BoardMatch29 at KPMG

Written by Zimmie Sutcliffe, Community Development Project Manager, Community Team

In March, ELBA’s 29th BoardMatch event took place. Hosted by KPMG, the trustee volunteering event brought together 15 charities from east London and Islington with over 50 employees from ELBA’s corporate partner organisations.

BoardMatch events form part of ELBA’s BoardBuilders programme, which supports charities and social enterprises in east London and Islington to recruit trustees from ELBA’s network of skilled business volunteers.

At BoardMatch29, 15 charities delivering work across the arts, homelessness, health and wellbeing, community development, volunteering, and support for older people and people with disabilities pitched their organisations to prospective trustees. Following the event, ELBA has facilitated over 60 trustee applications to the participating charities from 30 volunteers.

BoardBuilders helps charities to enhance the skills and increase diversity on their Boards by connecting them with a large pool of volunteers with diverse skills, backgrounds and professional expertise.

This is particularly important as trustee recruitment is an ongoing challenge for charities. An NCVO study found that four out of five charities have at least one vacant trustee position at any given time. Furthermore, three out of five charities have had at least one vacancy open for more than six months.

For volunteers, becoming a trustee is an amazing opportunity to utilise their professional expertise to support a valuable cause in the local community, whilst also developing their professional skills. Volunteering as a trustee is one of the most effective ways you can volunteer your time; trustees play a crucial role in supporting and strengthening the governance, leadership and strategic planning of charities.

ELBA would like to thank the charities that took part in BoardMatch29, the business employees who attended, and KPMG for being great hosts.

Registration for the next BoardMatch event (BoardMatch30) has now opened. If you are an east London- or Islington-based charity and would like to participate, please contact [email protected].

If you are an employee at one of ELBA’s corporate partners and are interested in attending BoardMatch, please contact your internal CSR team for details.

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