Being a Trustee
This page explains the role of Hestia’s Trustees; how they are appointed, the work that they do, and where they fit into the overall picture of Hestia’s work.
Introduction
Hestia is a Charity set up in 1970 to provide housing, support and care to vulnerable people. It achieves that aim through a wide range of direct support, floating support and other activities for its service users.
Because it is a Charity, Hestia must report regularly to the Charity Commission, a body established to make sure Charities in England and Wales are accountable, well-run and meet their legal obligations. This body requires all Charities to have in place a Board of Trustees and it asks these Trustees to take ultimate responsibility for a Charity’s work.
In Hestia, the Trustees are therefore responsible to the Charity Commission for its work: in supporting service users and other members of the community, its properties, its finances, its staff and its volunteers.
Appointment of Trustees
At any one time Hestia has between eight and twelve Trustees. Each is appointed by application and interview on the basis of their professional background and experience. The aim is to ensure the Board of Trustees has a diverse mix of people, and recruitment of new Trustees is undertaken with this in mind. Once appointed, each Trustee serves for three years and, subject to review, for a further three years (although the Chair will serve for longer) i.e. six years in total. After this, they must stand down from the Board for at least a year. A new Trustee is appointed in most years so that there is a constant mix of new and experienced Trustees. To learn about the current Trustees, please click here.
Hestia Trustees are Volunteers too
The work that Hestia Trustees do is unpaid and they do not benefit financially in any way from the work that Hestia does. This is important since the job that they do for Hestia requires them to review Hestia’s strategy and operations, and support the Hestia CEO and Directors in their work, from an independent and objective perspective.
How the Trustees do their work
Hestia Trustees do most of their work by meeting together as a full Board, and by sitting alongside non-Trustee Members on different subcommittees (as shown below) according to their expertise, to consider issues in more detail. The CEO and Directors of Hestia attend these (and most subcommittee) meetings so that a full understanding and discussion of issues can take place.
Non-Trustee Members
Hestia also has up to 36 Members (including Trustees) who can vote at the AGM. These non-Trustee Members include service user representatives and other people with useful expertise. Some non-Trustee members, including service users, are invited to sit on different Trustee Subcommittees.
Other Trustee Activities
As well as their Board and Sub-Committee work, Hestia’s Trustees also take part in a number of other activities such as visits to premises, inspections of premises, staff conferences, etc. They also try to attend as many BLF and other service user
