Charity Trustees’ Week 2021

From Charities Regulator: https://www.charitiesregulator.ie/en/information-for-charities/charity-trustees-week-2021

About

Charity Trustees’ Week 15-19 November 2021

Charity Trustees’ Week is a great big THANK YOU to charity trustees across Ireland for the important and tireless work they carry out throughout the year. The majority of our events are online which means you can once again take part from the comfort of your home or office. We have created a timetable of diverse events to suit trustees from every type of charity so you can pick and choose from over 25 events.

Charity Trustees’ Week is hosted in partnership by the Charities Regulator, Boardmatch Ireland, Carmichael, The Wheel, Volunteer Ireland, Charities Institute Ireland, Pobal and Dóchas. Charity trustees can pick and choose from a variety of events listed on the Charity Trustees’ Week website.

The aim of Charity Trustees’ week is to:

Celebrate and thank charity trustees for the key role which they play in the governance and leadership of Ireland’s charities;
Highlight the importance of good governance of boards, promote the need for a thorough knowledge of trustees roles and responsibilities, education and upskilling of trustees;
Highlight the need for new trustees to come forward and highlight the means by which new trustees can be connected with charities that need trustees;
Create a greater understanding and awareness among the public of the role of trustees, and the awareness that trustees are public members;

Calendar of Events

Click on calendar for the full schedule of events and to register for a particular event

Click the links below to register for the Charities Regulator events

Meet the Charities Regulator 15 November 2021

Charities Governance Code Workshop for Small Non-Complex Charities 18 November 2021

Charities Governance Code Workshop for Registered Charities 19 November 2021

Some useful information about Charity Trustees’ Week

Who is a charity trustee?

Charity trustees are the people who ultimately exercise control over, and are legally responsible for, the charity.
If the charity is a company, these people may also be known as directors or board members
In an unincorporated association – an association that has a legal form with a governing document – they may be known as committee members. In the case of a trust it can be more complicated. If the trustees of the trust are the ones who decide policy and control the assets, then they are also charity trustees.
However, if the trustees merely have their names on the deeds of property but cannot sell or dispose of the property without the permission of the Charities Regulator, and have no other responsibilities, they are not charity trustees.

If you are unsure as to whether you are a charity trustee or not, then it is important that you check the legal structure of your charity to clarify your position and consult your charity’s constitution or deed of trust (‘governing document’).

Becoming a charity trustee

If you wish to become more involved in the charity sector you can contact a charity whose work and values align with your own. There are number of ways you begin the process of become a charity trustee. You can search for registered charities on the Register of Charities at www.charitiesregulator.ie.

Another option is to link in with Boardmatch Ireland. Boardmatch Ireland is the leading charity in Ireland for board recruitment in the charity sector, having facilitated the appointment of over 3,000 individuals to charity boards around the country. Boardmatch works with charities of all sizes. If you are interested in becoming a charity trustee you can view and apply for Board and Committee vacancies here: https://www.boardmatch.ie/.

You can contact Volunteer Ireland who, along with a network of Volunteer Centres, manages the national volunteering database I-VOL. The database has thousands of volunteer opportunities from thousands of organisations across the country meaning you can view and apply for roles at www.volunteer.ie and their smartphone app, I-VOL.

At the end of September 2021 there were more than 11,400 registered charities with over 75,000 charity trustees in the Republic of Ireland.