Meet the Mosaic Partnership Trust Members
School Trusts are charitable companies. As such, they follow the Charity Commission’s guidance on structures. In most charities, Members are the foundation of the legal structure so the charity must have one or more Members in order to exist.
The Members are the guardians of the organisation and its ethos: custodians of governance in the Trust and its vision and principles.
Members help to ensure that Academy Trustees are exercising effective governance by utilising a range of powers including:
- Appointing and removing Trustees: Members can appoint trustees and remove any or all serving trustees.
- Appointing and removing Members: There must always be a minimum of three Members. Members can appoint new Members or remove existing Members, preferably to a maximum number of between 5 and 7 as per DfE guidance and the provisions in the Articles of Association. The Mosaic Partnership Trust currently operates on a 6-Member basis under Equality Articles with the Diocese of Bristol. 3 of the Members are therefore appointed by the Diocese.
- Directing trustees: Members can, by special resolution, direct trustees to take a specific action where trustees are unable or unwilling to act in the best interests of the academy trust. Members should consider using this power if they believe the trust Board is failing to carry out its core functions in relation to all its schools (Church and Community) or is acting unlawfully. Other examples of when Members might consider issuing a direction to trustees include where they believe an external review of governance should be carried out and the Trustees have not done so, where the Board has failed to act on child safeguarding, and where the Academy Trust is in breach of its funding agreement.
- Amending the Academy Trust’s Articles of Association: Members can amend the articles of association (including the objects clause), subject to any restrictions in the articles, the funding agreement or charity and company law. Members can also change the name of the Academy Trust and wind it up. Academy trusts must gain permission from the Charity Commission for changes to some clauses; these are known as regulated amendments. These clauses relate to the Academy Trust’s charitable object, benefits, and arrangements on dissolution or winding up of the Academy Trust.
- Appointing and removing External Auditors: Members appoint the trust’s external auditors and will receive and review (but do not have to sign off) the Academy Trust’s annual audited accounts (subject to the Companies Act)
| Composition of Members | ||
| Type of Member | Number | How they are appointed |
| Diocesan Bishop (Diocese of Bristol) | 1 | Ex-Officio |
| Members at the point of incorporation | 3 | Signatories to the Memorandum of Incorporation |
| Members appointed under article 15a | 2 | Appointed by the Members with the consent of the Diocesan Bishops for Bristol |
Members have agreed to ensure attempts will be made to ensure the following skills are represented amongst Members:
- A Member with trust governance expertise
- A Member with financial expertise
- A Member with educational leadership expertise
- A Member with a detailed understanding of equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging
Berkeley Wilde
Trust Member
Richard Freedman
Trust Member
Andy Spens
Trust Member
Rob Carpenter
Trust Member
Liz Townend
Diocese Corporate Member
Berkeley Wilde
Trust Member
Berkeley has been working as an Equality, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion consultant, researcher, and trainer for nearly three decades. He is passionate about community cohesion and community development, empowerment, and leadership, as well as social change.
Berkeley has been working in the space of equality in education for three decades. Berkeley will focus on how schools can work with equality led community-based organisations to increase awareness and understanding of diversity with school settings.
Berkeley has supported the substance misuse sector in developing equality, diversity, and inclusion solutions with substance misuse services, including the development of an Equality Standard. He has written research reports which influenced Health and Wellbeing Strategies and Joint Strategic Needs Assessments.
With a background working in health inequalities, mental health, substance misuse, domestic violence and abuse and youth work, Berkeley has worked with national charities including Mind, Relate and the Terrence Higgins Trust. He has led a research project into access to primary care services for the Department of Health. He has also worked on projects for the Home Office, including on a Domestic Homicide Review and a Government Scrutiny Panel. Berkeley has also worked internationally with non-governmental organisations based in Brussels, with the European Union and European Parliament, on tacklinq health inequalities
Richard Freedman
Trust Member
Richard has spent his career in the private sector, where he is currently the Chief Operating Officer and Company Secretary for a national fraud prevention organisation, responsible for corporate governance, sitting on both the main board and advisory board. He was also previously a board member for the City of London Police programme for their next generation fraud and cybercrime reporting service.
He has previously been managing director of a subsidiary of a FTSE 250 property company and led the development of their corporate growth strategy.
As a senior executive he has a variety of experience in strategy, governance, operations, digital transformation, technology and commercial activities with an intimate knowledge of how an organisation is run, including managing budgets and large teams.
He is currently a co-opted chair of governors for two schools within a multi-academy trust in Northamptonshire and is a listening volunteer with the Samaritans.
Andy Spens
Trust Member
Andy lives in Bristol and has spent his entire teaching career in the local area, starting as a NQT in a South Gloucestershire school, working as a Deputy Headteacher in Bath and North-East Somerset, before becoming a Headteacher and then Executive Headteacher in South Gloucestershire.
Andy has spent his whole teaching career working in Church of England Primary Schools and now works as the ‘Head of Professional Learning’ for the Church of England Foundation for Educational Leadership, with a particular responsibility for overseeing leadership development programmes, including the full suite of NPQs as well as other broader areas. Andy is passionate about staff growth and development, curriculum and fostering a school and trust ethos which promotes the flourishing of staff, children and ultimately the communities that they serve.
Rob Carpenter
Trust Member
Rob is the CEO of the Inspire Partnership in Greenwich and Medway and author of ‘A Manifesto for Excellence in Schools’.
The Inspire Partnership is an academy trust of 9 schools serving diverse communities in Croydon, Greenwich, and Medway. Rob became CEO when the Trust formed in 2017 with the ambition to transform the lives of children through partnership and collaboration.
As an NLE and senior partner with Challenge Partners, Rob has experience of school leadership in a range of contexts, including special measures and schools serving a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils.
Rob is also a member of the ASCL Council as a primary representative. In 2016, Rob worked with the DfE and Teaching School Council to review primary teaching.
Liz Townend
Diocese Corporate Member
She has previously held roles as a teacher, senior school leader, schools adviser, governor and trustee of different multi academy trusts. Liz is passionate about children and young people having great schools that can be ‘anchor’ institutions in their local community where everyone feels they can belong, contribute and thrive.