ORIENTEERING FOUNDATION

Become a Trustee

A Trustee is a volunteer who is a Board member of the Orienteering Foundation. The Board is responsible for setting our strategy, monitoring (and where time permits, assisting) the progress of the Charity against its operational plan, and for ensuring we adopt good governance practices. Board members usually act as an Ambassador in their local Association.

Why become a Trustee?

The role is a great way to help the sport and gain experience of Charity and Trustee work.  Whilst knowledge of charities and the framework they operate in would be useful, the Board is keen to diversify its approach and thinking. We would for example particularly welcome interest from women, younger or ethnic minority candidates.  There is a formal induction process to bring new Trustees up to speed quickly.

What's involved in being a Trustee?

We work to make the Orienteering Foundation well organised, known and respected; to raise funds; and to use those funds to support deserving people and projects to develop orienteering.  Examples of this work are our Newsletter and a promotional awareness card distributed at the JK; the announcement of our 1% Legacy Programme; and our support for JROS (Junior Regional Orienteering Squads) and in assisting financially with the development of orienteering in Universities - these support situations require Trustees to assess grant applications as part of the role, and sometimes to advise potential grant applicants. However, Trustees are not expected to seek donations from current or potential donors.

Each year, the Board meets by four video conference calls and a couple of face to face meetings as we want a wide geographic representation from the orienteering community (through 2020 all meetings have been remote video conferences).  The Board is small which gives everyone a chance to contribute and our meetings are positive and always interesting. There is also usually discussion by email between meetings, making them more efficient and allowing Trustees to put in their ideas and opinions in their own time.

We encourage Trustees to be active in their own areas, taking on an Ambassadorial role for their Association to ensure people know what great work we are doing and gathering feedback to make sure our contributions stay relevant. 

The standard term for Trustees is 3 years, with a review after each term, and Trustees typically remain for up to 3 terms.

Vacancies

We currently have enough Trustees for the efficient operation of the Orienteering Foundation. However, good goverance suggests Trustees should not remain in place for more than 3 terms without good reason, and thus we will be seeking trustees in future. Therefore we always welcome expressions of interest.

To complement our existing Trustees and Ambassadors (see Getting in Touch) we would particularly welcome expressions of interest in becoming a Trustee from people in the following Associations:

To express interest, ask questions or discuss the role in more detail, please contact the Chair (see here).

Last updated: Mon 19 Dec 2022

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