Trustees' Week 2024 - Our Trustee Broker Event with Home Group

Numerous VCSE organisations get in touch with Connected Voice every year, asking us to help promote their trustee vacancies. The difficulty of securing applications and finding the ideal match for roles is evident, as an advert alone can't always convey the true value of a role.

Trustees are integral to the successful running of a charity, and we wanted to offer a helping hand to foster meaningful connections and fill some of the existing trustee vacancies at North East charities.

Connected Voice and Home Group have formed a strong partnership and share a home at One Strawberry Lane in Newcastle City Centre, with over 200 Home Group employees based on site. There is a large pool of diverse skills within the Home Group team, including finance, legal, digital, building maintenance, health and safety, marketing, leadership, project management, and more.

In July 2024, the Sector Connector programme at Connected Voice worked with the Home Group Executive Team to organise a Trustee Broker Event at which Home Group colleagues got to hear about the many benefits of becoming a trustee, and had a chance to meet a number of local organisations who were seeking trustees.

We reached out to our network of Newcastle and Gateshead-based charities, inviting them to register their interest to pitch at the event, and showcase the role - or roles - they were looking to fill. The charities who took part were:

• Edberts House
• Tyneside Women's Health
• Sense Ability Matters
• St Chad's Community Project
• Disability North
• Young Women's Outreach Project

The event was chaired by Connected Voice Deputy Chief Executive Giovanni Spatuzzi and opened by Home Group Chief Executive Mark Henderson. Over 50 Home Group staff joined on the day and, collectively, the six charities in attendance had 25 people register their interest in the various trustee roles available.

A few months on from the event, we are delighted that six trustees have officially been recruited, with one charity also benefitting from volunteer time from Home Group staff, who carried out a survey at their premises and drew up plans for a new internal wall. The skillset of the trustees recruited includes marketing and communications, customer service, project management, commercial, legal, and more.

The charities were delighted with the response from attendees and offered the following feedback on the event:

"This was an excellent event by Connected Voice - so helpful for charities looking for trustees. It's refreshing to see a large employer [Home Group] recognising, and valuing, the benefits that being a trustee can bring to their organisation, employees, and local communities. Having the opportunity to explicitly recruit for the skills needed to a room full of interested people was invaluable, and I think all the charities attending made relevant connections. Thanks!"

Sarah French - Chief Executive, Sense Ability Matters

"A really great event and opportunity to showcase the charitable sector, what we can offer, and what support we need to thrive. We spoke to lots of people with amazing skills and experience, which we hope can be turned into meaningful opportunities."

Elaine Slater - CEO, Tyneside Women's Health

"Connecting with people who are enthusiastic to contribute their time, skills, energy and lived experience by joining our trustee board will lay the foundation for our future growth and impact. Thank you for the opportunity to bring onboard people who are keen to make the world more accessible and inclusive."

Angie Stewart - Engagement and Inclusion Lead, Disability North

"It was great to have the opportunity to discuss the voluntary sector and how others can make a real difference to local charities by sharing their skills and becoming trustees. Your participation was truly valuable and we met so many talented people with skills that we really need to help us achieve our goals."

Joanne Jopling - CEO, Young Women's Outreach Project

To assist with the development of the new recruits, Connected Voice are offering training on trustee roles and responsibilities and good charity governance.

We wish the charities and their newly appointed trustees all the best going forward!