Organisation

Credit: WaterAid / Jim Holmes

WaterAid was established by Trust Deed on 21 July 1981, incorporated as a charitable company limited by guarantee on 30 January 1984, and is a registered charity with the Charity Commission of England and Wales.

Board of Trustees

WaterAid is governed by a Board of Trustees, who are responsible for ensuring that the charity is well-managed in line with its vision and mission and that it abides by its charitable objectives.

WaterAid currently has 12 Trustees who all give up their time and energy voluntarily to ensure that WaterAid is compliant with the legal and statutory requirements of a UK charity and registered company.

Following a detailed governance review in 2004/5 looking at the Board's size and structure it was agreed to reduce the size of the Board. Trustees are recruited through an open application process to ensure that we have the professional skills and experience needed for WaterAid to operate effectively.

While retaining representation from the UK water industry, reflecting our origins, we actively encourage people with international development experience and those of African and Asian origins to apply. We will also continue to strive for a diverse and gender balanced Board.

Trustees are elected for a three-year term that may be renewed for another three years. In occasional circumstances the term may be extended beyond this to retain specific skills.

Who's who - find out about WaterAid's Board of Trustees

WaterAid Trustees’ Manual

The WaterAid Trustees’ Manual has been put together as a resource for new and existing Trustees. It aims to explain clearly and simply the role of a WaterAid Trustee, the structure of the Board of Trustees and its four sub-committees and the relationship between the Board of Trustees, the Chief Executive and WaterAid. The manual also serves as an introduction to WaterAid and its ethos.

Download the Trustees' Manual ( PDF 333Kb)

Memorandum and Articles of Association ( PDF 122Kb)

The Chief Executive

The Trustees appoint WaterAid's Chief Executive, who is responsible for managing the organisation, along with the Directors of the following five departments:

International Operations Department

The International Operations Department is split into five teams - the Programme Support Unit and four others that each manages the programmes of a specific region: East Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa and Asia. Country offices are led by Country Representatives, who manage the country programmes in accordance with the strategies developed with the Regional Managers.

Read about our country programmes

Public Policy and Education Department

The Public Policy and Education Department is responsible for WaterAid's advocacy, research and education activities. Advocacy activities are focussed on promoting good practice in the water and sanitation sector and addressing the root causes of lack of access to safe water and sanitation. Research is undertaken in order to ensure WaterAid's advocacy is supported by evidence. Education activities such as the production of resources for schools are carried out in order to raise awareness of development issues. The press office promotes events to the media and deals with media enquiries. 

Read our advocacy strategy

Communications and Fundraising Department

The Communications and Fundraising Department promotes WaterAid's work to various audiences in order to generate funds for its work and awareness of water and sanitation problems around the world. 

Find out how you can support our work

Finance Department

The Finance Department deals with the organisation's accounting, IT and administration needs. WaterAid is committed to stringent auditing procedures, so an internal auditor is employed to oversee the accounting procedures of each of the country programmes, in addition to external auditors.

See our latest Annual Report

Human Resources Department

The Human Resources team at WaterAid support and facilitate good people management.

Our people

The effort, commitment and skills of our staff and volunteers are at the heart of our organisation. Currently WaterAid employs 353 staff in our country programmes and 132 in our UK offices. WaterAid is committed to its staff and is an investor in people.

Our volunteers play a crucial role in our work, the majority giving support by helping with fundraising events in the UK. Many of our long-standing volunteers have worked with us for a considerable period of time, contributing invaluable time and skills to the organisation.

Find out about jobs or volunteer opportunities at WaterAid

WaterAid is a UK registered charity number 288701 and a company registered in England (No 1787329) and limited by guarantee. Registered office 47-49 Durham Street, London, SE11 5JD.