Trustee – Dunedin Christmas Charitable Trust

About us

Dunedin Christmas Charitable Trust (registered charity CC62647) runs the Dunedin Community Christmas Dinner: a free Christmas Day meal with entertainment at the Dunedin Town Hall, open to anyone in Ōtepoti Dunedin. Our purpose is to provide food and human connection to those in need, a chance for people to volunteer and help others, and a neutral place for the whole community to gather on the day.

The Trust was set up in 2024. It’s currently run by two trustees, and the board can have up to five.

The role

We’re looking for three new trustees. This is a governance role: setting direction, agreeing the budget, overseeing funding and contracts, and making sure the dinner is delivered safely and well every year.

For those who want it, there’s plenty of scope to be much more hands-on. Trustees can get involved in the planning and the event itself, from the final week’s setup through to Christmas Day.

Our focus over the next few years is making the Trust sustainable: putting contracts in place for key delivery roles, writing down how everything works, delegating more, and building the next generation of leaders.

What we’re looking for

Our deed asks us to keep a broad range of skills, cultural knowledge and life experience around the table. Any of these would be a real help:

• Catering or commercial food experience (feeding a Town Hall full of people)
• Finance or accounting (treasurer)
• Fundraising and grant applications
• Events and logistics
• Communications and marketing

Governance experience is useful but not required. If you care about the kaupapa and can bring one of the skills above, we’d like to hear from you.

Time commitment

Light for most of the year: board meetings roughly monthly, with more activity from October to December. If you want to be hands-on, the final week before Christmas and Christmas Day itself are where the action is. Trustees serve a three-year term, which can be renewed up to a maximum of nine years. Every new trustee is paired with an existing trustee for support.

The role is unpaid. Out-of-pocket expenses are reimbursed.

Where

Board meetings are held at Dunedin Community House, 43 Princes Street, Ōtepoti Dunedin, or on Zoom. The dinner is at the Dunedin Town Hall.