Eastside People

Are you passionate about everyone, whatever their ability, having access to meaningful work? Suffolk based charity; Depden Care Farm (Millennium Farm Trust), support adults of all abilities with learning, training and wellbeing opportunities through farming, and they are seeking a new Chair and Trustees to bring their leadership and strategy skills to their Board. Sound like an opportunity you can't miss? Read more and apply here: Trustees - https://lnkd.in/eAEUe9uy Chair - https://lnkd.in/e5xgFHuq Be sure to also check out our current #FestivalofTrusteeship online event if you are an aspiring trustee or charity leader looking for valuable insights this week! https://lnkd.in/esfkS6Fv #CareThroughFarming #TrusteeRoles #BoardChair #CommunityLeadership #CommunityAction #MillenniumFarmTrust #TrusteesWeek

Here is the timetable for today's #FestivalofTrusteeship sessions. 12:30 – 13:30. Who’s missing from your board? Inclusive approaches to finding trustees. What’s working in inclusive trustee recruitment, and how to support trustees once they’re in post. 16:30 – 17:30. Behind the scenes: What trustees should know about being a charity CEO. Insights from CEOs on their role, what they wish boards understood, and how trustees can be supportive allies. 18:00 – 19:00. How to build your confidence as a trustee (Free ‘Aspiring Trustee Series’). Build your presence, find your voice, and hear how others overcame self-doubt to become effective board members. You can get a ticket here: https://lnkd.in/esfkS6Fv @The Institute of Leadership

🚦 The End of the Road? This summer, Charity Times reported that nearly half of 700 small charities surveyed said their financial situation “is so grave that they’re at risk of closure within a year.” The viability of a charity is a topic that weighs heavily on many boards — but how do you know when you’ve reached the end of the road, and how can you exit gracefully? That was at the heart of the session “How to Close Well: Tips for Trustees Navigating Charity Closure” at The Festival of Trusteeship, presented by Eastside People. A capable and experienced panel — Katie Endacott Jennifer Peart Clive Vergnaud Linda Craig and chaired by Cara Evans — offered a thoughtful, practical discussion for any trustee thinking ahead. They explored the challenges and strategies of organisational closure, emphasising: the need for board collaboration and early planning, the emotional toll on trustees and volunteers, the difference between planned and crisis-driven closures, the importance of legacy planning, and seeking early legal and external advice to mitigate personal liabilities. The session reinforced one key message: trustees must be both realistic and proactive in their decision-making. 💡 A personal reflection on my key takeaways: Grappling with the closure of a charity is something many trustees dread — but there are practical steps that can help a board navigate this with dignity and clarity: 🛑 Determine your tipping point — whether that’s financial, membership, or another key metric. 💬 Keep your board healthy — prioritise wellbeing and mental health during difficult discussions. ⚖️ Lead with clarity and culture — be open, transparent, and ensure your culture is supportive and kind. 🕊️ Celebrate your legacy — recognise achievements with staff, volunteers, and stakeholders before closing. 📚 Seek expert advice — consult a charity lawyer to understand trustee liabilities and mitigation steps. 🌐 Reach out early — contact the Charity Commission and NCVO for resources and guidance. 🌅 Useful resources: Decelerator – resources for endings and transitions - https://lnkd.in/eybK3w5Q NCVO – closing your charity - https://lnkd.in/ebY7Q5bJ Eastside People – charity survival advice - https://lnkd.in/envQ-Axg Good Merger Index – Eastside People reports - https://lnkd.in/ept8bMEM Closure is always painful, emotional, and uncomfortable — but with the right tools, processes, and mindset, both the charity and its board can exit gracefully, leaving a positive legacy. #Trusteeship #CharityGovernance #Leadership #RiskManagement #CharityClosure #FestivalOfTrusteeship #EastsidePeople #BoardDevelopment Thank you to the brilliant panel — and to Penny Wilson

