More than half of British adults do not know what a charity trustee is, according to new research from the charity Getting on Board.
The charity, which supports and encourages board-level volunteering, surveyed 2,012 people at the end of October.
Fifty-one per cent said they did not know what a charity trustee was.
The survey also found that 21 per cent of respondents would like to sit on the board of a charity. However, when asked whether they would like to be a charity trustee, only 12 per cent said yes.
Twenty-eight per cent of respondents aged between 18 and 34 said they were interested in joining the board of a charity, compared with 15 per cent of those aged over 55.
Sarah Hodgkinson, chief executive of Getting on Board, said: "Charities need to work together to ensure that the wider public have a better understanding of what a trustee is, to help take advantage of the broad range of valuable skills available."
The study was carried out to mark Trustees Week, which is taking place this week.
