Trustees, particularly treasurers, could feel the role is a "life sentence" because charities would struggle to replace them if they left, a Charity Commission meeting heard yesterday.
Speaking at a public meeting for charity workers in Norwich yesterday, Neal Green, senior policy advisor for the Charity Commission, said that recent Commission research showed up to half of all charities currently have at least one trustee vacancy.
Green told the meeting, hosted by Voluntary Norfolk, that many charities can find themselves in “unmanageable circumstances” as a result.
“If you’re thinking about recruiting people to become trustees, there is a lot of competition,” he said. “Do we need more trustees? Well a third to a half of all registered charities say they have at least one vacancy. So many charities do struggle to get new trustees.”
There is also a danger that trusteeships will begin to feel like a “life sentence”, he said.
“You can’t leave because we can’t replace you. That’s it – especially if you’re the treasurer,” said Green.
Green said 46 per cent of trustees are over the age of 60 and less than 1 per cent of trustees are under the age of 24.
“There is a lack of young people on boards,” he said. “We know that people with disabilities and people from minority background are under-represented and even women are slightly under-represented on average.
“Does it matter? The risks are that you’ve got a group of like-minded people from similar backgrounds and a similar age, all approaching decisions from the same perspective. There’s a danger that you’re not going to think broadly enough.”
Charities who fail to recruit a diverse range of trustees run the risk of “becoming increasingly alone and isolated” from their own beneficiaries and community, he said.
According to Green, charities need to think about the skill-sets of the trustee board. Instead of recruiting friends of existing trustees, a board should consider life experience and whether the people on the board can “see things from the beneficiaries' perspective”.
“It’s so important to have people who really believe in the cause,” he said.
