Are you able to briefly explain the role of a trustee and specifically what you’re seeking for the Fielden Centre Association?

The Fielden Association is a charity and a company limited by guarantee. The trustees have the responsibility of ensuring it is run in accordance with the objectives of the charity-to support the educational, cultural and social activities of the people of Todmorden, not to take any financial advantage for themselves and generally to preserve and develop the hall.

We have recently created a trading arm called Fielden Events Ltd – to manage weddings and other celebrations which do not fall strictly within the objectives of the charity. This company will donate all its profits each year end to the charity and thus both the company and the charity will meet the rules of the tax man and the charity commission. Profits from this will enable us to keep hire charges to our community groups low so we need to run it in a professional way, advice and information from people who have relevant experience will be very helpful.

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What is the time commitment please, ie how often are the meetings and how might a trustee be expected to contribute in between times?

Currently, the Trustees meet once a month, on the second Monday of the month, starting at 5.30 pm. We are usually (but not always) finished by 6.30. This is the Trustee body of the Fielden Centre Association.

The Trading arm, Fielden Events Limited, has its own board, most of whom are also trustees of FCA, but we also have at least one board member who is not on the FCA as we were advised that while not required, this is seen as good practice. We have yet to establish how often FEL will need to meet, as it is very new, and we will be coming back from a 3-4 month closure; it may be that initially, we will need to meet more often, say once a month also. However, once it is established, we may be able to reduce the frequency of meetings. We have an excellent Wedding co-ordinator who has worked with us for some years.

While Fielden Events might be seen as the primary focus for business acumen, running the main Association, also needs to be efficient. Money making is not our central purpose but we do need to cover our costs.

Trustees are needed primarily for the FCA, but if someone felt that the trading arm was more interesting or matched their skill set better, then we would be happy to discuss this.

Responsibilities/work in between meetings is really up to individual trustees; some just read the minutes and contribute ideas and views at the monthly meetings, and some contribute more time on particular projects in between meetings. The Officers, Chair, Treasurer and Secretary do have work to do in between meetings, but even this is not onerous, and we are not seeking officers at the moment.

I think it is the business perspective we are hoping for from our new trustees. The things that may seem very obvious to you, but until we hear your comments, might never have occurred to us. We would expect two or three of us to meet with prospective trustees to answer any questions and also to invite them to attend a meeting as observers before we and they decide to proceed.