Charity Trustees

Thanet Creative writers are soon to become a charity. As part of that transition, we will be appointing trustees.

Trustees are an important part of a charity. A good selection of trustees can make a huge difference. A good board can help turbo charge the effectiveness of a charity.

According to reachskills.org.uk:

At its heart, being a trustee puts you at the centre of the action for the organisation you are involved in. The more effective the board of trustees, the greater difference you and your organisation will make.

If you feel like reading some more Ian Joseph from Trustees Unlimited offers advice on the questions trustees must ask to ensure they are fully aware of what they are getting into.

How much time will it take?

The amount of time it takes being a trustee differs from one charity to another. For Thanet Creative Writers you will probably be looking at a few hours a month, usually on one evening.

What are my responsibilities?

The trustees act on behalf of the chairty. In the case of Thanet Creative Writers the board literally reprisents the interests of all the members. In practice though, your repsonsibilities may be limited to asking the difficult questions and voting fairly.

Some trustees may be asked to hold items or money in trust (thus the name) as the charity will not be able to own them itself. Again, in practice this is not likely to make much difference to you as we will be setting up a seperate group bank account when and if we have a surplus of spare cash.

Chairty Commision Trustee guide has more details.

One more thing – It is you duty to speak up if you disagree. If you disagree with a decission the board makes then you need to go on record as objecting. If you are in the meeting it can be as simple as saying I’d like to go on the record as disagreeing.

It might seem quite minor, but it can be very improtant that the records ofthe charity reflect if a choice was unanimouse or if there were other ideas.

However, most boards try to reach full agreement on issues, if they possibly can.

Who can be a trustee?

Pretty much anyone can be a trustee. Unless you are bankrupt or were recently found guilty of fraud.

For Thanet Creative Writers, you need to be a member which means applying to become a member or being there on Thursday as we transition into a charity – in which case you are automatically a member. You can read more here

Take a look at the TCW Tustee Nomination Form if you would like to stand for election as a trustee. But be quick the forms need to be returned by the end of Wednesday.