The 12th to 16th November 2018 is National Trustee Week but what are trustees?

Trustees are the people in charge of a charity. They help to make the UK the sixth most giving country in the world [1].

Trustees play a vital role, volunteering their time and working together to make important decisions about the charity’s work. They also work to highlight opportunities for people from all walks of life to get involved with the charity and make a difference.

All registered charities must have a group of trustees to ensure the charitable purposes (the aims and objections) are being fulfilled. They can be from any a diverse background however recent research suggests [2]:

• 71% of charity chairs are and 68% of charity treasurers being men
• the average age of trustees is 55-64 years; over half (51%) are retired
• 60% of trustees have a professional qualification; 30% have post-graduate qualifications
• 71% of trustees are recruited through an informal process
• trustees report lacking relevant legal, digital, fundraising, marketing and campaigning skills at board level
• trustees seek support and advice from one another – 80% of all respondents regard this as their most important internal source of advice and support, with only 6% seeking guidance or training from an external provider
• on average, trustees donate almost 5 hours a week to their roles

Here at Kicking Off Against Cancer we’re committed to being transparent with information and below is a summary about our trustee details:

• 15% of our trustee group are women
• The average age of KOAC’s trustees is less than 35 years old with the age ranging from 28-41.
• All work in full time employment alongside supporting the charity
• 57% have higher education qualifications
• All of our trustees have been recruited via informal processes, however skill sets were taken into consideration for each member appointed and we review and identify our skill gaps prior to trustee appointments.
• As well as relying on fellow trustee knowledge. KOAC subscribe to the Information Commissioners Office, the Fundraising Regulator and Glamorgan Volunteering Services to gain additional knowledge and training.
• On average, trustees donate 6 hours per week to KOAC.

The trustee role within KOAC is challenging; as we are a small charity we have to take on responsibilities for both managerial and governance demands to ensure we effectively operate and continue to meet our charitable purpose of helping those affected by cancer.

Over the course of the next week, we will be taking a closer look at our Trustee’s and trying to give you an insight as to how we run KOAC, what drives us and to show you the people behind Kicking Off Against Cancer.

[1] – Trustees Week

[2] – Charity Commission Research 2017