Spurgeons is a national children’s charity, founded in 1867 by the prominent Christian preacher, Charles Spurgeon. It cares for some of the most vulnerable children in the UK and remains motivated by a Christian faith. The work is vitally important, and we were honoured to be asked by the Chair to support the Board in recruiting three new Trustees. We already had a good knowledge of the organisation, having run a search which led to the appointment of two trustees a couple of years previously.

We worked with the Chair to identify gaps in the existing Board and the priorities going forward. Particular areas of expertise required included finance, fundraising and children’s services. In addition, the Board aimed to increase its diversity. We conducted a search in each of these skill areas, considering a total of 177 candidates.

Our research period lasted almost three months and resulted in six candidates being shortlisted, of which three were appointed. The diversity of the Board was significantly improved since all three of the successful candidates were women and one was of BME background.

"I am very grateful to Carnelian for their very helpful and professional assistance with our recent round of Trustee recruitment. The only difficulty was having to make a choice between the excellent candidates that they introduced to us.”

– Andrew Caplen, Chair of Trustees, Spurgeon’s Children’s Society