The Trustee's Obligations and Options

The charity's land and facilities do not belong to the trustee. They belong to the charity – and the trustee’s only job is to run them for the benefit of the community, in line with the charity’s deeds.

The trustee does not have a free hand. Charity law sets out clear duties that cannot be sidestepped.

The Duties

A trustee must:

Put the charity first. Decisions must benefit the charity and its community, not the council, not private interests, and not outside organisations.
Base decisions on evidence. Big changes cannot be made on hunches, guesses or fashion. Proper surveys, consultation, and expert advice are required.
Balance money and mission. The question is not “does it make a profit?” but “does it serve the community, and can it be sustained responsibly?”
Avoid conflicts of interest. If the trustee, or its partners, stand to gain financially or politically, that risk must be managed openly and carefully.

Measuring Success

The law does not say that a charity is “successful” if it turns a profit. Success is measured by:

How many local people use it.
Whether it is inclusive and open.
Whether it delivers real social and recreational benefit.

Financial results matter – but only as a measure of whether the charity can keep going, not as a reason to abandon its purpose.

Considering a Change

If the trustee wants to alter what the charity provides, it must:

Ask the community what it needs.
Test the options fairly, with independent advice.
Record its reasons, openly and honestly.

What it cannot do is assume that “something else will work better” simply because it says so.

Why This Matters

When a trustee acts without evidence, or puts other interests before the charity, it risks:

Acting unlawfully under charity law.
Damaging community trust.
Losing the charity’s assets for good.

This is why the process is just as important as the outcome. The community is entitled to expect that every decision about its land and facilities is made properly, openly, and for the right reasons.