My name is Tilly Hilton and I’m 19 years old. I’ve just finished my first year studying engineering at Cambridge but spend the rest of my time in Sheffield - my hometown, and favourite place! I’m a trustee for Sheffield Futures - a young people’s charity who focus on mental health and well-being, employability, and careers - as well as being a Young Advisor. I’m really passionate about social issues so love getting involved in the local community and helping represent youth voice in Sheffield.

I have been a trustee formally for just over a year now but became a Young Advisor at 16! This role was a fantastic opportunity which allowed me to feel more connected with the local community and meet a group of other like-minded and passionate young people. I have always been interested in social action and had already worked with other charities on reducing period stigma, so relished the chance to work on new projects such as youth proofing, interviewing, and hosting debates and events. Some particular highlights include getting to run a film school for young people in the area and hosting a debate onstage in the iconic Sheffield venue ‘The Leadmill’. As I turned eighteen, a space then arose on the board of trustees, and though I wasn’t entirely sure what this role would involve, I love a challenge and was intrigued to learn more about the organisation as a whole so became a trustee for the charity. It has been a really fantastic experience so I’m so glad I did.

I have found it amazing and so interesting to get to work with a real range of professionals - being part of the board allows me to see how the charity works from a broader perspective and understand better the roles of different teams. As a young person I think it is really valuable to get to experience a professional environment and I find it inspiring to watch the other trustees demonstrate the experience and expertise they have from their field - for example finance or safeguarding. The board is also a really collaborative environment which provides lots of opportunity for us to learn and develop as trustees.

As well as giving an insight into third sector organisations, I feel a real sense of empowerment by being on the board. It is exciting to get such an opportunity to represent youth voice and have a say in the overall direction of the charity - especially understanding the impact of the important work of Sheffield Futures on young people locally.

At the moment I am studying engineering and though first year has been very hectic, I hope in the future to be more involved with societies such as Engineers Without Borders to combine my interests as I have a long term career goal to engineer for environmental and social impact.

There are a lot of social issues close to my heart and I’ve had the pleasure to work on addressing these with a real range of charities. For example, outside of Sheffield Futures I have worked with multiple local charities such as Irise international to reduce the stigma around periods. This is a subject I am really passionate about and since the age of 14 have run workshops in schools, worked with youth groups and been on a period equality march in London. This year I also volunteered with Over The Wall for the first time - a larger organisation providing volunteer run summer camps for children with health challenges all across the UK and it was an amazing opportunity to meet other volunteers, experience a magical week long camp, and see first hand the impact of these programmes.

I think being a trustee will be a great experience for me as it has allowed me to explore really interdisciplinary work and collaboration which will be crucial as an engineer. Being surrounded by experts in other fields gives me a real understanding for the different areas involved in charities, but also the importance of diversity of perspective in all environments - I hope I could take this with me into the engineering sector too. Learning to work in a professional environment has also been incredibly valuable as I have gained experience reading formal documents and participating in discussions as well as a better understanding of the impact of decision-making, all of which is applicable across many careers.

I hope in my future as an engineer to have an impact on people, so being a trustee and working with charities is a crucial way of staying connected to the communities I care about. I aim to use my unique position as a trustee to inform my work in the STEM sector and help build supportive and collaborative team environments for the most impactful innovation.

Despite the many positives of being a trustee, there can be challenges too, for example terminology. Sometimes in board meetings there may be an assumed level of understanding that we can’t live up to as young people - such as specific terms - so it is really important to ask questions. Luckily our board is comprised of a fantastic group of really helpful and understanding people so I feel comfortable to ask questions if I’m unsure which is amazing. There might also be larger ideas about governance or processes that need explaining, but I think sometimes getting the experienced trustees to fully explain the decision, helps the board bring up new questions and think the problem through even more thoroughly.

It is also sometimes hard to give the commitment needed - I am super busy with university, extracurriculars and other projects, but having structured meetings every two months makes it easier to schedule around these, and though some documents need to be read beforehand the time commitment itself is not too much - only two hours every two months. Overall lots of these challenges can be overcome with effective communication and planning and each one helps me to develop further as a trustee.

Almost all organisations will impact young people in some way, whether that is directly through projects, or indirectly, therefore it is really important to hold space for the voice of young people on boards. For Sheffield Futures especially, but for all charities having that representation at the top ensures all decisions are made with the service users in mind. I think it is vital on any board to have a diversity of opinion and perspective - and that means hearing from people from all backgrounds and across all protected characteristics  - including age. Young people have so much to say and should not be underestimated in these professional environments - in my experience becoming a young trustee has helped my individual development but on top of this the introduction of new voices has strengthened our board and benefits the charity as a whole.

The average age of a trustee in the UK is 57, and that needs to change as often boards don’t represent the people their services are built for. It would be amazing to get more young people as trustees both at Sheffield Futures and nationally so we can make a difference and really get youth voices heard.