Trustees’ Week – What is a trustee?
2nd November 2021
Charity law (the Charities Act 2011) describes charity trustees as ‘the persons having the general control and management of the administration of a charity’.
All properly appointed members of a charity are trustees in law, regardless of the title they have received. All trustees share equal responsibility for the charity and must always act in the best interest of the charity.
Trustees are volunteers who must not be paid for their services. However, as a trustee you can reclaim reasonable expenses that you incur, to ensure that you are not ‘out of pocket’.
The specific duties of a trustee should be set out in the charity’s governing document, which will also state how trustees can be appointed or elected.
Some examples of trustees duties are; to make sure that the charity’s assets are only used for their intended purpose, to deal with any conflicts of interest which may arise and to ensure that the charity is accountable.
If you think you have what it takes, follow the link below to take part in the Trustee personality quiz, to see what skills you could bring to a charity.
https://trusteesweek.org/trustee-personality-quiz/
Disclaimer - All information in this post was correct at time of writing.
