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Camden New Journal - by DAN CARRIER
Published: 6 December 2007

Friendly fire: charity trustees are told to go

LONG-SERVING trustees running the Interchange charity in Hampstead have been told to fall on their swords to give the the organisation a fresh start after two years
of turmoil.
The performance of four trustees was brought into question at the annual meeting of the Friends of Hampstead Town Hall by the friends’ chairwoman, Helen Marcus, on Thursday.
Mrs Marcus told the meeting: “The current articles and board structure has allowed trustees to be a totally unaccountable, secretive and self-perpetuating clique. It is notable that no annual report has been publicly available for several years. This is unacceptable for an organisation in receipt of large public funds. A new board needs to take the organisation in a new direction.”
The friends fell out spectacularly with the board of trustees of the charity group Interchange following allegations of mismanagement last year. The board were accused of failing to act over complaints by staff and user groups about how the former Hampstead borough council headquarters in Haverstock Hill, Belsize Park, was being managed.
Ms Marcus said:“We understand that there are moves to bring in new trustees from Weekend Arts College to the Interchange board, giving the opportunity for these trustees to make way for new faces.”
But the comments were countered by the trustees’ chairwoman, Janet Wallace.
Ms Wallace, who with three other trustees – Russell Gilderson, Richard Gibson and Susan Treisman – have 51 years of experience between them, said the turbulent times were over.
She said she and other board members would not resign, and to do so would be irresponsible.
Ms Wallace added: “We have held off appointing the new chief executive as we are looking to further expand and change the board. It would be appropriate for our experienced trustees to play a part in that process.
“We have acknowledged the friends’ criticisms and are now moving to improve our relationships, and have established a community forum in order to have better communications.”
She added they planned to produce an annual report at the start of 2008 and said they recognised this needed to be done annually.

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