BOARD OF TRUSTEES
The Board of Trustees is the top governing body at UCASU and has the final say in what the Union does.
Trustees are legally responsible for all the strategy and big decisions made by the Students’ Union. They ensure we operate in an ethical way, within the law, and don’t do anything that could financially damage us.
They meet four times a year and are chaired by one of the Presidents.
SABBATICAL TRUSTEES (X2)
These are the two Sabbatical Officers who have been elected by students to ensure current needs are known to the Board.
Sabbatical Trustee (President Canterbury of the Students' Union) – Cassie de St. Croix
Sabbatical Trustee (President Farnham of the Students' Union) – Charlie Skinner
STUDENT TRUSTEES (X5)
Up to five current UCA students represent the student body on the Board. They will ensure that all decisions made at this level are relevant to current students.
EXTERNAL TRUSTEES (X2)
The External Trustees are unpaid positions that provide the UCASU with a wider depth of experience and knowledge. We generally look for people with skills in finance, law, politics and business to provide an expert opinion on our direction.
Martin Dodd (Deputy Chair)
Michael Wigg
Trustee Declaration
UCA Students’ Union is an unincorporated association with charity status (Charity Number 1165619) and if elected to the Trustee Board you shall be a Trustee of the organisation. If any of the following statements apply, you will be ineligible to take the position of Trustee.
I declare that I am not disqualified from acting as a charity trustee and that:
- I am aged 18 years or over at the date of this election or appointment;
- If a student trustee, I am a registered UCA student in the academic year 2024/25;
- I am not disqualified from acting as a charity trustee;
- I have not been convicted of an offence involving deception or dishonesty (or any such conviction is legally regarded as spent);
- I have not been involved in tax fraud or other fraudulent behaviour including misrepresentation and/or identity theft;
- I have not used arrangements notified under the Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes ("DOTAS") rules in Part 7 Finance Act 2004 in respect of which a reference number has been issued under section 311 of Finance Act 2004, where the arrangements featured charitable reliefs or which used a charity, and where my tax position has been adjusted by HMRC to wholly or partly remove the tax advantage generated by the arrangements and such adjustments have become final;
- I have not used tax arrangements which have been successfully counteracted under the general anti-abuse rules (see Part 5 of Finance Act 2013 or section 10 National Insurance Contributions Act 2014, as enacted or as amended from time to time) where such counteraction has become final;
- I have not used tax arrangements which have been successfully counteracted under the general anti-abuse rules (see Part 5 of Finance Act 2013 or section 10 National Insurance Contributions Act 2014, as enacted or as amended from time to time) where such counteraction has become final;
- I have not been actively involved in designing and/or promoting tax avoidance schemes featuring charitable reliefs or which used a charity, and I am not:
- a promoter2 named by HMRC under the Promoters of Tax Avoidance Schemes (POTAS) legislation in Part 5 of Finance Act 2014, or
- a promoter of any tax arrangements designed or intended to obtain for any person a tax advantage and such tax advantage has successfully counteracted by HMRC under the general anti-abuse rule (see Part 5 of Finance Act 2013 and section 10 National Insurance Contributions Act 2014 as enacted or as amended from time to time) and such counteraction has become final, or
- a promoter of arrangements notified under DOTAS, in respect of which a reference number has been issued under section 311 of Finance Act 2004, and the tax position of all or any of the users of the arrangements has been adjusted by HMRC to wholly or partly remove the tax advantage generated by the arrangements and such adjustments have become final;
- I am not an undischarged bankrupt;
- I have not made compositions or arrangements with my creditors from which I have not been discharged;
- I have not been removed from serving as a charity trustee, or been stopped from acting in a management position within a charity;
- I have not been disqualified from serving as a Company Director;
- I am not an employee of the University for the Creative Arts Students’ Union (sabbatical officers can ignore this).
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING MINUTES
Minutes from previous Trustee Board meetings can be found here: