The first video tackles the subject of ‘Diversity on your Boards and can be seen here.

The second video is the first part of a panel debate on building strong boards and can be seen here.

The third video is the second part of the debate on building strong boards, which can be seen here.

Enjoy!

Your charity: Charityworks (www.charity-works.co.uk)

Specific responsibilties: provide marketing strategy overview for Charityworks as one of their trustees

1. Tell us a little about the charity you are a trustee for?

Charityworks’ mission is to develop talent in the third sector be it recent graduates or those in first level line management roles.

2. How did you get involved with the charity?

I was part of the programme during its piloted roll out back in September 2009

3. What have you gained from being a charity trustee?

I have broadened by knowledge of charity governance, been able to explore and recommend a strategic vision for how Charityworks want to market to their future cohorts, interesting to listen to other board members input and a good source of professional networking.

4. What do you enjoy the most about being a charity trustee?

The responsibility and being part of driving the vision (how far along the programme has come and where it is going)

5. What is your top tip for people thinking of becoming a young charity trustee?

Get involved, it’s a great way to increase your professional career in understanding how charities are run!

The Week is a great opportunity to let people know how important Trusteeship is and to say thank you to those who already serve as Trustees.

Please let as many people as you can know about YCT, and also encourage them to follow Trustees’ Week on Twitter http://twitter.com/trusteesweek/

YCT is doing a lot for the Week:

Tuesday 6th:
A number of YCT Ambassadors will be on the panel for an online Guardian debate about Trusteeship: http://www.guardian.co.uk/voluntary-sector-network/2012/oct/31/changing-role-trustees

In the evening YCT Founder Alex Swallow will be giving a talk to Civil Servants about Trusteeship.

Wednesday 7th:
YCT Founder Alex Swallow will be going to this in the evening, organised by the Small Charities Coalition http://www.smallcharities.org.uk/trustees-open-space/

Thursday 8th:
YCT Founder Alex Swallow will be at this, organised by Community Action Southwark: http://casouthwark.org.uk/event/cas-trustee-conference-2012/

He will be speaking on a panel in the evening.

Throughout the Week- YCT will be using social media to share Trustees’ Week stories and to support the efforts of other organisations who are doing so much for the Week.

The Guardian ran a supplement entitled Trustees 2012 in which can be read here. Alex Swallow and Young Charity Trustees are mentioned on page 3 in the section about diversity within boards.

One of our ambassadors is Tesse Akpeki, a consultant in leadership, management, governance and personal development. Tesse recently wrote a great piece for CivilSociety.co.uk entitled “Young People Are Willing, We Just Need to Find Them” in which she discusses the difficulty in attracting young people into volunteering.

Well worth a read!

As the title of this post suggests, Trustees Week 2012 is nearly upon us!

Taking place between the 5-11 November, Trustees Week is a “is an annual event to showcase the great work that trustees do and highlight opportunities for people from all walks of life to get involved and make a difference”

If you’re interested in coming a trustee or want to take the “trustee pledge” and learn more about the work that trustees do, head on over to the trustees week blog.

The full lineup of speakers is as follows

Confirmed speakers include:

• Sam Younger, CEO of the Charity Commission

• Lindsay Driscoll, Governance and charity law specialist

• Peter John, Leader of Southwark Council

Workshops:

• Charities Evaluation Services, specialist in quality and evaluation systems for the voluntary sector.

• Russell-Cooke, Charity law

• Trustees Unlimited, specialising in recruitment of high quality trustees and non-executives

• Volunteer Centre Southwark

Panel debate about building a strong board:

• Alexander Swallow, Founder of Young Charity Trustee

• Margaret Harris, Professor at Birkbeck University and Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR)

• Mary Chadwick, Consultant and writer on third sector, Director Chadwick focus and Associate Consultant at Centre for Charity Effectiveness, Cass Business School

Meet the funder session

• Heritage Lottery Fund

• Peter Minet Trust

• Guys and St Thomas Charity

You can view the complete line up on the CAS website here.

Location: Bedford
Relate Bedfordshire and Luton is a local independent charity entirely devoted to building stronger relationships. We help with issues such as breakups, communication difficulties, affairs, sexual problems, step-families, retirement, self-esteem, a new baby, in fact anything that has an effect on relationships.

We offer five core services:
• Adult relationship counselling
• Family counselling
• Young people counselling
• Adult sex therapy
• Education and learning

Main purpose of the role:
• Overall responsibility for the organisations strategic direction
• Ensuring that it meets its legal duties, remains solvent and well run
• Delivers the outcomes for which it was set up

Essential Personal Qualities:
• Integrity
• Commitment to the ethos and values of Relate
• Commitment to equal opportunities and the promotion of diversity
• Commitment to continuous improvement as a basis for Quality Assurance
• Good, independent judgement and a willingness to speak one’s mind
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team
• Willingness to devote, time, enthusiasm and effort to the duties and responsibilities of a Trustee

Essential Aptitude and skills:
• An acceptance of the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of trusteeship
• Ability to evaluate and interpret information and think creatively
• Strategic vision to affect change and meet the objectives of Relate

Level of commitment required:
Attendance at our Board meetings four times a year plus an expectation for the Trustee to sit on at least one of our five sub-group that fits with their own expertise. These sub-groups meet four times a year.

Time would also be required to read board papers and prepare for meetings
Interested?
Please call Angela Foll, Chief Executive for an informal chat on 01234 400730 or email: angela.foll@relatebedsandluton.org.uk

We were recently thrilled to find that we had received a nod of recognition from Sir Stephen Bubb, Chief Executive of the Association of Chief Executive Organisations among many other fantastic roles.
In a post on his blog entitled “Too old? Too Young” dated 28th August, Sir Stephen mentions Young Charity Trustess and the work that we do.

In a thought provoking introduction to the post, Sir Stephen addresses the prominence of certain ages, genders and races in trusteeships before going on to say how he came across Young Charity Trustees.

We are very proud to have been recognised by such a figure as Sir Stephen. If you have a moment, please read his post in full here.