Dave Does Trusteeship

You agreed to become a charity trustee. Nobody mentioned the legal responsibilities, the unread governing document or the board meeting where everyone assumes someone else is checking the money.

Dave Does Trusteeship: How Not to Cock Up Being a Trustee is a practical, plain-English guide to charity governance, trustee responsibilities and the realities of running a charity board. Written by Alan Pavey, it combines serious governance lessons with fictional case studies, blunt humour and black-and-white cartoons.

Following Dave through familiar boardroom frustrations, the book explores what trustees need to understand, what they should be asking and why good intentions are never a substitute for proper oversight.

Across 22 illustrated chapters, it covers:

• Trustee duties, governing documents and collective board responsibility.
• The roles of trustees, chairs, treasurers and chief executives.
• Delegation, accountability and recording decisions in board minutes.
• Conflicts of interest, trustee payments and wearing more than one organisational hat.
• Charity trading subsidiaries, ownership and the relationship between connected organisations.
• Financial oversight, internal controls, reserves and risk management.
• Safeguarding, serious incident reporting, complaints and whistleblowing.
• Employing staff, overseeing workplace culture and managing volunteers responsibly.

Written for new and experienced trustees, charity chairs, committee members and charity leaders, the book focuses on charities in England and Wales. Its fictional examples show how everyday decisions can create governance problems—and how a board can respond before those problems become a crisis.

Expect awkward questions, recognisable characters, strong language and the occasional biscuit. Underneath the swearing is a serious purpose: helping trustees understand their responsibilities, challenge poor decisions and keep the charitys purposes and beneficiaries at the centre of their work.