Too young to be a trustee? Think again..

By Jasmine Morris

The Guardian has recently published an article on the lack of young people on charity trustee boards whilst highlighting the important skills young people can bring to a charity board as well as the valuable skills being a trustee can bring to the young people.

As a “young person” I 100% agree with this – becoming a trustee has been one of the most rewarding bits of volunteering I have been involved in. Not only because I get the chance to be involved in the governance of an organisation nor is it just because I am able to give back to the community in which I live and work… it has been vastly rewarding in terms of developing skills and recognising the skills that I already possessed and making use of these.

I am a trustee for Ian Mikardo School – a school which supports students with complex emotional, learning and behavioural needs. There are lots of things the school offers its students and their families that the local authority just can’t pay for and so a charity, Friends of Ian Mikardo School, was set up to fundraise to cover these extras.
Ian Mikardo’s commitment to supporting the young people in their care has extended to their commitment to having a diverse board and a large percentage of us are local young people. This has made for a vibrant board and lots of creativity.

I would say to anyone who is interested in becoming a trustee to start researching trustee vacancies – you will be surprised, it isn’t just middle aged business men who make great trustees!