🌟 Reflections on the Festival of Trusteeship 2025 (so far!) 🌟 I’ve been attending the Festival of Trusteeship 2025, hosted by Eastside People from 3rd–7th November via Zoom. This is my first time experiencing the festival in my 10 years on a board, and I’ve already gained so much insight and inspiration. So far, I’ve attended sessions on the future of trusteeship, crisis management, governance hacks, and the youth trustee panel. Some highlights: Future of Trusteeship: Learning about the Charity Governance Code 2025 and the work of the Charity Commission gave me fresh perspective on trustees’ responsibilities. Crisis? Sorted!: Communicate early and openly, and ask for help — invaluable strategies for tough times. Governance Hacks: Tools like post-it notes and the RACI chart (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) can really transform board meetings. Fun fact: there are over 170,000 charities and nearly 1 million trustees in the UK! Youth Trustee Session: The confidence, passion, and lived experience shared by young trustees lifted my spirits and reminded me how valuable diverse voices are on boards. The festival so far has been inspiring, supportive, and thought-provoking — and I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s session on “Unlocking the Next Generation of Trustees” and the remaining sessions on Friday! A huge thank you to Penny Wilson, the Festival Director, all partners and sponsors, the speakers and panelists, and every attendee asking questions and connecting. Your efforts make trusteeship meaningful and energizing. I hope to see an even bigger festival next year, and I encourage anyone involved in or considering a board role to join — the insights and energy are invaluable. #Trusteeship #Governance #Leadership #Charity #YouthLeadership #FestivalOfTrusteeship #EastsidePeople #Trusteeweek2025

Young trustees wanted: Unlocking the next generation (Free ‘Aspiring Trustee Series’) Tackling the barriers young people face in joining boards. #FestivalofTrusteeship Should we be called ‘Young Trustees?” “Calling it a ‘young trustee’ role is useful in recruitment because it identifies that it’s for a specific type of person but it can cause confusion afterwards about what the role really means. Is it the same as a fully-fledged trustee?” Agno Kachappilly Shaiju “It is helpful to identify us as a group but we should just be treated as normal trustees as well.” Abigail Hart Simin Wadiwala said that she prefers the term, ‘Associate Trustee’ but @Gilah Allardice added that while the term does speak to your added value it can become a double-edged sword if the board doesn’t recognise the value. Ria P. summarised that “The term shouldn’t be a hindrance to encouraging people to become trustees. Anyone over the age of 18 should consider themselves suitable to become a trustee regardless of their characteristics. People should be accepted for who they are.” The Institute of Leadership #TrusteesWeek

Young trustees wanted: Unlocking the next generation (Free ‘Aspiring Trustee Series’) Tackling the barriers young people face in joining boards, and hearing what’s working from trustees and charities. #FestivalofTrusteeship How do you operate as a young trustee? “As a young trustee I definitely have an imposter syndrome, and I make up for it by being incredibly thorough in reading all the notes and having a huge vocabulary list. I also ask lots of questions. make lots of spaces for feedback.” Simin Wadiwala Also industry organisations like Association of Charitable Foundations and Charity Finance Group have specific training courses for trustees. Ria P. added that it’s important not to treat young trustees as a tick box exercise and help them to become part of the board. It's important for charities to allocate budget for trustee training but there are also lots of online resources available through the Young Trustees Movement. https://lnkd.in/gXph_iMu Abigail Hart Charities can't expect their bias to be naturally overcome with different types of trustee approaching them for roles. They need to raise awareness of their opportuntiies by going out and looking for different types of trustees (including young people) at places where young people hang out (e.g. universitiescharities that focus on supporting young people and young people's employment schemes.) Gilah Allardice uggested making young people part of an interview panel to make the interview less daunting for other young people. The Institute of Leadership #TrusteesWeek

Young trustees wanted: Unlocking the next generation (Free ‘Aspiring Trustee Series’) Tackling the barriers young people face in joining boards, and hearing what’s working from trustees and charities. Ria P. said that 1 in 12 charity trustees is called John or David (giving away the average age of trustees in the UK which is 65). She then asked the panel what made them decide to become a charity trustee? Abigail Hart – was fortunate to attend a board meeting and really liked what happened and wanted to be part of it. When she reached 18 she started looking for a suitable role and found one at Buglife. Simin Wadiwala – Sim was working in housing activism trying to fundraise and get grants and applied to Friends Provident Foundation which put her on their radar. She then applied for and got a paid advisory role at the Foundation and then for a trustee role after 2 years but this was unpaid even though it had a lot more responsibility. They created a trainee/associate trusteeship role that can be paid while they are waiting for the charity commission to allow the Foundation to pay its trustees. Gilah Allardice – worked in a charity as her day job and a colleague mentioned the Young Trustees Movement which opened her eyes to the role of young people on charity boards. The movement helped her to learn more about the role of young people as a trustee. Agno Kachappilly Shaiju – although not a fully-fledged trustee, he is on the impact committee for WWF but he has learnt a lot about how young trustees can be involved in charity work and governance without having lots of experience but that his age brings diversity to the board. The Institute of Leadership #TrusteesWeek

