The Big Help Out aims to help people experience volunteering and make a difference in their communities. Getting On Board and the Charity Commission are here to support.
Volunteering can be incredibly rewarding, and there are many ways in which you can devote some of your time to charitable work.
Have you ever considered helping to run a charity?
Trustees are the volunteers who lead charities and decide how they are run. You may have heard them called board members or the board. Trusteeship is a great way of contributing to causes you care about and developing strategic and leadership skills at the same time.
Anyone can be a trustee, regardless of how junior or senior you are in your career, whether you’re in paid employment or not, regardless of your ethnicity, class, gender orientation, sexuality or any other difference. Boards thrive when they have a diversity of skills, knowledge, age and experience on their board.
Did you know?
- there are 100,000 vacancies for charity trustees in the UK
- trusteeship is open to all ages (16+ or 18+), backgrounds and skill sets
- the level of time commitment is modest (30 hours a year)
- there are one million trustees in the UK but many people don’t know what a trustee is or that trusteeship is open to them
- many charities are very keen to diversify their boards and are looking for trustees with ages, experiences, ethnicities and backgrounds that are currently under-represented on their boards
- 96% of trustees said they had learned new skills and 84% said being a trustee made them happier
- trustees make decisions about the direction a charity takes and how its purposes will be carried out. They also make sure that the charity has the resources and policies it needs and to comply with legal requirements
If you would like to find out more, you can join the free webinar, What is a Trustee and how do I become one hosted by Getting On Board.This one-hour session is a great introduction to the world of Trusteeship and will cover:
- what trustees are
- what they do
- how you can become one
The webinar is free to attend.
Getting on Board also has other useful resources to support you. You can read their guide on How to Become a Trustee Guide, they also have a series of useful webinars, Getting on Board Events
You can find hundreds of trustee vacancies listed on the Reach Volunteering search platform.
The Charity Commission also has a series of guides to support you on your Trustee Journey. Advice and guidance for Charity Trustees – Getting the most out of being a charity trustee
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