How to get the most out of your trustee board

A great board can help a charity thrive! A not-so-great board can mean endless agenda items, mysterious side conversations, and an oh-so-joyful stream of typo corrections on your carefully crafted papers. And that’s when they show up!

So how do you make sure your board is actually helping, not hindering? Join Penny to find out how..!

Friday 10 July 2026 at 10:00 am

Save your seat.

In this 30-minute whistle-stop tour, we’ll explore what makes trustee boards truly effective (beyond owning a flipchart and occasionally saying “strategic”), and the factors that can support—or quietly sabotage—good governance.

We’ll also tackle tricky behaviours, awkward dynamics and ways to help board members fulfil their responsibilities without causing everyone to develop a nervous twitch.

Designed for anyone who works with, supports, sits on, chairs, wrangles, manages, or occasionally daydreams about their board.

Save your seat.

About your host:

Penny W is an inclusive charity governance consultant, currently working on a range of projects. She serves as Director of The Festival of Trusteeship for Eastside People, helps funders and charity networks strengthen trustee support through training, guidance and research, and advises CEOs on building effective working relationships with their boards. She also writes a regular column for Governance & Leadership magazine.

Penny has helped numerous charities to develop their boards and is a leading advocate in making trusteeship more accessible. Her work mainly focuses on trustee development and diversity across networks of charities. Clients include London Funders, ACEVO, the Henry Smith Foundation, Yorkshire Funders, Nova Wakefield, Civil Society Media, the Gloucestershire VCSE Alliance, Inclusive Boards and King’s College London. She has worked for several second-tier organisations including the Charity Retail Association, a council for voluntary service and Getting on Board. She was Head of Community Affairs at the University of Cambridge, establishing partnerships with Cambridge charities, overseeing large community events and promoting volunteering by university students and staff.

Penny was Director of Partnerships at The Brilliant Club, and CEO of Styleability, before she became CEO of Getting on Board. Getting on Board was training 10,000 trustees a year by the time she left in 2024.

Penny is a well known charity sector commentator and has written for Third Sector and Governance and Leadership magazine. She sits on the Charity Commission’s Board Behaviours and Dynamics Working Group. She has been a trustee of several organisations, and is now a trustee of London Plus. Her passions are for the unsung impact of smaller charities, bringing a wider group of talented people into trusteeship and increasing support for the 1 million trustees in the UK.

Penny thinks charity governance is exciting. That might make her a nerd, or might mean that everyone else is wrong. She’s willing to accept both possibilities.


About Blume:

Alexander Stevenson is the founder of Blume, which has provided experienced freelancers for more than 150 small charities. He has previously worked as a consultant, a CEO, a Chair and a Treasurer twice. Blume connects experienced freelancers with charities who need flexible, high-quality and experienced support. Our platform makes it easy to find, hire, and pay your next freelancer, minimising your admin work.