Who’s Who in the RSCDS Finance and Governance Advisory Panel (FGAP) Neil Copland – has been a continuous member of FGAP since 2011 when he was nominated as a Management Board representative. His professional background is as a Senior Local Government Finance Manager in Scotland. Neil has led his own Scottish country dance band for more than 30 years. He has also served on the National Association of Accordion & Fiddle Clubs Executive Committee for 20 years until 2013, including terms as Chairman/Treasurer of the Festival Sub Committee. During his terms as a Trustee of the RSCDS Neil was actively involved in all Board matters and in his first term as a Trustee was part of the working group that reviewed the role and remit of the former General Purposes & Finance Committee from which evolved the current FGAP.
Members of FGAP with the Chairman and Chairman Elect, l-r: Colin McEwen, Jim Healy, Neil Copland, Valerie Strachan, Richard Austin and Helen Russell. Bill Cant was not available for the photograph.
FGAP combines the particular skills and experience of some of the Society’s members to support the Management Board. The Management Board, by its very nature, comprises enthusiastic dancers and musicians, who cannot always be expected to have all the necessary skills and experience to run a significant charity with an international dimension. Equally, the Management Board, when it meets, is not able to devote the time to studying the Finances and Accounts of the Society, as FGAP can and does. The RSCDS is not the first voluntary organisation to discover that enthusiasm, knowledge of the topic and dedication are not enough - good financial skills are now essential in the charity sector, especially in the current climate. The Panel’s remit is to meet at least twice a year to support and monitor the processes for business planning, financial budgeting and reporting, to scrutinise organisational plans and arrangements for good corporate governance (in particular risk management). This involves review of the quarterly and annual accounts. The Society’s annual published report and accounts now stretches to 35 detailed pages, indicative of the current legal reporting requirements and responsibilities of charities. The Panel currently comprises the Treasurer (Management Board member)
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who chairs the meetings, and four members approved by the Board. The Society’s Chairman, Chairman Elect and Executive Officer may also attend the meetings. Bill Cant (Chairman) – Bill is our comparatively new Treasurer. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant and subsequently worked with a multinational pharmaceutical company and the insurance company, General Accident. Bill recently retired as an investment manager with Thorntons Investments in Dundee, Scotland. His job involved managing portfolios of investments such as shares for private individuals and charitable trusts. A longer résumé of Bill appeared in Issue No 21, October 2015. Richard Austin – Richard was born and educated in Edinburgh and studied Law and Art History, before embarking on a career as a solicitor. For the final 16 years of his professional career he acted as Secretary to a major Scottish grant-making Trust. Richard played for dance classes in Edinburgh for the best part of 35 years and has also, on a few occasions, played at Summer School in St Andrews. He has been a member of the Society’s Finance and Governance Group/Panel since 2011.
Colin McEwen – Colin’s introduction to SCD was as a pupil at Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh. He joined London branch in 1977 and joined the Branch committee, organised an Annual Ball, MC’d social dancing, and was Treasurer to the Branch and Demonstration team. Now retired, in his professional career Colin was responsible for financial analysis of multi-million pound projects. He also served for 6 years as Secretary of another registered charity and has a good working knowledge of charity law. Dame Valerie Strachan is a Governance rather than Finance specialist. Her career was in the Civil Service, including seven years as Chairman of HM Customs and Excise. Since retiring she has taken on governance roles in the Big Lottery Fund, the University of Southampton and James Allen’s Girls’ School. She is currently a Judicial Appointments Commissioner, and chairs the Commission’s Audit and Risk Committee. Valerie started Scottish country dancing in 1981. She went with friends to St Columba’s Church in Pont Street, London, knowing nothing (not even, literally, which way was up). There were no walkthroughs and no recaps. That first evening was deeply humiliating, but she reckoned that if she kept at it she would probably enjoy it. She did, and found that Scottish dancing has all the ingredients for perfect relaxation - music, rhythm, teamwork, sociability, and above all it required total concentration. In addition, Valerie has recently taken over as the Convenor of St Columba’s Dancers which still meets there on Monday evenings from October to May, and welcomes all.
