What Are The Liabilities Of A Preschool Trustee?

Most preschool education in England and Wales is administered by registered charities run by volunteers.  

The extent of trustee's personal liability is defined by the type of charity the preschool is, and can in some cases, be affected by the nature of the group's consittution (if they have one)..  Most preschool charities are "unincorporated", which means that they cannot borrow money (well, they might run up an overdraft, but really they shouldn't even do that).  The liabilities for committee members (who are also the charity trustees) are considerably limited in unincorporated charities.  As a result, basically, trustees can only be held personally responsible if they can be shown to have committed fraud or negligence.  Proving that this has occurred can be very difficult, costly and time-consuming, which effectively means that suits are rarely brought.

Incorporated or "company" charities are managed differently, appoint their trustees differently, and have different liability rules.  See the Charities Commission website for more details.