A Trustee, as a member of the Board of Trustees, is a person who shares ultimate responsibility for governing our charity and directing how it is managed and run. Trustees typically attend a Board meeting every few months and participate in strategy or events according to their skills and interests. For more information on Trustees, visit: https://if-oxford.com/meet-the-team
Introduction
The Oxfordshire Science Festival Ltd (OSF) is a registered charity and is governed and directed by a Board of Trustees. OSF recognises that an effective board of Trustees is essential if the charity is to achieve its objectives. The aims of the Festival (branded ‘IF Oxford Science + Ideas Festival’) is to develop and deliver an accessible, thought-provoking and interactive science and ideas festival creating an opportunity for the public to engage with Festival visitors, researchers and innovators. The Festival is independent but works in partnership with our sponsors and stakeholders to ensure events are relevant and accessible to all. The Festival is planned and delivered by a Festival Director and Events Manager under the direction of a Trustee Board.
Role and Responsibilities of a Trustee
Individual Trustees must have sufficient knowledge, both of Trusteeship in general and of the Charity’s activities, to enable them to carry out their role and to represent the Charity at meetings and other events. It is the role of the Trustee Board to approve the strategy of the Festival drawn up by the Festival Director, including approving the Festival budget, and to oversee its implementation. The Trustees will ensure that the Director, staff and volunteers who deliver the Festival are appropriately supported.
There are two types of Trustee:
- Ex-Officio Trustees, who represent an organisation and this organisation’s funding, resource or content mechanisms towards the Festival. For the avoidance of doubt ex-Officio Trustees are expected to bring significant funding (whether monetary or by the way of quantifiable in-kind support) to the Festival.
- Volunteer Trustees, who have a personal interest in developing and delivering the Festival vision.
The Charity Commission Sets out the 6 main duties of a charity Trustee, namely:
- Ensure your charity is carrying out its purposes for the public benefit.
- To manage the charity’s resources responsibly.
- To ensure the charity’s activities comply with its governing document and the law.
- To act in the charity’s best interests.
- Act with reasonable care and skill.
- Ensure your charity is accountable.
Further details are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-essential-Trustee-what-you-need-to-know-cc3
Governing Document
The Articles of Association registered on Companies House set out the rules governing the Charity.
The Charity must have a minimum of 3 Trustee members. No person is eligible to be a Trustee if they are:
- Under 18 years of age.
- Are serving a conviction.
- Have recently filed for bankruptcy.
For the full details of the terms and conditions of being a Trustee please refer to the Articles of Association for the Oxfordshire Science Festival Ltd. The key points are summarised below:
- New Trustee members will be appointed by a vote of the existing Trustee members.
- The new Trustee member, if appointed or reappointed, is required to be included in the Charity’s register of Trustees together with a notice executed by that person of their willingness to be appointed or reappointed.
The new Trustee must confirm that they are eligible and willing to hold the post of Trustee member.
Trustee Monitoring and Skills Matrix
The Board seeks to be broadly representative of the people with whom the charity works, whether that be participants or the audience it seeks to reach. OSF joined over 25 other cultural organisations across Oxford to form the Oxford Cultural Anti-racism Alliance to make progress towards a more equal society.
Furthermore, the Board must have available to it all of the knowledge and skills required to run the Charity and be fully compliant.
Owing to reporting duties, including to the Charity Commission and grant funders such as Arts Council England, OSF may collect and processes special category data, including information on Trustee ethnicity, disability status, gender identity and sexual orientation owing to its obligations to the Charity Commission and grant funders. These data will be processed in accordance with the Privacy Policy.
The Board will maintain an active matrix of the skills and experience of the Trustee members. This will be referred to whenever a new Trustee is recruited to the Board and efforts at recruiting a replacement will take account of the skills matrix, the skills being lost by the resignation of a Trustee and future skills needs. Consideration must also be given to any specific roles or duties that the individual leaving the board was undertaking.