“We’re part of an intersectional movement, so by moving the dial on the number of young trustees, we hope that’s also shifting it on other areas of diversity as well [...]” - Amelia Ireland
In this episode, we hear from two Young Trustee movement ambassadors Amelia Ireland, Trustee at the Holocaust Educational Trust and West Midlands Ambassador for the Young Trustee Movement. We also hear from Kate Roberts, Policy & Campaigns Officer at The Brain Tumour charity.
In this episode we explore why charities should consider working with trustees, barriers young people face when exploring trusteeship, and how charities can work with young people to excel in their position as charity trustees. Both Amelia and Kate share their experience as a trustee and why diverse trustee boards are key to embedding lived experience into charities’ board of trustees.
1) What is the Young Trustee Movement and why is it important that we have young trustees
The Young Trustee Movement aims to double the number of trustees under the age of 30 by 2024. Although the movement focuses on age, it is part of a wider movement calling for diversity on trustee boards. They hope to challenge the norm of what a trustee board looks like.
Although many charities support young people, they are missing potential insights from a lack of young trustees. There is a clear need to diversify charity trustee boards, with 75% of current UK trustees earning above-average household income and the majority of trustees are above the age of 65.
2) Barriers to trusteeship for young people
The first barrier young people do not necessarily understand is that a trustee role is something they can do. Charities can tackle this by editing the job description and reflecting on whether you need 20+ years for the role. Additionally, the way trustee roles are advertised, often it’s word-of-mouth and community networks, which is why it’s important to advertise trustee roles on a wide variety of platforms so you can reach different audiences. Once you have a young trustee on the board, the charity should empower them to take up space on the role.
3) How can charities recruit and work with young trustees?
Additional training is a great way to support young trustees; Amelia shared that financial training has helped her in her trustee role. The charity has also supported her with a mentor, this has enabled her to talk through any questions she may have about charity governance.
4) Find out more about Young Trustee Movement:
● Young Trustee Movement website, including opportunities board where charities can post their vacancies for free
● Digital Hub where you can hear from other people in the Young Trustee Movement and events
● Free 1 hour Champion training workshop - 9 November
● Board Diversity: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly webinar - 3 November
We hope you enjoy this week’s episode.
Related episodes that you may be interested in:
E127 - It's A Battle On The Board With Debra Allcock Tyler -
E34 - Reaching Specialist Volunteers with Janet Thorne -
E61 - Civil Society with Gareth Jones -