The Charities Internal Audit Network (CIAN) was founded in 1994 by a small number of internal audit professionals employed in the charity sector who recognised the benefits of having a Forum through which all Internal Auditors in the sector could come together and share knowledge and learn from each other. Our Network now has over 200 member organisations and offers opportunities for internal auditors in the charity sector to share and develop skills and experience through networking, benchmarking, CPD sessions, a shared bank of templates and guidance, and subsidised training courses.
We aim to support members in effective internal audit provision thereby helping charities to achieve their objectives, and to promote the profession of internal audit in the charity sector. Membership of CIAN is free and available to any charitable or not for profit organisation. For more information: click here.
We are an independent charity with the active support of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors UK and Ireland as well as a number of professional services firms who generously provide CIAN with venues and other in-kind support. You can find out more about our governance and Committee below.
CIAN Trustees
CIAN is a volunteer-run organisation and a charity in its own right. Our Committee acts as both our executive committee and our Board of trustees. The Committee is responsible for all CIAN activities as well as the strategic direction and governance of CIAN.
The CIAN Committee and IIA President, Paul Manning, celebrate CIAN's 25th birthday in 2019
Governance
Chair - Laura Kemp
Laura was appointed as Chair of CIAN in October 2022, having been a Committee member since 2020.
She is a Senior Auditor at SWAP Audit, a not-for-profit organisation, serving charities, local government and the emergency services. Prior to joining SWAP Audit, Laura spent three years as an Internal Auditor at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. She has completed the Level 4 Internal Audit Practitioner Apprenticeship and is currently undertaking the Level 7 Internal Audit Professional Apprenticeship and Internal Audit Management and Consultancy MSc.
Laura is keen to advance CIAN's advocacy work to promote internal audit in the charity sector. If you are interested in the work CIAN does or want to talk about the value Internal Audit can add in the charity sector, you can contact her at comms@cian.org.uk
Secretary - David Barraclough
David Barraclough joined the CIAN Committee in June 2022. David is Deputy Head of Risk and Assurance at the National Trust. Prior to joining the Trust, David has worked as an Audit Manager across several universities and has had Principal Auditor and Risk Manager roles for a number of London boroughs.
Treasurer - Garry Smith
Garry Smith joined the CIAN Committee in August 2020. Garry is part of the NSPCC's Internal Audit team.
Member Relations
Robert Auguste
Robert Auguste is the Membership Officer for CIAN and has been involved in CIAN for the past 5 years. He looks after new membership requests, membership data and the mailing list. Robert is a Senior Internal Auditor at Barnardos, and is involved in a range of audit related activities. He also takes a lead role on counter-fraud and whistleblowing in the organisation.
Beginning his career in the public sector, Robert moved to the charity sector in 2015. For Robert, CIAN has an integral role in the charity sector, providing support, advice, and knowledge-sharing amongst its members but also as a conduit for collaborative working with key interested bodies and partners involved in charities, ensuring continuous improvement in the sector.
PR & Communications
Laura Kemp
Laura has been on the CIAN committee since 2020, promoting CIAN on Twitter (@CharitiesIA) and LinkedIn as the Communications Lead.
Laura has found CIAN to be an incredibly valuable source of information and support because the charity sector faces such unique challenges. The detailed resources provided and the ability to ask for help from colleagues in other charities has been a great comfort, especially during the difficult times we all faced in 2020. She looks forward to helping CIAN raise the profile of Internal Audit in the charity sector and the wider Internal Audit sector because Internal Auditors are needed in charities now more than ever.
Training, Events and Resources
Sue Davis
Sue Davis joined the CIAN committee in August 2020. Sue works as Internal Audit Manager at The Orders of St John Care Trust and is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Internal Auditors and an Accredited Counter Fraud Specialist. Sue spent many years as an internal audit professional within local government, police and other government departments, before moving into the charity sector, working both internationally and more recently heading up newly formed internal audit functions within UK based charities.
Sue is passionate about the value Internal Audit can bring to charitable organisations and joined the CIAN committee to support its work in assisting the many charity auditors out there that have limited resource to access training and best practice guidance.
Natasha Scott
Natasha Scott joined the CIAN Committee in December 2017. She works for WaterAid as an Internal Auditor and is a chartered accountant with experience auditing public sector organisations, charities and companies.
Natasha feels CIAN is extremely valuable to the sector as it provides relevant learning opportunities through the diverse and interesting speakers who present at our network events, and it is a great way to meet people working in the sector.
Vacancy: Could this be a role for you? More information on the role of our committee is available here. If you are interested in joining the CIAN committee, please contact Laura Kemp at comms@cian.org.uk
Special Advisers to the CIAN Committee
Jonathan Orchard
Partner - Sayer Vincent
Sherv Cheung
Sherv Cheung was previously a CIAN Committee member, working in internal audit at the Donkey Sanctuary and, since leaving charity internal audit, has continued to support CIAN as a Special Advisor, with a focus on communications.
Jonathan is a charity sector specialist and authors CIAN's Special Adviser's Update - an exclusive members-only publication that highlights key technical changes and considerations pertinent to the sector.
Jonathan is a Partner at Sayer Vincent.