Trustees Unlimited is calling on UK employers to embrace corporate trustee programmes to help develop their employees’ skills.  The announcement comes during  Trustees Week

Sophie Livingstone, Manging Director at Trustees Unlimited highlights that board-level volunteering programmes like ‘Step on Board’ which Trustees Unlimited runs in partnership with the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) offer many benefits for companies, individuals and charities.

With approximately 196,000 charitable organisations in the UK ranging from large big brand charities, to small organisations employing just a few people, there are plenty of opportunities available.  An estimated one in five charities has a vacancy on their boards.

Companies including Barclays, BlackRock, British Land, Credit Suisse, EY, Google and law firm Mishcon de Reya have all used Step on Board to help employees join charity boards.

Sophie Livingstone says:

Trustee programmes offer employers an alternative leadership development programme and a way of exposing future leaders to the board room earlier on in their careers. Companies can improve their CSR while their employees will gain new strategic skills and governance experience and not only see how an organisation is run up close but also build valuable networks.

Many charities now want to recruit people from professional backgrounds and to diversity their board’s skills through the recruitment of new trustees.

As a charity trustee at the Royal Voluntary Service and also Chair of Little Village I can personally vouch that trusteeships are a fantastic way to develop career and life skills by doing something purposeful that also gives something back to people and the community.

Image: Trustees Unlimited.