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Recently, in support of Volunteers’ Week, Stone King had the pleasure of hosting CEO of the Charity Commission for England and Wales (“the Commission”), David Holdsworth, at The Goldsmith’s Centre in central London.

The event, which took place over a couple of hours in the morning, began with tea and coffee as delegates arrived and steadily added to the buzz of enthusiastic chatter before taking their seats to hear from David.

A sector that is “evidence led, data led, not led by knee-jerk reactions”

David began by focusing on the recently published results from the Commission’s new research with Pro Bono Economics into the experience of trustees in England and Wales, acknowledging that these individuals are “driven by values and purpose rather than financial reward", and that “charity trusteeship is worth infinitely more than the sum of its parts”.

David was pleased to report statistics that strongly suggest high trustee satisfaction – citing that “eight in ten trustees would recommend their role to others” – and trustee loyalty, as evidenced by the fact that “more than half have served at least four years on their boards”.

In terms of trustee board demographics, David reported: “We're also seeing encouraging progress towards gender balance. We're not there yet, but female trustees now comprise 43% of boards, which is up from 36% in 2017. So, we're heading in the right direction but there's more work to do.” When looking at age, there has been little change, with the average trustee age remaining 65. However, “those under 30 who do serve report substantial career development benefits."Something that the research did shine a light on was recruitment, with just 6% of trustees having applied for their role via an external advert. This led David to point charities towards the Commission’s recently updated guidance for trustees known as CC30, on the best practice for recruiting new trustees to their boards.

David concluded this section of his talk by saying: “What the data does support is that the British public intrinsically link their support and willingness to support and donate to charities with the over-arching volunteer principle; we mess with that at our peril, because £60 billion of the sector's income relies on the generosity of the British public.”

Guidance on trustee expense payments

David went on to cover a subject that is often discussed and has the potential to be misunderstood by charities and their trustees: the payment of trustee expenses. He said: “The commission is clear: [trustee] expenses do not constitute payments. Trustees are entitled to have their reasonable expenses reimbursed by the charity, and that can include child care, travel costs, and meals when acting on behalf of the charity. In this way, trustees can undertake their voluntary duties without worrying it will put them out of pocket.” He therefore encouraged charities to maintain the accessibility and inclusivity of trusteeship, by in turn encouraging their trustees to claim relevant expenses.

On the subject of whether trustees will continue to be classed as volunteers, David said: “I strongly believe that voluntary trusteeship is the principle that underpins public trust in charity […] During my time at the Commission, there will absolutely be no change to that position. We will engage, we will research, but we will not change unless the evidence proves it is more beneficial to the sector.”

However, he did acknowledge that “Some charities will be faced with decisions about whether to pay one or more trustees, whether for the role itself or for payments of goods. It's vital that charities get these decisions right because the consequences on reputation, on the principle of volunteering, on their links and trust with their communities, can be impacted if they get it wrong.” David then urged charities to read the Commission’s refreshed guidance: ‘Charities paying a trustee or a connected person: understand the rules (CC11)’.

Advice to trustees

David rounded off his speech by asking the trustees in the audience to do what they can in their roles, in their charities, and in their communities to encourage trusteeship and celebrate the voluntary principle.

However, he caveated this request with some advice to avoid the recruitment of trustees becoming an exercise in filling seats: “Whether you're on a charity board or advising one, when you are next looking to recruit trustees, here's my plea to you: review your board composition, conduct an honest assessment of the skills you've got and of your board's diversity representation, then use this information to better target your trustee recruitment […] ultimately, that will strengthen your charity’s governance.”

To finish

The morning’s session was extremely informative and all those in attendance appreciated the opportunity to meet David and learn more about the Commission’s work.

To finish, here are David’s parting words: “When you take a step back, what the charity sector has achieved in half a century is truly astounding, and that is down to the volunteers, the trustees, and everyone in the sector. I do believe there's no better charity sector in the world than the one in England and Wales.”