Thank you for your interest in this webinar series. We have had a number saying they are interested but can’t do the date and, in the end, decided to cancel for now and revisit later in the year. If you want individual coaching we are happy to do an extremely special summer offer of £250 per individual which includes help with CV and LinkedIn, as well as coaching to get a role. Please email sandy@next-up.com to register by 20 August 26.
Getting charity roles is often harder than people expect. We will show you how.
A charity role can be a first step to wide-ranging experience for jobs and board roles, giving back and helping others, widening networks, using your skills, and developing your skills.
We are launching a three-part webinar series to help you land the role or roles that you want. We will show you how to brand yourself, use and build your networks and understand what a charity role involves, as well as write a winning CV and LinkedIn profile.
People who have reached a point in their career where they want more. Contributing to causes that matter. Building new skills and connections. Finding something genuinely stretching alongside or after their working life.
Designed and delivered by people who have experience of wide-ranging charities. We share the issues, the skills that charities need most, how to be a success and the importance of governance.
We have all had business and corporate careers and had to translate our skills into relevance for charities. We understand what corporate experience brings to a charity board, where it falls short and how to bridge that gap. We know how to find roles that suit you, how to make a compelling case for yourself and how the skills you build can translate into private sector NED roles.
Specific, practical and honest. From people who have genuinely done it.
In these challenging times, we also know first-hand the difference that a good trustee can make to a charity and its success and impact.
You are signing up for a 3 part webinar series
30 June 2026 at 12noon – 1pm
Get a trustee Role: Why, What to watch out for and What to expect
7 July 2026 at 12noon – 1pm
Creating a brand that makes you indispensable to charities
14 July 2026 at 12 noon – 1pm
Meet the Trustees – Inspirational panel session
Essential introduction to charity trusteeship. Why become a trustee. What to expect. Common challenges of charity boards. How to find the right charity fit for you. Charity governance, your duties, your risks and how to handle challenges from funding crises to regulatory scrutiny, conflicts of interest and knowing when to speak up.
Through expert interviews and practical guidance, you’ll hear from experienced trustees about what the role really involves – the rewards, the realities and the governance responsibilities that come with it.
You’ll leave with a clear picture of what trustees actually do, how to identify the right charity fit for your skills and values and how to position yourself compellingly to land your first board role. Whether you’re motivated by purpose, leadership development or giving something back, this session gives you the knowledge and confidence to take your first step into trusteeship.
In this webinar – no 2 of the Into Trusteeship series, Victoria walks you through the specific steps that lead to a board role – including the ones most people skip. It is a process that requires genuine interest, deliberate use of your network, and some patience. But it is not mysterious and it is not as competitive as people fear.
The session draws on Victoria’s sixteen years on the Northern Ballet board, including a story about placing a friend on that board – not through a formal process, but through one conversation and two years of patience. That is how this world often works. This session helps you position yourself for exactly that.
We will invite trustees based on who you and other delegates want to meet, with relevant experience and contacts.
They will share how they started, why they wanted a trustee role, their application processes – and successes and failures. As well as lessons learned.
They will cover their roles, how much time, the highlights and challenges.
Before the webinar we will send you a short questionnaire asking what kind of role you want, any challenges you have had in landing a role and what you would like from the webinar series.
We will adapt all the sessions to delegate needs and find the best speakers for the last session who can help you all most.
Victoria has held a variety of trustee roles since she was 24, most recently on the board of Northern Ballet for nine years. She is also on advisory boards for HMP Askham Bryan (employment) and WILD Digital. She was chair of the management advisory board at the University of Leeds and on the board of Bradford University School of Management.
A former director of EY on the London leadership team, Victoria had an award-winning communications business for more than 30 years and is founder and chief executive of Next-Up. At 70 she walks the talk around rethinking age. Pearson is publishing her book Expiry Date Never, written with AI expert Louise Ballard, in September.
After a career in taxation as a partner at EY, Rod now considers himself retired and has used this freedom and flexibility to undertake a range of activities. He is an active angel investor, a director of a family company, former chair of Telford Community Volunteer Service and trustee of Theatre Troupe CIC.
He founded an active and growing peer-to-peer support network of current and former EY people with charity trustee roles, currently with 120 members. He has undertaken a number of local community projects, including the unsuccessful attempt to purchase the local village pub through a Community Benefit Society. He and his wife have spent many years as respite foster carers.
Judith Donovan CBE is a trustee and NED of a number of national iconic organisations. She is currently trustee of the Science Museum Group and former trustee of the National Army Museum, chair of the Employment Advisory Board at Yorkshire’s two women’s prisons, and actively involved with Ripon Cathedral as chair of the cathedral council and honorary lay canon.
She was previously chair of the Eden Project. Active in the City of London, she is a Freeman of the City and a Liveryman of several Worshipful Companies. She has been recognised with a string of awards including Yorkshire Woman of the Year, and was awarded the CBE for services to training and Bradford.
The series begins on 30 June 2026. Spaces are limited.
Register on Eventbrite