King's College Hospital Charity - Annual Report & Accounts 2020-21 - Flipbook - Page 21
Governance
Risk Management
Fundraising, by its nature can be volatile and there is
significant competition for funds. The Charity seeks
to mitigate this through carrying out a wide range
of fundraising activities. The COVID-19 outbreak
unleashed a wave of generosity from the public and
the Charity has maintained income levels in the
first quarter of the year due primarily to its Help the
Heroes Appeal and grants received from NHS Charities
Together. Longer term, the economic outlook for the
country is bleak and this may result in a reduction in
giving although there remains a significant feeling
of warmth towards the NHS for their amazing and
dedicated response to the pandemic.
Volatility of investment values. This risk has been
realised since the COVID-19 pandemic with the
Charity’s investment portfolio falling in value by
£2.5m during the year. Fortunately the fall has so
far been mitigated by an appropriate reserve policy.
However, as the uncertainty regarding the timescales
and long term impact of the pandemic remain, the
risks of further falls in values remains high.
The Board reviews and discusses the Charity’s risk
register at every meeting. The risk register includes the
major risks to which Charity is exposed as identified
by the Board. Responsibility for reviewing the process
of risk management and reviews of finance risks
is delegated to the Finance, Audit and Investment
Committee.
The risk register is structured along best practice lines,
identifying the risks, existing mitigating controls and
proposed control improvements, and allocating a
calculated current and residual risk score, based on
impact and likelihood of each risk causing a loss to the
Charity. The detail contained in the risk register is then
grouped and summarised into a risk map, identifying
whether each risk is rising, stable or falling and allowing
the Board to focus its attention on the high and/or
rising risks.
During the year, the Board monitored a number of key
risks set out below although following the experience
of the COVID-19 outbreak, these risks have been
re-evaluated since the end of the financial year:
The NHS operational pressures currently faced by
the Foundation Trust (FT) impact on our ability to
develop our activities and maximise our strategic
impact. This is a continuing challenge and we seek
to address this through working closely with the FT’s
leadership, both executive and clinical and align,
where practicable, our grant making plans with those
of the FT. We have also developed smaller grant
propositions across a range of the FT’s services in line
with our grant making policy.
The COVID-19 outbreak has created significantly
more operational pressure on the FT and in some
cases altered priorities. We are working with FT staff
to develop a number of new grants in new areas of
need for our beneficiaries which have emerged from
the outbreak.
The Finance, Audit & Investment Committee comprises
Trustees with current financial investment expertise
and experience and scrutinise the performance of the
investment portfolio each quarter.
Resources. The Charity only has a small team and
as a result every member of staff, volunteer and
Trustee individually plays a vital role. Changes and
potential changes in our resources are kept under
constant review. The Charity’s staff have adapted
well to having to work from home, however the
pandemic has impacted some of the activities
originally planned to take place during the first
six months of 2020/21 resulting in some loss from
traditional sources of income but mitigated by
the tremendous support for the Help the Heroes
Appeal and other donations received through
NHS Charities Together.
K I N G’ S CO L L E G E H O S P I TA L C H A R I T Y A N N UA L R E P O R T A N D A CCO U N T S 2 01 9/ 2 0
21