Trustees have overall control of a charity and are responsible for making sure it’s doing what it was set up to do. They may be known by other titles – directors, board members, governors, committee members – but trustees are the people who lead the charity and decide how it is run.

The Charity Commission has put together an introductory piece of guidance, which lays out the primary duties of being a trustee:

• Ensuring the charity is carrying out its purposes for the public benefit
• Complying with the charity’s governing document and the law
• Acting in the charity’s best interests
• Managing the charity’s resources responsibly
• Acting with reasonable care and skill
• Ensuring the charity is accountable

Other Charity Commission documents which may be of use include:

• The essential trustee (CC3)
• Payments to charity trustees – what the rules are
• Change your charity’s details
• Send a charity’s annual return

For charities in Scotland, the OSCR has published this guidance for trustees.

For charities in Northern Ireland, the CCNI has published this guidance for trustees.