Become an ambassador
Young people are at the heart of our movement. Ambassadors act as spokes people for the movement, they take a leading role in creating the strategy and help to facilitate other young people to be involved.
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Joe is a trustee for Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) and the British Youth Council (BYC). In this blog he shares his experiences and tips for young people starting out as trustees.
Hi! My name is Joe Stockley, and I’m a trustee for Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) and the British Youth Council (BYC). I also run Communications for an equality charity in Wales called Diverse Cymru, and have worked with and around the British Youth Council and youth voice for the last six years.
I’m really glad to be writing this for the Young Trustees Movement, I’ve been a young trustee for 3 years, and I am passionate about the work they are doing.
I’m going to be quite exhaustive in this blog, I’ll describe my roles, one big charity, one small charity, in a bit of detail to begin with, and then I’ll give you some tips to bear in mind. This is because it’s easy to read lots about young trustees, and why they’re really important, but it’s more difficult to hear about the minutia, the day to day of a trustee’s work schedule. If you’re thinking, but not sure about making the jump to becoming a trustee, this blog is for you!
Read this blog, and I hope it helps.
To give you an idea of time investment – that’s always the first question, I probably spend about 8 hours a week on my two trusteeships, but don’t freak out – about 3/4s of that time is time specific, with extra responsibilities on my shoulders during COVID.
So, I have two roles as a trustee:
BYC (due to the size – around £1m turnover/16 staff, and nature of the organisation – youth voice, project heavy) can be a more hands-on role, I put in about an hour to two hours a week; whereas
WCVA (due to the size - £16m turnover/88 staff, and nature of the organisation – supporting the third sector in Wales, development and support function) where my role is very top down. I put in around 6 hours a week – mostly down to chairing a COVID funding panel.
With WCVA I see a lot of final drafts of content (unless I’m involved in the working group on something), it could be the latest financial forecast, or a draft risk register for the next 6 months. The amount of implied knowledge in conversations is very high – each set of board papers may run into the hundreds of pages, and they are generally assumed read and agreed. This can make the step up quite challenging, but also a very important one, as you may be reading a policy that hasn’t been reviewed in 8 months, for example, and lots can change in 8 months, just think – we were working as normal at the start of the year, everyone was convinced 2020 was going to be a good year, no-one had heard of COVID or would dream of a nation-wide lockdown. Going through documents such as a subsistence policy becomes of vital importance – people aren’t travelling across Wales to meetings, but it may help morale to discuss a broadband allowance. I also chair funding panels as a result of my trusteeship with WCVA, a requirement of sitting on the board. This involves being a critical friend to the grants team to ensure money is spent in the most valuable way possible.
With BYC the role is different. It is heavier on ambassadorial duties, heavier on being at the front of media when needed, maybe proof-reading fundraising bids, maybe ensuring the protocols for running an effective board are in place. This is, if anything, more intimidating, made further so by the fact that our whole board are under 25. There is no-one to hide behind. If you’re not committed enough, or you haven’t read the board papers, it becomes eminently noticeable, because of the smallness of the group. With challenge comes reward though. Decisions the board makes will help or hinder in a far more visible way, and that is always an inspiration to bring your best to each interaction.
Where I am as a trustee fluctuates on how the imposter syndrome of being a young trustee is making me feel that day – examining the four stages of learning would probably put me at somewhere between conscious incompetence and conscious competence. But the important thing I have to remember about the stages of learning is that they’re circular, and without attention you can easily slide back!
On looking for a trusteeship - Get in touch with your favourite charity. If you don’t have a favourite charity, make a list of the causes you care about, and then google those causes in your county, or your country. Jot down the top three that catch your eye. Then email them, or ring them. Check their website. Get in touch with your local CVC, or your national membership body, and ask. If they do have a trustee vacancy going and it’s not clear if they want a young person, get in touch with them and ask if they’d consider it – maybe they just haven’t thought about a young trustee!
There are always opportunities on Recruit3 if you’re in Wales, Charity Job, Linkedin – a whole range of places to look. When you’re confident you’ve found a role you like, put them into the charity commission website, and take a look at their annual report, their finances, their trustees. Check their socials, this is a good way to get to understand an organisation. It’s worthwhile dropping an existing trustee a message as well, they might answer any questions you have..
Tips for starting out:
Finally - don’t be afraid. Trusteeships can seem big and scary, but you, your skills, your experiences, and your attitude are all enough. If you want to commit to making real difference, to support a cause you care about, and give it the time it needs and deserves, there’s a trusteeship for you.
Young people are at the heart of our movement. Ambassadors act as spokes people for the movement, they take a leading role in creating the strategy and help to facilitate other young people to be involved.
Join a 1 hour training session to understand the power of young trustees, have a framework to understand how to approach board diversity and take practical next steps.