About
About us
Illuminate Governance
is me - Lynn Cadman. I'm a freelance Charity and Governance Consultant and 'Illuminate Governance' is my trading name.
I've got over 14 years’ experience in charity law, regulation and governance - and I've given guidance to charities on a wide range of issues in that time.
Most of my seven year career at the Charity Commission was spent in the Large Charities Division. I provided bespoke one-to-one guidance to charities with an annual income of £5m+ as well as providing legal authority such as for changes to governing documents, land transactions, and significant transfers of assets.
I also worked within the Commission’s investigations function, seeing first-hand the impact that poor governance and insufficient controls can have on a charity.
Since leaving the Commission in 2012 I’ve provided consultancy advice and project management to a range of charities. I spent four years with the Royal British Legion, initially as a consultant and then Head of Department, to transform its management of >700 charitable trusts of which it was trustee. This included unlocking c.£40m from restricted funds that were no longer effective in meeting the needs beneficiaries have today, as well as introducing new ways of working. The organisation is now equipped to make future decisions about trust assets, with a comprehensive framework and trained team to continue work to unlock funds (where appropriate) and engage with affected branches.
I left the Legion at the end of 2016 and love the broad portfolio of work I've been involved with since then - including co-writing ICAEW's online trustee training modules, becoming a trainer and project manager for
Getting on Board, helping new charities to register, carrying out governance reviews, and facilitating trustee development days for existing charities. I also belong to a great network of governance professionals and have partnered with other experts for larger projects with organisations such as Age UK, the Royal Society of Chemistry and Livability.
I'm lucky to work with both large charities and smaller organisations - a big motivator for me in becoming a consultant was to give small charities access to cost-effective, quality support. I am myself a trustee of a small charity in Haringey (income c.£40k) and BMS World Mission, a larger charity that works internationally - so I know just how rewarding (and challenging) being a trustee can be.
Lynn is also an Associate of Professional Governance Services Ltd -
www.profgov.com, works part-time for not-for-profit law firm Edward Connor Solicitors, is a registered Prince 2 Practitioner, a lay member of the Charity Law Association and a trainer for Getting on Board.
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To see how we can make your organisation shine a little brighter