OUR STRUCTURE AND DECISION-MAKING

We have a dedicated team of paid and unpaid workers who are committed to governing and delivering our activities and organisational culture. GalGael consists of two legal entities; each governed by separate boards of voluntary directors. The GalGael Trust is a Company Limited by Guarantee (SC026824) and a registered charity (SC026824) and GalGael Enterprises (502026) is a social enterprise. GalGael Enterprises is a Company Limited by Shares where the only shareholder is the Trust. Volunteer directors help us attend to our legal and compliance responsibilities and stay true to our vision and purpose.

Our work is structured by activity or work area.

We use a method of governance and management called Sociocracy, where everyone is involved in decisions that relate to the work they are most engaged in. As with all organisations, some work takes place on the ‘shop floor’, other work takes place at desks or in meetings – the realm of management. In a traditional hierarchy, management was deemed more important and had ‘power over’ more operational work. Sociocracy is a ‘power with’ structure, which means that those involved in all levels of work meet to decide how they will do the work and assign responsibilities.

Our structures and processes seek to make clear what we are each accountable for. We look to include people meaningfully where this would best serve the needs of a team or the whole organisation. This means creating appropriate forums where all can have a voice to ensure GalGael benefits from the collective wisdom. We seek to avoid tokenism or inclusion for its own sake.

This also means taking care about how we apply the principle of ‘equality’. We are all equally welcome as part of this community. We are all equally accountable in upholding our agreements about how we treat one another. However, we all have different responsibilities, strengths, skills and experience – including in relation to how GalGael works.

How the money works.

The programmes and activities of the GalGael Trust are made possible thanks to a number grants, public giving and income generated by GalGael Enterprises. The resources we bring in, cover a range of costs that make our activities possible including staff, supporting volunteers, programme delivery and overheads (heating, lighting, maintenance). As a working community we are eager to become more self-sustaining and hope over time to be able to create more employment in the process.