New guide being created to help charities recruit Black and Asian trustees, thanks to Co-op Foundation grant

20 January 2021

Co-op’s charity, the Co-op Foundation, has awarded funding to help a nationwide campaign increase the racial diversity of charity trustees. 

We’ve approved a £20,500 grant to Getting on Board who will work in partnership with the campaign group Action for Trustee Racial Diversity to develop a number of products, including the first practical guide for charities on how to recruit and retain Black and Asian trustees. 

Funding will also help to further develop a database of organisations, which charities can communicate with and use to recruit Black and Asian trustees, and support future awareness-raising activities. 

Action for Trustee Racial Diversity was set up by Association of Chairs Trustee, Malcolm John. It works in partnership with organisations to provide charities with knowledge, resources, toolkits and networks to increase the racial diversity of their Boards. 

This support builds on our previous work to increase the diversity of charity trustee boards, including funding for the Young Trustees Movement. 

Jamie Ward-Smith, Chair of the Co-op Foundation, said:  

“Trustee boards with a diverse range of ages, genders and ethnicities are best placed to represent and support their communities. Our grant will help more Black and Asian trustees become charity sector leaders, strengthening the sector overall and helping to overcome inequality. 

“We look forward to working with Getting on Board and Action for Trustee Racial Diversity as we build on the positive steps we’ve taken over the past few years to develop the diversity of our own Board.”  

Malcolm John, Action for Trustee Racial Diversity Founder, said: 

“Co-op Foundation’s funding will help us remove barriers to recruitment for Black and Asian trustees and support charities keen to diversify their boards. This will increase the diversity of voices on trustee boards and, in turn, ensure they are more representative of their communities and more effective for the people they support.” 

We are the Co-op’s charity. We challenge inequality and champion co-operation so we can share a fairer future. 

Read more about Getting on Board: https://www.gettingonboard.org/  

For more information on the Action for Trustee Racial Diversity campaign, visit https://atrd.group/  

ENDS 

Notes to Editors 

About Action for Trustee Racial Diversity 

• Action for Trustee Racial Diversity is a volunteer-led independent campaign working with cross sector partners to address the under-representation of people from Black and Asian backgrounds on charity trustee Boards 
• We aim to support charities to bridge the 6% under-representation gap (from 8% – 14%) by recruiting an additional 10,000 Black and Asian trustees by 2026. 
• We will achieve this by  
  • Producing in 2021 a practical guide for charities on how to recruit and retain Black and Asian trustees
  • Developing and making available to charities a unique and ongoing database of Black and Asian network organisations across sectors and across the UK to address the key issue of charities’ lack of access to more diverse networks
  • Raising awareness of the benefits of diverse trustee boards and the skills, experience and different perspectives which trustees from Black and Asian backgrounds would bring. 
  • Helping to remove the barriers which people from Black and Asian backgrounds face in seeking to become charity trustees 

About Getting on Board 

• Getting on Board is a charity that supports and trains other charities to improve their board recruitment, and helps individuals and their employers to find the best possible trustee opportunities. 
• Getting on Board is committed to growing the diversity of backgrounds and of thought on trustee boards. 
• Getting on Board exists to: 
  • Strengthen society by increasing charities’ ability to attract diverse trustees and to build strong boards. Help individuals to make the world a better place, by making trusteeship more accessible. 
• Getting on Board has produced two practical guides based on real-life experience to help deliver on its mission: 
  • How to Become a Charity Trustee – a one-stop shop on what a charity trustee is and how to get started. 
  • How to Recruit Trustees for your Charity – a toolkit for charities on recruiting and diversifying their boards with Getting on Board’s eight-step trustee recruitment process.