It’s Trustees’ Week, but what do trustees actually do?
Trustees’ Week. Most people get what our volunteer advisers do, but what about our team of volunteer trustees? What is their role?
Every organisation needs a group of people to decide on the direction of its strategy. What do we want to achieve? How are we going to get there? Are there any issues and how can they be resolved?
By Jane Sheils
Our trustees come from a range of sectors and bring with them a vast amount of valuable experience. They meet formally quarterly to agree our vision, direction and strategy. Between meetings they give the benefit of their advice and support to staff and volunteers.
This Trustees’ Week, 4-8 November, we’re highlighting three team members:
Barnaby Hopson, Andrew Keith and Sarah Noak.
Barnaby Hopson
Is a recent addition to our team and has been attending our regular fundraising meetings. Barnaby has spent most of his career working in the charity sector. He specialised in grant-making for organisations such as National Lottery, Children in Need, Princes Trust as well as public sector and corporate funders. His knowledge in helping us apply for grants and raise funds is invaluable.
We asked Barnaby what lead him to CAEE.
“I’ve lived in Epsom almost 20 years and both my children grew up and went to school here. I’m originally from the north of England but can’t now imagine living anywhere else. I’ve always been keen to support the local community and through my work with other local organisations such as Samaritans, Epsom Food Bank and as a Surrey magistrate, I’ve seen the huge impact Citizens Advice can have on people who have limited means and nowhere else to turn.”
How incredible that we have a literally life changing service, free and available to anyone who needs it. That’s why I’m delighted to have been accepted as a trustee.”
Andrew Keith
Is another recent addition to our trustee team who leads on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. CAEE is committed to providing a supportive and inclusive culture for:
- all those who need our services
- our volunteers
- our staff and
- other stakeholders.
We recognise the positive value of diversity, promoting equality and fairness, and challenging discrimination. We recognise people with different backgrounds, skills, attitudes and experiences bring fresh ideas and perceptions; and we wish to encourage and harness these differences to make our services more relevant and accessible.
Andrew says, “Having spent most of my career in the legal sector, access to justice is really important to me. Access to information is part and parcel of being included in our society and CAEE plays an important role in ensuring anyone can seek and get information and help from our wonderful volunteers and colleagues.”
Sarah Noak
Joined as a trustee in 2023 and leads the finance committee. She is a Chartered Accountant with over 20 years’ experience and is the CFO for a global humanitarian charity which works to bring education to marginalised children. It is her responsibility to ensure we operate within the financial controls policy, keeping a close eye on our income and expenditure.
Sarah says, “There is so much need for people to be involved in charities and so much good that we can do. I have considerable hands-on experience in my role as finance director of an international children’s charity and I wanted to find a way to use those same skills much closer to home in my local community where I’ve been living for nearly 20 years.
“What I am excited about is the hope we bring to people. I love that someone can come away from their first meeting with us with hope and a pathway to a better future. The skills and expertise of our staff and volunteers and the dedication to their work is also incredibly inspiring!”
Read about the contribution of other CAEE trustees?
Our chair, Yvette Ball, set out our plans for 2024/25 here. What made our trustee Shaun Jones want to help? read here. And our trustee Simon Culhane on making an impact is here.
Jane Sheils is Volunteer Publicity Adviser at CAEE.