Trust in the Trustees

With Trustees’ Week running from November 7 to 13, three experts from The Family Law Company are keen to explain why they became trustees with local charities.

There are currently around 194,000 charities in the UK with just over 1 million trustees; just under half are women, and the average age of a trustee is 59 in England and Wales, although 86,000 are aged 16-34.

Donna Hart and Stephen Sowden, who are based in Exeter, and Ann Shears who works at the Plymouth office, have taken on the role of trustee with three very different charities.

Donna became a trustee at Exeter Citizens Advice Bureau in January 2015 after she felt she could help improve its operations and policies. She said: “I work with volunteers to increase efficiency, such as instigating processes to decide if people can be helped over the phone or need face-to-face appointments. As many users of CAB have issues related to family problems, I’m able to use my family law skills to offer practical help.

“I volunteer because I love the work the CAB do. I hadn’t realised that they were a charity and wanted to support the people of Exeter. The work they do is invaluable for the local population.”

Stephen Sowden is a long-term trustee with the Grandparents Plus, supporting grandparents who can lose touch with their grandchildren when parents become separated or divorced. He explained:

“The reason I took on the role was because personally I was fortunate to have all four grandparents in my life until I was 30. Happily for me, they all lived into their nineties, so I therefore had the benefit of their knowledge and wisdom from childhood, through my teenage years and into adulthood.

“I know first-hand how vital a relationship with a grandparent is within a stable family life – this is why I became interested in the rights of grandparents and I hope to be involved for some time to come.”

In Plymouth, Ann Shears became a trustee with Effervescent Social Alchemy, an innovative and dynamic organisation that changes the lives of young people. “This is a charity which researches the impact of arts on individuals and devises new ways to make those impacts stronger.

“The charity undertakes programmes of work, services, or experiences which address unmet needs of vulnerable children and young people," said Ann. "Examples of groups that we have worked with are young carers and children who have suffered child sexual exploitation."

Ann has witnessed the work that is done with groups of young people for which there is no other or little support. Some of those who have worked with Eff have gone on to undertake Arts degrees and others have simply been able to meet others going through similar struggles to their own. They re-build their confidence, make new friends and, in some cases, know that they are not alone.

“I support the charity by providing legal input and updates to the workers and volunteers in the charity,” she added.