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Charity Trustees should look beyond their strict legal duties

"Charity trustees are in a position of considerable responsibility. Their primary task is to manage and apply funds which are held for public benefit. How that benefit manifests itself can be as diverse as animal welfare and environmental protection, but the purposes must at the end of the day provide some demonstrable public benefit.

"Given the public’s consequent interest in how the funds are applied, charities are faced with a greater level of scrutiny compared with trustees of private trusts. In Scotland the new regulatory regime for charities has taken that scrutiny to a higher level and good practice suggests that charity trustees should be looking beyond their strict legal duties. It is all the more important that charity trustees are aware of their duties if they are to fulfil their legal responsibilities properly."

To read the full article by Senior Associate Gavin McEwan from the Autumn 2008 edition of Charities Management please click on the icon to the right.