. This meeting was held most recently in the UK in September 2023.
The joint conference also had a big educational/study element, including six speakers, being international, ecumenical and across both First and Third Orders. Three joint sessions, entitled ‘Listening to Stories’, ‘Needs of World’ and ‘What is ours to do?’ ran over six days and have created a resource to be shared within the life of TSSF and SSF for the future.
St Francis himself was born into a volatile and violent environment with numerous conflicts working themselves out on the battle field. In Francis’ case he could easily have become a man of violence (having aspired to become a knight).
Ultimately, however, he turned away from violence and embraced the radical way of peace shown him by God. Francis was scorned and vilified as a result, but he remained resolute in his commitment to peace and acknowledging that all people are made in the image and likeness of God and are therefore worthy of unlimited reverence whether in agreement or not.
As Members of the TSSF, we seek to follow his example by promoting peace, justice and reconciliation in the world and in the church. Although St Francis almost certainly did not write the prayer attributed to him we affirm our wish to be ‘Channels of God’s Peace.’
About the role
Our income has always been less than £25k, so we do not need independent examination.
Our accounts, using accrual accounting, are prepared by the contact person, the Secretary/Treasurer of the Central Fund (CF). The CF has been set up to fund the six-yearly IPTOC from all the five world-wide Provinces of TSSF.
The charity was set up and registered in April 2019 and independent examination of our first set of accounts cost us £500 despite an income of less than £18,000. This did not seem to be responsible use of our income, when the independently examined accounts were not required by CCEW.
Subsequent years subject to internal scrutiny by a member of TSSF. As our Scrutineer is now a Trustee of TSSF, she feels she has a conflict of interest between the two charities.
Instead we are now looking for a volunteer to help perform a similar scrutiny of the accounts rather than a formal independent examination. This has most recently been performed by a member of TSSF, but she has no formal accounting experience and a potential conflict of interest as a trustee.
We are now seeking a willing volunteer to undertake a review of our accounts for 2023-24 and report back to a meeting of the Trustees scheduled for 2 Sep 2024.
Our ideal candidate
The skills and qualities we require are:-
To understand the nature of our charity
Charity accounting experience (especially in accruals accounting and knowledge of charity law, accounting and SORP) are desirable.
To develop a relationship with CF TSSF to undertake future scrutiny annually.
To offer advice, suitable to a non-financial professional, as to how the accounts operate
What’s in it for you
The candidate will be making a difference to a charity run by volunteers.
The candidate will learn a little more of how the Franciscan Family is operating in the world, for example, our links with Franciscans International , which stands with some of the world’s most marginalized communities, using human rights as a tool to advocate for dignity, peace, and environmental justice.
Working with the Central Fund will engage the candidate in new experiences arising from a Franciscan ethos that have been developing over the last eight centuries.
We would much appreciate your help!
Apply for the role
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Please provide a cover note if it is requested in the role description. Applications which are personalised, setting out your motivations for volunteering for the organisation and relevant skills/experience, are far more likely to be successful.
