Transparency at The Wheel: Governance & Finances
In The Wheel, we are committed to maximising transparency and demonstrating clear accountability in how we do our work.
As a result, we have adopted in full a range of ‘good practice’ standards: During 2023 we ensured full compliance with the Charities Regulator's Charities Governance Code; the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) for our annual reporting and all of the guidelines and recommendations for charities published by the Charities Regulator.
This website is one of our primary channels for delivering transparency in how we do our work and we encourage anyone with ideas for improvements to contact our colleague Fergal Moran, Director of Finance, at fergal@wheel.ie
In order to make information about important things like finances and salaries as easy as possible to find, we provide the most pertinent points from the Director’s Report and the Audited Accounts from 2023 below.
Income & Expenditure
| 2023 | 2022 | Increase | |
| Income | €2,979,769 | €2,794,972 | 7% |
| Expenditure | €2,963,962 | €2,775,972 | 7% |
The full results for the year are set out in the Statement of Financial Activities on Page 52 of Audited Accounts 2023.
Income
Financial performance and income diversification
In 2023 both statutory income and income from other public sources (EU) performed strongly, and earned income from membership, training delivery, and other projects recovered from the impact of the Covid pandemic in 2020 & 2021.
The main differences between income for 2022 of €2.79m and €2.69m in 2021 were
- Securing of €109,000 funding from DRCD and other partners for WeAct
- Increase in earned income from membership and training of approximately €114,000
- Funding of €92,000 for the Birlikte, EASI and RevitaLESE programmes
Incoming Resources
| Restricted Income | Unrestricted Income | ||
| National Training Fund | €1,140,000 | Membership | €365,046 |
| Access Europe | €244,000 | Vat Compensation Scheme | €3,412 |
| Scheme to Support National Organisations | €90,767 | Earned Income & Corporate Support | €461,329 |
| Community Climate Action Programme | €75,000 | ||
| Community and Voluntarty Pillar | €73,476 | ||
| DRCD Volunteering Strategy | €66,150 | ||
| We Act | €59,444 | ||
| Shared Island Programme | €59,095 | ||
| DRCD PPN Supports | €55,843 | ||
| European Parliament Ambassador Schools | €45,857 | ||
| baSE | €42,620 | ||
| Birlikte | €37,140 | ||
| National Rural Network | €37,096 | ||
| EASI | €37,000 | ||
| Solas Adult Literacy | €34,399 | ||
| RevitaLESE | €28,295 | ||
| Creative Climate Action | €16,000 | ||
| CFI HR Supports | €7,800 | ||
| Total Restricted Income 2023 | €2,149,982 | Total Unrestricted Income 2023 | € 829,787 |
| Total Income for 2023 | €2,979,769 |
Please see Note 4 on Page 64 of Audited Accounts 2022 for detailed breakdown of income.
Expenditure
The major elements of expenditure in 2023 were:
- Staffing costs related to member services, training, information provision, programme delivery research, and advocacy for the sector;
Please see Note 5 on Page 65 of Audited Accounts 2023 for detailed breakdown of expenditure.
Total expenditure for 2023: €2,963,962
Salaries
The average number of persons employed by The Wheel in 2023 was 29.
4 senior employees earned remuneration (salaries and any benefits in kind, excluding employer’s pension costs) in excess of €60,000 as follows:
| Salary Band | Number of Staff |
| €60,000 - €70,000 | 1 |
| €70,001 - €80,000 | 2 |
| €80,001 - €90,000 | 1 |
| €90,001 - €100,000 | 1 |
Senior management comprised of the CEO, Director of Advocacy and Research, Director of People and Programmes, Director of Business Development and Director of Finance and Operations.
The Chief Executive Officer was the highest earning employee and the remuneration package was comprised as follows:
| Gross Salary | €89,021 |
| Employers Pension Contribution | €5,382 |
| Total Remuneration Package | €94,403 |
Trustee Remuneration
The trustees gave their services free of charge and are not compensated for their work. The Wheel operates a policy of reimbursing trustees and subcommittee members for out of pocket expenses.
Please see Note 7 on Page 61 of Audited Accounts 2023 for more information on salaries and remuneration.
The Wheel has a staff team based in an office in Dublin, and headed by a Chief Executive Officer who reports directly to the board through the Chairperson. A senior management team of four reports to the Chief Executive and all other staff report to members of the senior management team.
Decision-making?
Decisions reserved for only the board of directors to make include:
- The Company’s strategic plans and annual operating budgets;
- Projects outside the scope of the strategic plan;
- Business acquisitions and disposals;
- Decisions on Litigation;
- Appointment/Removal of Subgroup Chairs and Members;
- Appointment/Removal of Chief Executive Officer;
- Appointment/Removal of Auditors;
- Approval of Borrowing/Finance Facilities;
- Approval of Contracts with term exceeding one year or financial liability on The Wheel exceeding €60,000;
- Annual Review of Risk and Internal Control;
- Approval of new staff positions at director level;
- Approval of changes to membership categories or rates.
Further Documentation
- The Wheel's Constitution
- Terms of Membership
- The Wheel's Election Rules
- The Wheel's HR Strategy
- The Wheel's Remuneration Policy.
Feedback to the Board
The Wheel is eager to strengthen and develop channels of accountability between our members and the Board. To that end, members are invited to provide their feedback directly to the Board (via a dedicated email address: boardofdirectors@wheel.ie and at our member forums across the country). Feedback and comments received by the board will be recorded and reviewed annually by the board.
The Importance of Collaboration
We place huge value on collaborative working in the Irish community and voluntary, charity and social enterprise sector.
We value collaborative working as a way of increasing the value and impact of our work and strengthening our sector.
Collaboration in Action
In 2020 we collaborated with a wide range of partners to influence policy and deliver programmes and services. Key amongst these were our wide range of national and EU-funded programmes, and our various engagements with the Charities Regulator.
In addition to the snapshot above, you can read about our projects and collaborations below.
Privacy Policy
The Wheel is involved in a significant amount of communication with various stakeholders from across the Irish community and voluntary sector, as well as wider society. The purpose of our privacy policy in that regard is to be as open and transparent as we possibly can be about the types of information we collect and what we do with it. Our privacy policy has been revised and updated in accordance with GDPR requirements.
Complaints Policy
The Wheel has a vigorous complaints policy, put in place for the purpose of upholding the standards and quality of the interaction of all representatives of The Wheel with our members, the general public and other stakeholders.
We have designed our complaints policy to be as straightforward and efficient as possible, to ensure that any individual or organisation who may see fit to lodge a formal complaint that The Wheel takes their feedback and input seriously and in the spirit of full openness.
The Wheel's Annual Accounts