Trustwell Living, LLC’s Post

Charity members and duties when voting. There is of course wider, non-legal points, in this story. But the headline alone caught my attention on 'shareholders' voting on certain actions by a charity. The charity in question is a registered society as opposed to e.g. a company or SCIO. Where members (or 'shareholders') are making decisions for a charity, they need to consider what duties they might owe when exercising their vote. There are specific rules on SCIO member duties. On companies (and perhaps then by extension registered societies), it brings us to the Supreme Court decision on the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (UK). More on that here... https://lnkd.in/dmuXTp7 https://lnkd.in/eBbBcEx7

As peak conference season is framed by the frisson of a significant upcoming election, discussions on housing solutions are abundant. Lots of the same old rehashed market based solutions that haven't quite worked. The Community Land Trust Network conference aims to move beyond rhetoric, offering tangible, democratic solutions to the housing crisis. Whether you're a policymaker, advocate, or concerned citizen, you'll leave with actionable insights and strategies to help solve housing issues in your community. Dive in ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

Come and find out about where I live, an amazing example of how community-owned housing looks and works, at our open day on 25th May. Chapeltown Cohousing is an amazing blueprint of affordable, community-led housing that has the potential to solve so many problems of our housing crisis. It provides those who live here with: 💥 A community to combat loneliness. 💥 Multiple diverse voices, reducing social division. 💥 Affordable rent with no private profit. 💥 Healthy and sustainable houses. 💥 A super strong sense of place. As a model it has the potential to help with: 🌼 Brownfield land development. 🌼 Increasing the quality of housing. 🌼 Keeping the private rental market in check. 🌼 Connecting people to the land they live on. 🌼 Promoting stewardship (of our neighbourhood, city, planet). So come down if you are interested and feel free to share :) There will be lunch !

Positive Solutions recently assisted the City of Casey in determining the most appropriate charitable vehicle for Bunjil Place, conducting benchmarking research, evaluation, and analysis to support fundraising efforts. During the project we connected with the Productivity Commission team, regarding the Commission's draft report, 'Future Foundations For Giving.' This report underscores philanthropy's significant role in Australia, with contributions exceeding $13 billion and extensive volunteer engagement. Key recommendations include simplifying the deductible gift recipient (DGR) system to enhance fairness and donor choice, reforming charity regulations via the ACNC for transparency and public trust, and proposing an independent foundation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. These reforms aim to maximise philanthropy's societal benefits and streamline support for charitable endeavors nationwide. View the draft report here: https://lnkd.in/drkuf_t3 Find out more about our Bunjil Place projects here: https://lnkd.in/gTBCDnUG

Audentior – Be Bold The Small Acts of Kindness Trustees, tiny staff team of two, volunteer management team and I are bold. We like to think that we punch above our weight and at this time of year I have a perfect opportunity to reflect on just how bold we have been. When we begin to prepare our impact report, we are always a little shocked, in a good way, about just how much we have achieved. And as we closed 2023, I can see we have been very bold indeed. I think being bold plays a big part in how we make things happen. Many of you reading this will be having a wry smile, remembering the time when you kindly said to me, ‘If you need anything let me know.’ And when we did need, we did let them know and my goodness, some of the asks were bold and continue to be. But we need you all, by our side, every step of the way to make what we do happen and fortunately 9/10 times the answer has been yes and if the answer is no then I feel comfort in knowing we asked. As a team, are just bold by nature or has having our home in #Watford where the motto for Watford Borough Council is Audentior – Be Bold, rubbed off on us? I would say that it is a bit of both. 2024 will be our boldest year yet. The lease on our current building runs out this summer. So far, we have only been able to do what we do because landlords have gifted us the use of their building – it is for mutual benefit for us and for them and has meant we can use our precious funding to help those who need it the most and they have a lovely, safe tenant that gives them rate relief on their previously empty space. I am certain there is a building out there for us and a new landlord – 3-5,000sq ft with good access for pallets, but my, are we going to have to be bold to find it and make the move happen. I have faith that we will. We recently had an amazing off-site strategy day with the Trustees and staff. I was tasked with closing the session. Before I left for the meeting, I had a quick scroll through LinkedIn and chanced across this post from Steve Allman “If your charity’s big, bold plan doesn’t make you feel at least a teeny-weeny bit uncomfortable, it’s probably not big enough or bold enough.” Our plans are big and bold and I am quite happy to feel more than a teeny-weeny bit uncomfortable from time to time to make this happen Day 8 of making a habit of reflecting 58 to go. #charity #nonprofit #community #bebold

Across the country, historic buildings are falling into dereliction and in need of new purposes. Across the country, we need more homes. These two problems can help solve each other - and preserve what is unique about our cities, towns and villages, building civic pride - but such projects are complex and need experienced teams to lead. That's why we at The Architectural Heritage Fund are partnering with The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support organisations such as Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust to become heritage-regeneration leaders in their towns and cities - our Heritage Development Trust programme. You can read more 👇 about one of the latest such projects we've supported below, to save a beautiful 18th-century almshouse and give it back its purpose. #housing #heritage #regeneration

