Shaftesbury Refugee Group Risk Assessment policy

The Trustees of The Shaftesbury Refugee Group would like to set out the following policy  to manage any risks that may interrupt or prevent the Charity from achieving its core purpose, as set out in the Constitution.

The purpose of Risk Assessment

We recognise as Trustees that we are ultimately responsible for the charity and therefore take the lead in risk management for all aspects of the charity’s activity. We undertake a risk assessment to:

• identify  hazards that could prevent us fulfilling our purposes and assess the risks from these

• plan the steps to avoid or reduce the risk of harm from any hazards

• take steps to transfer the risk to a third party, for example an insurer

• understand where we accept some necessary risks, with a plan for how to manage the possible consequences if the risk happens.

• monitor the risk and take additional steps where needed

• develop confidence in our future plans knowing that we have considered these carefully

As a small charity we are not legally obliged to undertake and publish a risk assessment but do so for the benefit of our purpose and for transparency.

Making a Risk Assessment

We review the hazards that the Charity may encounter in the following areas:

• External risks e.g.

  • demographic changes such as an increase in the size of beneficiary group

  • changing government policy

• Operational risks e.g.

  • lack of beneficiary welfare or safety

  • insufficient capacity

• Governance risks e.g.

  • conflicts of interest

  • trustee body skill profile

• Financial risks e.g.

  • inadequate reserves and cash flow

  • insufficient insurance cover

• Compliance with law and regulation

  • poor knowledge of regulatory requirements of particular activities

The format the Shaftesbury Refugee Group uses for its Risk Assessment  is appended. There is a template/format for the Risk Assessment of a specific activity.


Frequency of Risk Assessments

We undertake to review our Risk Assessment every two years and when the activity or profile of the charity changes significantly.  It is for the Chair of Trustees to identify when a Risk Assessment should be called and to plan this with the Secretary.  A Trustee who is concerned about risk should raise their concerns with the Chair through the Secretary.