The nation needs more charity trustees to help our society: Helen Stephenson

Trustees, collectively, not only ensure charities deliver on their purposes today, but also sow the seeds for the strong society we want to see tomorrow.

A key personal focus for me since starting at the Commission in 2017, has been to nurture the right relationship with trustees – to be neither cosy friend, nor fearsome foe, but to serve as a trusted regulator: supporting trustees to get it right, helping them to address problems where they occur, and taking firm action when we find abuse and wrongdoing that can serve to undermine trust in charity as a whole.

One of the main aims of Trustees’ Week is to inspire more people to come forward to serve as trustees. To prepare a pipeline of able and passionate people, willing to take on the mantle of trusteeship, ensuring the good work of charities is sustainable.

But we know from our research that many charities are already carrying vacancies, with some struggling to fill gaps.

So we need to widen the pool of trustees, and that requires people of all backgrounds to come forward and volunteer their time. To show up, for their communities and the causes they care about. To offer their skills, perspective, experience, and passion.

Being a trustee brings with it many benefits – and the opportunity to develop, or hone, different skills: whether that’s experience of being on a Board, managing an organisation, or working as a team and making collective decisions. These are important life skills which not only benefit the charity but also benefit the individual trustee.

We know there are nearly a million trusteeships in the sector but it’s certainly not the case that all these roles are filled. Simply – we need more people to come on board, to take on the responsibility and so make sure the charity sector can grow and flourish in the future.

Trusteeship should be an important social obligation for all people, including young people, people of colour, women, and those from different educational backgrounds or regions of the country – and many would find that it opens doors for them in other areas of their lives as well.

This really matters for the future of the sector. The seven years I will have served as CEO of the Commission have been marked by world-changing events, and rapid change.

To survive, let alone to thrive, charities must remain resilient, flexible, imaginative and responsive - not least to changing needs and expectations of the people they were set up to serve and of their supporters.

That requires diversity of thought and experience at the very top.

I’d like to encourage anyone who cares about a cause, or has a vision for a better society, to consider becoming a trustee. There’s no better way of making a difference.

Helen Stephenson is the Charity Commission’s CEO. This is an edited version of a recent speech.