One of the biggest barriers to young people becoming trustees is a lack of awareness of what a trusteeship entails. 

Young people aren’t aware what trustees do and that it is something that they can do. They don’t understand the role of a trustee compared to the various other forms of volunteering opportunities. 

Working within a third sector consultancy that recruits trustees, I am fortunate to have developed a solid understanding of the role of a trustee, and how vital they are in ensuring charities are well run and uphold their charitable mission. 

Knowing these things made it easier to apply for my first trustee position.

I was advertising one of our trustee roles when I stumbled across the role at Forth Valley Welcome on Inspiring Scotland’s vacancy page. I was instantly drawn to the charity. I emailed the designated contact straight away expressing my interest, my USP (my degree in Middle Eastern politics and the key skills I believed I could bring to the role). 

This leads me to the second barrier to young people applying to trustee roles, which is a perceived lack of experience. 

Younger trustees may be less likely to have experience in dealing with organisational finance and strategic planning than someone who is at a senior level in their career, since similar responsibilities in paid work tend to be part of job roles in management and executive level. However, this does not mean that young people don’t have anything to contribute to this process - they almost certainly do.

When submitting my application, I focused on my experience working supporting the third sector as well as highlighting the relevance of why I was specifically interested in joining FVW. I focused on my university studies which specialised in Middle Eastern politics and how I believed the knowledge I gained here would help me to bring a useful perspective to the charity.

I was delighted to hear back shortly after applying. 

The process after that point was pretty straightforward. I had an initial call with the secretary about my interest and had the chance to find out more about the work of the charity. I then met virtually with the secretary and treasurer to discuss the responsibilities, and role in more detail. I was delighted to hear how forward-thinking the charity was in relation to recruiting younger trustees (despite being such a small organisation).

The charity was eager to have me join and highlighted a number of benefits to the charity of having a younger person on board: 

• They acknowledged that I could help challenge a disconnect that can exist between board members and beneficiaries and help ensure that the charity provides appropriate services, communications and staff support.

• They also acknowledged that by diversifying their board they can benefit from a greater range of skills and viewpoints which can result in increased flexibility, greater scrutiny and better-informed decision making.

• They also acknowledged that by diversifying their board they will gain differing perspectives that can result in younger trustees asking the questions others might not.

There are many benefits to the young person by joining a board. It’s an immensely powerful way of getting involved with charities. You not only get the chance to contribute, it’s also a great learning experience.

Here’s what I learned:

There’s no doubt that being a trustee is one of the most powerful ways in which you can contribute to your local community or to a cause you really care about. As a trustee, you play an integral part in the good governance of a charity, not only ensuring that the organisation remains viable and sustainable but ensuring that it adheres closely to its mission and works in the interests of its beneficiaries.

You’ll get the opportunity to develop and hone your critical thinking, problem-solving and analytical skills as well as developing vital strategic sensibilities and team working skills. It often takes decades to find yourself in a role which requires strategic oversight.

Whether it’s seeking advice on a current workplace predicament or scoping out opportunities for the next step in your career progression, being a trustee can open up your professional network in all kinds of unforeseen and advantageous ways that will only become clear once you have taken the leap!

Trusteeship allows you to adapt and apply everything you have learned in your day job to an entirely new context. You can gain a clearer idea of your own professional strengths and weaknesses whilst simultaneously learning altogether new skills. 

Negotiating, empathising, listening and clearly communicating ideas and concerns are huge factors in this process and often help to set the tone and culture of board meetings. All of this is essential to positive, forward thinking and efficient charity governance, but it’s also a fantastic opportunity to develop sound judgement and interpersonal skills that will improve your prospects whatever career path you happen to be on.

I am delighted to now have a role at BTA working BTA’s Head of Consulting, Ruperta Melville which includes recruiting board members for Scottish charities, and I will be doing my up most to ensure that we promote these position to young people. If you know any young people who would like to speak to me about becoming a trustee, I would be glad to have a chat.