Positive Futures is both a company limited by guarantee and a charity. For us, this means that our Trustees are the directors of the company and also are responsible for the governance of the charity. Our Company Secretary is the Executive Assistant to the Chief Executive.

Our President and Vice President are honorary roles and are currently held by former Chairs of Trustees and a former Trustee. The President and Vice Presidents have the right to attend Board of Trustees meetings as observers.

The Board of Trustees is responsible for the governance and strategic oversight of Positive Futures. Trustees have a wide range of experience which makes them suitable for the role. Board meetings take place 4 times a year and Trustees also attend additional development days as required.

The business of the Board is delegated to 2 sub committees: Finance & HR and Operations, Quality, Audit & Risk Management. The sub committees also meet 4 times a year prior to meetings of the full Board.

The Chief Executive (CE) reports directly to the Chair and the Board of Trustees. The Senior Leadership Team, which comprises each of the Heads of Department and our Operations Managers, report to the Managing Director (MD).

Each of the Services and Projects we offer are managed by our operational management team. As each of our Services and Projects is unique, the management structure within these is based on the operational requirements. In the larger Services, there will be a management team comprising the Service Manager and one or more Deputy Service Managers. Responsibility for the supervision of our support staff is shared between the management team and Senior Support Workers.

Measuring Up

No matter how well we do things, we’re constantly striving to do better.

That’s where our Corporate Governance Department comes in. Its job is to ensure that we comply with internal and external requirements, identify potential improvements and work towards making them a reality.

But don’t just take our word for it.

Our push for excellence includes a commitment to the European Framework for Quality Management (EFQM) accreditation process. This is the most widely accepted quality model in Europe for assessing the overall quality of an organisation. We won a four star award in January 2014.

We also receive independent evaluation from our regulators, Supporting People and the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA).

To ensure that we meet the expectations of others, we also carry out annual staff and volunteer surveys and a yearly consultation exercise with partner organisations and other interested parties. We value the wealth of information they provide and focus on ensuring that people’s views are incorporated into our annual business planning process.