Trusteeship Transformed: Bold ideas from the front line from sector changemakers. #FestivalofTrusteeship Lots of suggestions in the chat for this session on what can be done to transform charities, especially in areas such as diversity of trustees, training and skills development. What makes boards more representative? How do we solve the entrenched question of diversity on boards? 1. Pay expenses 2. Pay a salary 3. Pay on a contract basis for a specific task. Alex Evans, PhD "Sometimes the ideas are already there. We just need to do them ." But how do smaller, grass roots charities afford to pay? Olivia Barker White said that “The boards of smaller charities are often more diverse. It’s often the larger grant-making foundations that have less diversity in their boards.” Here are the latest stats on trustee demographics in grant making in trusts and foundations. In 2024, PBE partnered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales to survey 2,194 trustees. 233 of the survey respondents chose “Grant Making Foundation” as a principal focus area of their work. This report focuses on the responses of the trustees from those organisations. - 94% from white ethnic backgrounds - 88% heterosexual - 39% female - 60% over 65 - 54% retired. https://lnkd.in/ebavmaBY

Trusteeship Transformed: Bold ideas from the front line from sector changemakers. #FestivalofTrusteeship What a lot of panellists we've got on this session! 11 people spoke for 3 minutes on something they'd like to introduce to make a difference to the charity sector. Here's the poll showing the top proposals as voted for by our session attendees. https://lnkd.in/esfkS6Fv Buy a weekly ticket and you'll get the recordings of all the sessions. The Institute of Leadership #Trusteesweek

Trusteeship Transformed: Bold ideas from the front line from sector changemakers. #FestivalofTrusteeship What a lot of panellists we've got on this session! Each person is going to speak for 3 minutes on something they'd like to introduce to make a difference to the charity sector. 11 speakers, three minutes each, pitching their radical idea to change trusteeship! Proposals from: Helen Timbrell – All trustees should have a CPD plan. Kemi Olaofe Olafare – We need to debate more on charity boards and as trustees. Olivia Barker White – Trustees should be paid. Suzy Farthing FRSA – A trusteeship intern scheme and reducing the term of service to 12 months rather than 3 years rolling. Pauline Roche – Trustees should proactively share their social networks with the charities that they service. Tania Mason – Every would-be founder of a new charity should have to serve on the board of a similar of existing charity for at least a year before they set up a new charity. It would reduce the number of charity founders who rush in and set up a charity before they know what they are doing. Deepa Mistry-Longley FCCA – Address the ethical and governance questions around AI before writing an AI policy. 1. How is the information being put together? How much of that is actually human labour powering AI development? What conditions are they working under? 2. Where is the data stored? We have massive data centres and these are often located in distressed areas where there is big environmental impact (e.g. water consumption). 3. How reliable are the AI inputs and how reliably do they reflect geography, race, gender, age etc. Don’t embed unfairness or inequity. Joe Saxton – By law employers should have to give employees time off to be a trustee (in a similar way to being a governor or a magistrate). Hannah Kowszun MSc – Trustee training should be mandatory. New trustees bring lots of experience but have less knowledge about the context of using these skills in a charity. Rebecca Broad – Remove the barriers that prevent young people becoming trustees. Over half the population but only 8% of trustees are 44 years old or younger. Creating youth trustee roles is an idea but what’s ‘youth? Audrey Roy, FRSA – It’s all about the big picture – all the ideas that have been pitched above. After being bold and breaking the mould we should have charity apprenticeships to enable a planned entry route with a professional qualification. Just because trustees are volunteers doesn’t mean they don’t need to know what they are doing. Grant funders should pay for it! Get your ticket now to get the full 11 x 3 minute details of what they proposed! https://lnkd.in/esfkS6Fv Buy a weekly ticket and you'll get the recording. The Institute of Leadership #Trusteesweek