Getting Started as a Trustee

Scout groups are charities, and trustees are legally responsible for overseeing the group's health. The trustee role in Scoutworks gives them everything they need to do that job — a live view of finance, membership, programme, capacity, and risk — without giving them access to member records or day-to-day operations.

This article is for trustees logging in for the first time, and for Group Admins who want to know what a trustee will see.

What a trustee can see#

Trustees have read-only access to aggregate data only. That means totals, trends, and charts — never individual member names, addresses, or medical information.

A small Trustee — Read Only badge sits next to the user's name in the top-right menu, so it is always clear what mode they are in.

Signing in for the first time#

A Group Admin invites a trustee from Settings → User Management. The trustee receives an invitation email with a link to set their password.

Once signed in, Scoutworks takes trustees straight to the Group Insights page — there is no separate "dashboard" to hunt for. The sidebar is deliberately short, showing only the pages a trustee needs.

See Signing In to Scoutworks for the full sign-in options, including magic links and Google.

The Group Insights page#

Group Insights is the trustee's home. Everything is organised into six tabs across the top:

All numbers update in real time from the same data leaders work from — there is no separate export or refresh to run.

Exporting a board pack#

The board pack is a PDF designed for trustee meetings. It pulls together every headline metric from the Insights tabs into a single document — membership, finance, attendance, and risk — so trustees do not have to take screenshots or copy numbers across.

To export one:

1. On the Group Insights page, click Actions in the top-right.
2. Under Reports, choose Board Pack PDF.
3. Pick a reporting period — Last 3 months, Last 6 months, Last 12 months, This financial year (Apr–Mar), or All time.
4. Review the preview (member count, balance, attendance summary) and click Download PDF.

The file saves as board-pack-<group-name>-<date>.pdf. Share it by email or print it for the meeting — whichever the board prefers.

Other financial reports#

The same Actions menu has three standalone financial reports for trustees who want to dig deeper:

• Financial Overview — income vs expenditure for a chosen period.
• Receipts & Payments — the charity commission-style summary needed for annual returns.
• Budget Report — planned vs actual, highlighting where the group is over or under.

Each opens in a dialog where the reporting period can be chosen before export.

Incident reports#

Trustees have oversight of incidents without seeing personal details. The Risk & Safety tab shows:

• The total number of incidents in a selected period, broken down by type and severity.
• Whether each incident has been closed off or still has open actions.
• Trends over time so the board can spot patterns.

Individual names, medical details, and witness statements are not shown to trustees — those remain with the Group Admin and the relevant leaders.

POR ratio compliance#

The Finance tab includes a POR ratio check (Policy, Organisation and Rules — the Scout Association's financial standards). Scoutworks works out the group's reserves position against the POR guidance and shows whether the group is On track, Approaching the limit, or Outside the guidance. Trustees can raise anything amber or red at the next meeting.

Capacity projections#

The Capacity tab looks forward as well as back. For each section, it shows:

• How many places are filled today.
• How many members are expected to move up in the next twelve months.
• How many places will open up, based on the age profile.

This helps trustees plan for leader recruitment and review whether the group has space to grow.

What trustees cannot do#

The role is deliberately read-only. Trustees cannot:

• Add, edit, or remove members.
• Create or change events, badges, or risk assessments.
• Send emails from Scoutworks.
• Change group settings or billing.
• See any member's name, date of birth, contact details, or medical information.

If a trustee also needs to act as a leader (for example, on a work party), a Group Admin can give them both roles — in that case the leader experience takes over and the trustee-specific navigation is hidden, since leaders already see everything trustees do and more.

What's next#

• Understanding Roles and Permissions — the full breakdown of every role.
• Managing Users and Roles — how Group Admins invite a trustee.
• Finance Dashboard — the leader-facing finance view that sits behind the trustee's numbers.