Skills shortage 'challenge' for charities

Recruiting skilled members is a "significant challenge" for local charities, according to a survey of the sector.

The Association of Guernsey Charities' biennial survey for 2025 was completed by 106 organisations, with 64% reporting struggles in recruiting skilled trustees or board members.

Charities also reported an increase in demand for their services and identified financial sustainability as the primary pressure point for operations.

Group chair Wayne Bulpitt said the data was "incredibly important" in promoting the sector's contribution and pressures to help recruitment.

Bulpitt said: "It moves us beyond anecdotal feedback to a shared, evidence-based picture of what is really happening across the island.

The survey showed volunteer recruitment for charities had improved compared to the previous survey.

"While it is encouraging to see some improvement in volunteer recruitment, the findings clearly reinforce what many charities have been telling us: recruiting skilled volunteers and trustees remains a significant challenge," said Bulpitt.

"By improving visibility of both the sector's contribution and its pressures, we can better focus support and strengthen the case for proportionate, risk-based governance that allows charities to continue delivering vital services to our community."

The association has launched a new website designed to make local charities and their work more visible to the public, businesses and funders.

It said the site offered the "clearest picture yet of the scale, contribution and challenges of the bailiwick's charity sector".

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