Research to mark Trustees Week has found that 21% of British adults would like to sit on the board of a charity but when asked if they wanted to become a trustee, only 12% said yes: 51% admitted to not knowing what a charity trustee is.

Surprisingly, 28% of 18-34-year-olds are interested in joining the board of a charity compared with 15% of retirees. Londoners emerged from the research as the most charitably inclined, with three in 10 interested in joining the board of a charity.

The research was carried out by Getting on Board, the campaign to raise awareness of trusteeship. Chief executive Sarah Hodgkinson said: “Charities need to work together to ensure that the wider public have a better understanding of what a trustee is, to help take advantage of the broad range of valuable skills available in the private, public and voluntary sectors.”

Trustees Week (31st October - 6th November) is a national campaign dedicated to raising awareness of trusteeship. There are around 800,000 trustees in England and Wales. However, the Charity Commission estimates that almost half of charities have a vacancy on their trustee board.

Charity Commission chair Dame Suzi Leather said:“I would particularly encourage charities to consider recruiting as widely as possible for new trustees and to consider young adults in particular – they can add a new perspective to the charity’s work as the donors and volunteers of the future.”

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