This ones about being a trustee...

It's trustee week! So this blog is all about being a trustee, the good and the bad, what it means to me and why it makes me tick.

Most of you probably know that I am a trustee of a national charity, which has around 525,000 members aged 6-96 across the UK and further afield.

After much thought and consideration, and working with the headquarters as a volunteer I decided to apply to become a trustee - which in my position means that I had to go through an election process for one of the three positions on the Board which are reserved for young people. All the candidates who apply for the positions are very well qualified and enthusiastic young people. I was voted on to the Board in September 2011 for a term of three years. Whilst on the Board, we are each expected to serve additionally on a committee as a trustee representative. In my first year I was a member of the operations committee and also part of the delegation to the British Youth Council. In addition to being on these committees, I attended a fundraising event, the national St George's Day service, and was part of a task and finish group looking at induction and appraisal processes.

So let's test my maths now...(figures include travel, reading papers, and stop over times! - and are approx)
4 x Board meetings a year = 88 hours
4 x Ops meetings = 82 hours
BYC delegation = 121 hours
Fundraiser = 10 hours
St George's Service = 11 hours
Task and finish group = 20 hours
Trustee Induction = 24 hours
National AGM = 13 hours

Near the end of my first year I was also asked to join the Nominations committee...
Nominations meetings = 12 hours

So for the year Sept 2011 to Sept 2012 that totals = 381 hours or 15.87 full days, or 50.8 working days (I only get 25 days holiday a year) ...

Sounds a lot doesn't it?

It is.

On top of this, the constant "thud" of brown envelopes coming through my door (to the point where my Mum can guess which meeting I have based on the weight of the papers - I kid you not, she's incredible!), there is the added worry of what "Trustee" actually means... Google tells me that it is "An individual person or member of a board given control or powers of administration of property in trust with a legal..." (thankfully it cuts out here!)

So with the weight of an organisation on your shoulders, over half a million members, lots of money, budgets (which I can only understand thanks to the wonderful Director of Finance and her "blue columns"), train journeys to London, reading papers, missing out on parties at the weekend...is it worth it?

Well of course it is. As a youth worker I wanted to volunteer at this level of the movement to be able to ensure that young peoples opinions are taken into account when we make decisions about them. I wanted to advocate for the 425,000 young people who make up most of our membership, and as a result I have had input into planning strategy and agreeing projects to deliver the work we want to do, always keeping in the forefront of my mind the young people who this will actually effect.

Sure there are other benefits to being a trustee, and as a young trustee I do know that we can come under some scrutiny as to the value we bring. Naturally I am biased here, but we bring a very different energy and first hand knowledge to the role which the other trustees can't. At my induction I had lunch with our Chief Executive and told him I was worried I couldn't bring anything valuable to the table, and he simply told me that "as a young person in a youth organisation you have the trump card". Boards need a wide range of skills and a good balance of expertise in a spectrum of areas to be able to work, and so each has their part to play.

The beauty of being a Trustee is that I can literally tell people running our organisation what young people think, and I have the chance to do things hat I wouldn't otherwise ever had the chance to experience. As a trustee I have addressed audiences, represented our movement externally, met the Duke of Kent, and learnt skills in how to work on a professional level which I would otherwise not have done in my current job. Being a trustee sets me up well to apply for jobs and understand things that had previously been beyond my reach. I have had wonderful experiences, made good friends, input to the direction of a large charity, and even had fun doing it.

I know of a trustee of a local charity that I work for who has discovered her love for young people, and talent of working with them, as a result of becoming a trustee (and a very active one at that!)

Trusteeship can offer something to everyone, and as long as you have a real love for the organisation then it needn't be a chore - maybe combine it with making friends and you might even enjoy yourself!

But for me, being a trustee is all about the young people.