CEO given confidence and clarity to rebuild

Background
WHAG supports women who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, as well as men, women and children who have experienced domestic abuse, by providing safe housing, emotional support and practical assistance.

CEO Kirsty Rhodes, who has been with WHAG for 30 years, had been through a challenging time with some members of the Board (all of whom had since left), which had undermined her confidence. With help from ACEVO, she had withstood the challenge and was determined to put the charity’s governance back in order. With ACEVO’s recommendation, she approached Action Planning for help.

“I got different prices from different organisations but Action Planning seemed to have the best understanding of the organisation’s situation.”

Brief
Kirsty asked us to carry out a Governance Review. We assigned David Saint to the case.

Process
David’s review, carried out between May and August 2025, comprised the following steps:

• Observation of an online Board meeting.
• A headline review of key documentation. As a separate exercise, Action Planning’s specialist charity lawyer David Kirby carried out a thorough review of the Memorandum and Articles of Association.
• A DigiBoard survey, which trustees and two senior staff were invited to complete.
• Zoom interviews with two senior members of staff and all but two of the trustees (one declined as she was standing down and the other did not respond).
• An additional Zoom conversation with the two incoming Co-Chairs, Maggie and Rachel, who were appointed a month before David concluded his review.

David prepared a report, with findings and recommendations, and presented it in an in-person workshop for the Board and CEO. He chose not to dwell too much on the problems of the past, but rather focus on recommendations for the future – a governance ‘reset’, importantly giving trustees, new and old, clarity over their roles and responsibilities.

WHAG took up David’s recommendation to develop a new strategic plan and he helped to get this going. He ran a strategy day for the Board and senior team and then a further workshop just for the senior staff team, to help them get started with writing the plan.

Outcome
WHAG has a new Board under the leadership of new Co-Chairs and the relationship between them and the Senior Leadership Team is vastly improved. “I think WHAG is in a much better place than it was,” says Kirsty. “The SLT work better together. My relationship with the Board is good. They are much more supportive. We’ve got better systems in place. I feel very positive about the direction we’re moving in.”

David left them forging ahead with their new strategic plan, with the option of returning if needed, to assist with its completion. Meanwhile, Action Planning’s David Reynolds was asked to give WHAG some help with financial reporting and planning.

Consultant’s insight
It is not uncommon for charities to go through periods of turbulence – but it is still painful for all concerned. And sometimes it is necessary to allow the waters to settle a bit before bringing in outside help. So I think it was about 18 months after their initial contact with us that WHAG felt able to commit to a governance review.

This meant that there was much to work with. Some new Board members (including two new co-Chairs), together with additional senior staff, meant that there was both the capacity and enthusiasm for a fresh start. The governance review was a wise starting point – governance is the essential foundation on which everything else is built – but that was quickly followed by a strategic planning process, to make sure that the new Board and Senior Leadership Team were fully aligned and working together towards agreed goals. The fact that Action Planning was also able to provide specialist legal and financial support as part of a fully joined-up service was an extra benefit.