Voluntary Work: legal skills and knowledge can benefit charities, while the experience may help volunteers’ careers

A campaign to encourage solicitors to become charity trustees was launched this week, as research revealed that half of UK charities have problems recruiting trustees.

Volunteering charity Timebank launched the campaign in conjunction with the Charity Commission after a report discovered that some 95,000 UK charities struggle to find trustees to join their boards.

Lawyers are particularly in demand as trustees, as they are often able to advise charities on contracts, taxation, copyright, property and financial issues. The campaign highlights the possible advantages to solicitors of joining the board of a charity, citing a survey by recruitment consultancy Reed Executive, which showed that 73% of employers would choose a candidate with voluntary experience over one without.

Colin Howes, partner at London media and entertainment firm Harbottle & Lewis, who is a trustee of Comic Relief and Timebank, said: ‘I have found that my experience of the media and entertainment industries has helped me in my charity roles, but I have also gained a lot from trusteeship. There is the obvious satisfaction of involvement in innovative and successful organisations that have helped large numbers of people. I have learned things from my trustee roles about managing organisations that have been very useful in a commercial context in the “day job”.

‘Many of my fellow trustees have appeared in various guises in my professional life too, whether as clients, people involved in deals or just good contacts.’

Timebank and the Charity Commission obtained a YouGov survey of more than 2,250 professionals to launch the campaign, including more than a hundred people working in the legal and finance sectors.

Timebank chief executive Moira Swinbank said: ‘We want to dispel the myths about being a trustee. You don’t need to be asked, and you don’t need to be a powerful mover and shaker. A fifth of people surveyed said their best professional assets were their skills and knowledge – we wanted to tap into that resource.’

Dame Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, who supports the campaign, said: ‘Being a trustee is a fantastic opportunity to make a real difference to a cause you care about. Everyone has skills and experiences that could be useful to charities.’