Great to see this out and where the Place Programme is headed in Phase 2! The work we do at the AHRC Place Programme responds to the high priority of ‘place’ within the UK and global policy landscapes, and the cross-sectoral initiatives focused on placemaking and redistributing resources to places most in need. Our work Phase One of the AHRC Place Programme (2021-2023) culminated in a report which argued for a people-centred, place-led approach that holds the lived, felt, geographic and economic dimensions of place together to ensure that policies and practices are developed in equitable partnerships with communities and professionals.   Phase Two of the programme runs until 2027 and a key objective is to test how the people-centred, place-led principles set out in the report can be embedded through organisational systems and policy at different scales, sectors, and governments in all four nations of the United Kingdom. Our goal is to work with partners from inside and outside academia to bridge the evidence, systems and policy gaps that influence people-centred approaches to place-based work.   Rebecca Madgin and Michael Howcroft set out some of the key challenges for place-based policy and how Phase Two of the Arts and Humanities Research Council Place Programme seeks to overcome them in blog as part of the Glass-House Think Pieces series.   People, Place, Planet: Think Piece by Rebecca Madgin and Michael Howcroft. - The Glass-House (theglasshouse.org.uk) #place #policymaking #research

Nobody said that regeneration work was easy, but its essential if we are serious about reducing the number of empty homes within Wales and meeting the increasing housing needs of our population. As someone who has been involved in both urban and rural regeneration schemes (social and commercial) over a 40yr career in housing, I have seen the worth of the effort put in by Councils and RSLs that are serious about bringing beautiful buildings back into economic and social use. Currently the number of empty homes in Wales is increasing on a daily basis, as landlords bale out of the PRS and the housing market / higher cost mortgages does its cyclical stuff again. Its criminal and negligent to have huge costs falling on Councils to temporarily (and poorly) house homeless persons and families, whilst there are empty homes and buildings in those same communities. Some of which should be utilised as short term "short life" solutions to help aleviate the hosuing crisis. Its positive that some RSLs and Councils are proactively tackling this problem. Grants and strategies do help, but in my experience the biggest impact was having frontline EHOs or Housing professionals who were personally committed to making a difference in their local community. There are also some good examples of community led initiatives to keep community pubs and shops open, or opening up sustainable tourism accommodation. Well done to Cadwyn HA and partners for this excellent example of what can be done.

🙏❤️🌈 A Heartfelt Request from Soulhaven Foundation 🌈❤️🙏 Amazing Community & Supporters, In our continuous journey to spread holistic well-being and sustainable living, we’ve encountered a unique challenge that brings us to seek your collective wisdom and networks. As many of you know, Soulhaven Foundation is the beacon of our mission to nurture holistic lifestyles for the betterment of our community and the planet. Our dream is to extend our reach and impact through a digital sanctuary that reflects our mission and values. This is where we would like your help. We wish to secure the domain Soulhaven.org to establish a dedicated online home for our non-profit endeavors. Unfortunately, our attempts to acquire this domain through conventional means have not been successful. Despite our best efforts through GoDaddy’s brokering service, we’ve been unable to establish contact with the current holder, who is associated with Sonic ISP from an earlier period of domain hosting. This domain holds immense potential for union with our existing site, Soulhaven.com. It represents a significant step forward in uniting our holistic lifestyles business with our non-profit mission under the Soulhaven banner. We believe in the power of community and the incredible network of professionals on LinkedIn. If anyone has insights, connections, or advice on how we might reach out to the owner of Soulhaven.org or if there are alternative strategies we should consider, your guidance would be invaluable. Moreover, should the current holder see this message, we are open to discussing options that could benefit both parties, including a tax-deductible donation of the domain to Soulhaven Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization. Together, we can make Soulhaven.org a reality, creating a space that fosters healing, growth, and holistic living for all. Thank you for any help, advice, or share you can offer to help us in this mission. Our hearts and hopes are aligned toward making a positive change, and with your help, we can make a significant stride toward that dream. May our journeys be blessed with peace, love, and rainbow light! 🙏❤️🌈🙌 Ms. Elizabeth Munoz Founder, Soulhaven Foundation 🌈 Join us in creating a haven for souls to flourish. 🌈 #SoulhavenFoundation #Healing #Unity #DomainJourney #Support #Nonprofit Sonic

How can we challenge ourselves to explore alternatives for how we live, love, own our things, choose our families and raise our children? Social dreaming is something I love to do I especially in summer🌞 by reading utopian stories or novels. Such as this book: Everyday Utopia by Kristen Ghodsee (thanks to Upstream https://lnkd.in/eBBnxxma for bringing this to my attention). The second chapter "home is where the walls are" asks questions such as: what would happen if we choose to reorganize our lives to max social connectedness? * Inspiring examples of coliving existing today such as Ibsgarden in Copenhagen, the Baugruppen in Berlin, ecovillage Nashira in Columbia * Insights such as cohousing can: - decrease isolation - increase housing stock (current buildings can house more people) - free up time for women (less household chores on their shoulders) - reduce overall consumption - see housing as a social good instead of a commodity * It also discusses challenges involved such as dealing with conflicts with neighbors requiring protocols regarding conflict resolution and collective decision making Love it that this "utopian" idea of coliving is not some abstract futuristic visions but actually happening in various places today💚⭐ see also: https://lnkd.in/ew8qECcZ https://lnkd.in/eaDX9qch https://lnkd.in/ejKh58TV