Effective trustees, Excellent schools

The Trustee Recruitment Service

The Trustee Recruitment Service was created in 2022 to respond to the government’s drive for all schools to join trusts. We work closely with academy trusts to find them the perfect trustee(s) that’ll make a difference to their trust.

The Trustee Recruitment Service is a specialist arm of Governors for Schools, a charity which works to source school governors for governing board roles in educational institutions. As an organisation, we’re pleased and honoured to have the opportunity to address recruitment gaps for academy trustees. In addition, we strive to help improve educational standards across trusts through our work. Our experience within the sector means that we understand that as more schools come together, the need for skilled and committed academy trustees continues to grow.

Meet the Trustee Recruitment Service Team

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David Ardill – Head of Trustee Recruitment

David joined Governors for Schools as Head of Trustee Recruitment in June, 2022 having previously worked for more than five years on trustee recruitment in the education sector.

He previously worked as a Marketing Manager for British Cycling, the national governing body for the sport. He was responsible for the delivery of Sky Ride, Britain’s largest initiative to get people into recreational cycling, in partnership with Sport England and corporate partners.

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Danielle Ballagher – Partnerships Manager

Danielle joined the Governors for Schools Trustee Recruitment Team in June 2023 after working as a Governance Professional for several years within the education sector.

Having completed her Chartered Governance Institute qualification in Academy Governance, her wealth of experience working with MATs has her well placed in our Trustee Recruitment Service. She is passionate about social change and was previously Governance lead in her MAT for both Community and Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion.

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Bethany Sturgeon – Partnerships Manager

Beth joined the Governors for Schools team with over ten years of recruitment and marketing experience in the education sector.

She has worked with universities, colleges, and schools all over the UK. In these roles, Beth has worked as a partnerships manager and education adviser. Beth is apart of the Trustee Recruitment Service and is passionate about finding the perfect fit for both the volunteers and trusts we work with.

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Scott Walker – Regional Adviser

Scott began his career teaching and was seconded to the DfE to oversee the national Excellence in Cities programme. Appointed as one of five full-time national advisers he worked on the early academy programme which took him to schools with long-standing issues.

In 2015, Scott joined the New Schools Network as a Regional Adviser on the Academy Ambassadors Programme. In this role, he supported trusts to appoint hundreds of high-quality business leaders as trustees, a role which has now transferred to Governors for Schools’ Trustee Recruitment Service.

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Anne Casey – Regional Adviser

Anne Casey has 35 years’ experience in UK education across school, local, national and commercial fields. She is an expert in governance, education strategy, digital strategy and MAT development and enjoyed 30 years as teacher, LA Adviser, Principal and senior civil servant with a portfolio of program and policy work spanning local, national and international work.

Alongside her consultancy position with the Trustee Recruitment Service Anne is currently an adviser to Confederation of School Trusts. She is also an adviser to the Government of Jersey, Vice Chair of the Charity YGAM, CEO Mentor and appraiser. She was previously responsible for the establishment of the highly successful University Technical College (UTC) in Media City, Salford, bringing it from vision to oversubscribed reality.

A message from our CEO

Our Trustee Recruitment Service is experienced in supporting trusts across England to find people with the skills, experience and breadth of perspectives required. Our dedicated team will work with you to fully understand your needs and source volunteers of the high calibre essential to meet those requirements. We recognise that succession planning is key for these vital roles. Therefore, lease do get in touch today to discuss your current and future needs. We’d love to work with you.

Hannah Stolton, CEO, Governors for Schools

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