What is a trustee? A lot of people don’t realise the great work that trustees do supporting charities and allowing them to operate.

A trustee of a charity is someone who volunteers to help run the charity and make big decisions about how it operates. Trustees make sure the charity sticks to its goals, uses its money wisely, and follows the rules. Working as a trustee, you’re part of a board – a group of people who meet regularly to plan and check how well the charity is doing.

Trustees have important jobs like managing the charity’s finances, ensuring it’s run legally and ethically, and protecting its resources. They also help decide the best ways for the charity to support the people it serves. Often, trustees bring their own skills, like knowledge about finance, fundraising, or marketing, which helps the charity do more good work. By volunteering as a trustee, you get to make a real difference and learn new things about leadership and problem-solving.

Interested in becoming a trustee?

In Norfolk, people who want to become trustees can use Voluntary Norfolk’s Get Involved platform. Voluntary Norfolk, through our Empowering Communities partnership, connects volunteers with charities across the county. On Get Involved Norfolk, you can browse all kinds of trustee roles and see what each charity needs, the skills they’re looking for, and what they’re all about. This makes it easy to find a role that matches your skills and interests. Plus, you’ll know you’re doing something that truly matters.

Becoming a trustee is a great way to support a cause you care about and develop useful skills. If you’re interested in finding out more about trustee roles in Norfolk, check out Voluntary Norfolk’s Get Involved platform. Here you can see the different roles available and explore how you could get involved.

What support is available for trustees

Community Action Norfolk are running Trustee Training in November. This will provide trustees and potential trustees with a greater understanding of their roles and responsibilities, and covers the different types of Trustees, appointments and decision making, liabilities and conflicts of interest, and reporting requirements. Their next session is online on the 5th November from 5pm-7pm!

Email the team at office@communityactionnorfolk.org.uk to book your place!

Later in the month, Empowering Communities partners Voluntary Norfolk and FUSE Norwich are running a session for trustees to ensure they get the support they need. If you are a trustee or director and feel that you or your organisation could do with some practical help and guidance we would love to hear from you.

Book your place on Eventbrite.

If you are not able to attend, we would still like to hear your views and invite you to respond to a short survey. You can do so as an individual trustee or NED, or on behalf of your Board.