Trustees Week: Charity Commission launches 5 minute guides – & other activity
Melanie May | 2 November 2020 | News
Trustees Week takes place from today until Friday 6 November, and the Charity Commission has launched five five-minute guides to help trustees with the key aspects of their role.
Available in English and Welsh, the guides cover a ‘core syllabus’ of basics:
- financial oversight
- achieving a charity’s purposes
- good decision making
- addressing conflicts of interest
- what to file with the Commission and what support is available
The Charity Commission undertook user testing with trustees and engaged with sector bodies in preparing the guides, and they have been designed with real trustees and real situations in mind.
Elsewhere, a number of webinars and virtual events are also running throughout the week on different aspects of trusteeship, from an online debate on governance in challenging times hosted by Pilotlight, to an update on changes to the Charity Governance Code with NCVO. These are listed on the Trustees Week site.
Other activity this week includes Getting on Board’s first ever Festival of Trusteeship, with 33 events across the week on everything from anti-racism to youth leadership on trustee boards, and a free workshop from the Young Trustees Movement to help champion diversity and bring in younger people on charity boards.
Over on social media, charities are also taking the opportunity to thank and celebrate their trustees, as well as shine a light on what they do.
https://twitter.com/JudyMurrayFdn/status/1323184414659121152
We'd like to thank everyone on our board for the amazing work they've done this year 👏
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Each trustee brings their own valuable skills, experience and expertise to support our community, so we can continue to help those who've experienced homelessness.
Thank you🤩#trusteesweek pic.twitter.com/wH0MX17ZVT
— EmmausHastings (@EmmausHastings) November 2, 2020
This week is #TrusteesWeek. Our trustees are all volunteers, who generously give their time & expertise to ensure that St Gemma’s provides the best possible care & is effectively, safely & legally run. Thank you to all of our trustees! pic.twitter.com/dMT0iDuZiG
— St Gemma's Hospice (@stgemmashospice) November 2, 2020
Some organisations are also using the opportunity to highlight their trustee vacancies, such as ARCh (Assisted Reading for Children): an Oxfordshire charity providing trained reading helper volunteers for primary school children. It is looking to expand its board of trustees and is particularly looking for individuals with experience in accounting/finance/bookkeeping. Thomas Pocklington Trust (TPT) has also opened applications for new trustees to join its board. It is looking for trustees who have experience in one or more of the following areas: Finance and accounting; technology (including assistive tech); property and estate management; human resources; monitoring and evaluation.
The week can be followed on social media with the hashtag #TrusteesWeek.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.