A Heartfelt Thank You to Our Committed Trustees

From the 7th to the 11th of November charities across the country are coming together to celebrate the hard work and commitment of their incredible trustees. We would like to join the Trustees Week organisation in promoting a number of events taking place to commemorate and support our board of trustees. This year’s theme is “making a difference in changing times”. With the evolving economic circumstances affecting all of us, the work that the charity sector carries out is more important than ever. A big thank you to our trustees who help to shape Space as a charity and enable us to carry out support through our many services.

There are several workshops and webinars being held this week by organisations such as SCVO, NCVO, Getting On Board, and many more. These are designed to help trustees connect with those from other charitable groups, provide an opportunity to share their experiences, and develop new skills through a variety of training sessions and informative presentations. A full list of the events happening this week can be found here on the dedicated Trustees Week website.

 

What is a trustee?

You may be reading this and wondering – what exactly is a trustee? Simply put, a trustee is someone who is responsible for governing a charity and guiding the direction for how it is run and managed. A board of trustees is formed of a wide variety of people, from all walks of life, to share this responsibility together. Trustees volunteer their time for the betterment of charities everywhere. Space’s board is currently formed of 14 trustees in total.

A group of 4 people wearing business casual clothing sit at a table holding a board meeting.

 

What’s involved in being a trustee exactly?

Trustees are there to ensure that a charity is carrying out work that it promises to do. This involves planning what the charity will do – in both the short and long term – and what it should strive to achieve; gaining and maintaining an understanding of how all of the charity’s activities are intended to support these aims; and having an understanding of how the work that the charity carries out can benefit the public it serves. You can find more information about specific responsibilities of trustees here.

 

Can anyone become a trustee?

There are some requirements to being a trustee. Space requires that all trustees are aged 18 and over to serve on the board. They must also pass a DBS check in order to qualify as a trustee. You can find more general requirements for all charity trustees here. If you would like some firsthand information on what is involved in becoming a trustee in general, Getting On Board is holding two webinar sessions this week on “What is a Trustee, and how do I become one?” on Tuesday 8th November between 6:30pm and 7:30pm and again on Thursday 10th November between 1:00pm and 2:00pm. Both sessions are free to attend, but spaces may be limited so we encourage you to book a place as soon as possible!

 

Where do I sign up?

Would you be interested in becoming a trustee for Space? We are always looking to add more members to our incredible board of trustees. If you are passionate about supporting the lives of the individuals that make up the community that we have here in the South West of Edinburgh, we would love to hear from you. Give us a call on 0131 455 7731 or send an email to admin@spacescot.org to find out more.