What is a Trustee?
All charities in the United Kingdom are led by a group of volunteers called Trustees. Trustees are the people who ultimately decide how a charity is run, and make sure the charity is running properly. In practice, this includes:
- Agreeing the charity's purpose, mission, and values.
- Agreeing the charity's strategy, and monitoring progress towards it.
- Making sure the charity is spending its money effectively.
- Making sure the charity is operating within the law.
- Holding leaders, like the CEO, to account.
What do you get out of it?
Being a Student Trustee is a unique opportunity to develop a range of skills that can help you stand out to employers. How many other students can say they have experience of strategic oversight of an organisation?
Being a Trustee can seem daunting, but if you're passionate about the student experience and ready to develop professionally, it could be a great next step.
Skills you can develop include:
- Leadership, governance, and accountability.
- Understanding budgets, reports, and financial risks.
- Strategic planning and problem-solving.
- Working collaboratively as a team with other Trustees.
- Understanding of company and charity law.
Time commitment
If you're elected as a Student Trustee, you'll be in the role for two years, or until you graduate, whichever is shorter.
The core activity of the Student Trustee role is attending the formal Trustee Board meetings each year. If you take up this role, it is essential you can attend these meetings. The times and dates of the 2025-26 meetings are:
- Friday 31 October 2025 (2pm-5pm)
- Friday 20 February 2026 (2pm-5pm)
- Friday 17 April 2026 (2pm-5pm)
- Friday 19 June 2026 (2pm-5pm)
Trustee Board meetings are held on Fridays, 2-5pm, at the Students' Union. They're held around every two months. To be an effective Trustee, you'll need to review documents and proposals before each Trustee Board meeting.
We will provide training and an induction which you will also need to attend.
The total commitment expected is an average of 2-4 hours per month.
Person specification
While we invite any student to apply to be a Student Trustee, we think the role would best suit a student with the following skills and experience:
- Experience working as part of a team and acting collectively as a group.
- Ability to critically engage with complex issues and ask challenging questions.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Professionalism, punctuality, and reliability.
- Commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).
An interest in human resources, finance, and EDI is desirable.
The role is recruited via the HSU Election, and student voters will be asked to evaluate applications based on the above person specification.
Please note: You cannot be a Student Trustee if you are already employed by Hallam SU. If you are successfully elected and currently hold a paid position with the Students' Union, you will need to resign from that paid role.