Trustees' Week: Your Experience Matters. Becoming a Trustee in Hamilton

Trustees' Week is here, and it's time to celebrate the nearly one million trustees across the UK who give their time, energy and passion to help charities thrive. Trustees’ Week runs from Monday 3rd to Friday 7th November 2025, and right here in Hamilton, we have a lot to celebrate. It’s a moment to say a massive thank you to trustees in our local community but it’s also an opportunity to show you how your unique perspective, experiences, and skills could be exactly what a local charity board needs.

Why Trusteeship matters, especially in our community

In Hamilton, we know that local charities, like the Hamilton Citizens Advice Bureau, food banks, community hubs, and youth groups, are a lifeline. They offer essential support to people facing tough times, from dealing with the cost-of-living crisis to needing a friendly face.

Charity trustees are the people who steer the ship. They are volunteers who have the general control and management of the charity.

This means they are responsible for:

• Attending board meetings, usually four to six times a year

• Setting the vision and strategy for the charity's future

• Making sure funds are used well

• Helping to steer a charity’s purpose, hold it to account, and that the organisation is delivering the outcomes it set out to achieve

• Ensuring the charity follows the law (like the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005), and its own rules.

  
  

It’s a big responsibility, but the impact is real and deeply felt, particularly for those who rely on these vital services. Trustees ensure the help is there when it’s needed most.

Could You Be a Trustee? The Unexpected Benefits

There's a common idea that trusteeship is only for senior executives or people with financial degrees. That’s a myth! Charities in Hamilton need people from all walks of life, including those who have direct experience of the issues the charity is trying to solve. In fact, boards that reflect their community, in terms of age, background, and perspective, make better, more informed decisions, and services become more responsive to community needs.

It makes sense. Who better to help a local support service than someone who truly understands the real challenges local people face. You know what it's like to navigate systems that don't always work. You understand the barriers people face when trying to access support. You can spot when policies might unintentionally exclude the very people they're meant to help.

The benefits of becoming a trustee go both ways:

• Boost Your Skills and CV: Trusteeship is like a crash course in leadership, financial oversight, and strategy. You'll gain hands-on experience that can be invaluable for your own career path, with some research showing that people have even been promoted as a direct result of being a trustee. 

• Experience personal growth. With a willingness to learn, and a desire to contribute, many trustees report personal growth from the role, sharpening their leadership, decision-making and problem-solving skills.

• Expand Your Network: You’ll be working alongside passionate local people, leaders, and professionals, building connections with people from different backgrounds, who share your passion for making a difference.

• Gain a Sense of Purpose: Nearly all trustees report a strong sense of personal satisfaction from their role. Making a real difference in a cause you care about is incredibly fulfilling, offering you a way to bring your passions to life. 

• Creates real change: You'll have a direct say in how local charities support your community and play a part in shaping organisations that tackle society’s biggest challenges.

• Expenses are Covered: Trustees can usually claim back reasonable out-of-pocket expenses like travel or childcare costs, making it more accessible to everyone.

How to take the first step in Hamilton

If you're interested in becoming a trustee, Trustees' Week is the perfect time to explore your options. Here's how to begin:

• Reflect on what you care about: What kind of charity work matters to you? Maybe it’s homelessness, community advocacy, youth work, or mental health.

• Look Local: Contact your local volunteer centre or a Hamilton charity you admire, like a community garden, a sports club, or an advice centre and ask about board vacancies, what they look for, and how they support new trustees. You can also visit the official Trustees’ Week site to find out about vacancies and support. Or look at Reach Volunteering and SCVO’s Goodmoves, who both regularly advertise vacancies.

• Learn the Ropes: The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) offer free guidance to help you understand the role of a trustee. There are also plenty of training and resources for new trustees covering governance, finance, safeguarding. You don’t walk into this alone.

• Use your voice: Being a trustee doesn’t mean you need to act like someone you’re not. On the contrary, your authenticity, your background, your questions, are all part of what charities need. Your experience as a parent, an employee, a community activist, or simply a long-time resident of Hamilton is a skill. It’s governance through lived experience, and it's essential. Charities need trustees who understand these pressures from the inside, not just academically.

To anyone reading this in Hamilton who thinks “I don’t have the credentials” or “I’m not the kind of person they look for," let’s turn that on its head. Charities want perspectives like yours. They need trustees who who bring community awareness, and who ask “Does this decision work for people like me?”

Your understanding of local challenges, from transport issues to accessing support, is a powerful resource. Your voice on a board can ensure a charity’s work is focused on what the community actually needs.

Let’s celebrate our current trustees by supporting them, and let's inspire the next generation of local leaders to step up and strengthen the charities that work so hard for our town. You’ll join a community of nearly one million people across the UK committed to change. 

So why not take the first step?

Becoming a trustee, in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire.