Careers in addiction: The ‘governance jigsaw’ and other things to know about becoming a charity trustee
The SSA is looking for new people to join its Board of Trustees. Read about the role of trustees, how becoming a trustee could benefit you and others, and what skills and experience the SSA is looking for in its next round of enrolment.
What does a trustee do?
Trustees are essential to the effective running of charities. The SSA currently has 12 trustees on its board, including four officers: President Ed Day, Vice President Eilish Gilvarry, Chair of Governance Daphne Rumball, and Treasurer Arun Dhandayudham.
The six main duties of trustees, according to the Charity Commission, are to:
- ensure your charity carries out its purposes for the public benefit
- comply with your charity’s governing document and the law
- act in your charity’s best interests
- ensure your charity is accountable
- manage your charity’s resources responsibly
- act with reasonable care and skill
These duties make up the ‘governance jigsaw’ – a complete and complementary set of standards and practices.
What can you expect if you become a trustee?
The SSA is a registered charity and a limited company, so every trustee is also a company director, responsible for ensuring that the SSA is governed in accordance with both charity law and company law.
In addition, the SSA asks its Board of Trustees to follow these duties and responsibilities:
- abide by the SSA’s policies, such as those on equal opportunities, health and safety, code of conduct, conflicts of interest, and confidentiality
- join one or more of the sub-committees or advisory panels, according to your skills and experience
- encourage non-trustees with the right skills or experience to join committees or advisory panels
- be available to offer advice and support to other trustees and staff and to carry out day-to-day duties, such as the approval of SSA payments
- endeavour to attend all board meetings (missing three consecutive board meetings could result in the person being asked to vacate their position)
- endeavour to attend SSA events when invited to do so
- represent the SSA at events and actively promote the SSA amongst its key audiences
- respect the role of the staff and understand the extent of the trustees’ powers to delegate to them
People on the SSA’s Board of Trustees have considerable collective experience in, and also considerable passion for, understanding and addressing alcohol, drug, and gambling harms. Dr Tom Freeman joined the SSA’s Board of Trustees in 2022 and has so far been involved with funding schemes, academic prizes, conference planning, and more, which all contribute to the SSA’s aim to add to and promote the scientific understanding of addiction.
Who can be a trustee?
There are some eligibility and exclusion criteria for being a trustee, set by the Charity Commission – for example, you must be at least 16 years old to serve, and you can’t have an unspent conviction. In addition, the SSA requires applicants to have been a member of the SSA for at least two years, and to have a strong commitment to developing knowledge in the field of addiction and promoting its availability and implementation.
In order for its board to function optimally, the SSA has identified that trustees should have skills, knowledge, and experience across a range of areas, including addiction research, business management, clinical practice, law, public health policy and practice, marketing, and finance. It has also identified a number of values and personal standards that trustees should exhibit, including respecting the nature of collective decision-making, carrying influence in networks that are important to the SSA’s vision, and the ability to think strategically.
To learn more about becoming a trustee for the SSA, read the role description and procedure for applying, and email Chief Officer Martin Wheeler to arrange an informal discussion.
The opinions expressed in this post reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA.
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