As I have been getting to know Shannon Trust over the last few months, I’ve been delighted to observe the parts our many and varied volunteers play in this organisation, and how they all contribute in different ways to us helping people develop their skills in reading and numeracy.
Like other volunteers, our trustees are integral to Shannon Trust’s success. This week is National Trustees’ Week, a time when charities across the UK celebrate the commitment and effort of nearly one million trustees, from all walks of life, who support their many different organisations, large and small.
We’re a charitable company, with a formal legal structure. Our trustees work together, as a board, to control the work, management and administration of Shannon Trust on behalf of our ‘beneficiaries’ – the people we help improve their reading and basic maths.
Shannon Trust’s day-to-day operational work is managed by staff, but our trustees give their time, skills and deep experience to set our strategic direction and ensure strong governance. Together, our trustees act as a sounding board, setting priorities and considering ideas. They give oversight, making sure the organisation runs within budget, and in line with legal, regulatory and similar requirements, and advocate as our ambassadors and offer direction and inspiration.
Being slightly removed from the day-to-day details means they’re able to look at things with fresh eyes and from a different perspective. This, along with their experiences away from Shannon Trust, is invaluable for the organisation, and particularly to our senior team.
Rather than just focusing on what our trustees give to Shannon Trust, I thought you might like to hear their thoughts. So, I asked what their role means to them.
Michael Wemms, Shannon Trust’s Chair of Trustees, expressed that supporting Shannon Trust has been one of the highlights of his life: “I struggled as a youngster at school and did not find the joy of reading till I was almost 16 years. It's been a pure privilege to be able to see and hear of the amazing work that Shannon Trust does to help people who still haven’t mastered the secrets of the written word.”
Shannon Trust is fortunate in already having a wealth of skills and knowledge amongst our board members. Their backgrounds include time in the criminal justice system with hands-on experience in prisons, probation and other settings, plus years of work in significant UK and international businesses, education, accountancy, financial services, communications, IT and business transformation.
Ceri Godwin, a Shannon Trust trustee for over four years, has a varied background, and her career has encompassed numerous roles across financial services, originating in client-facing retail roles through operations, finance, risk and IT.
“For me, communication is the sixth sense, how we interact and engage. Reading and writing are the basis of this, not to mention they are the key to so many learning opportunities. Not being able to read or write is like being trapped, afraid, isolated, and excluded. We all learn differently, so because it might not have worked in the past we shouldn’t give up. Shannon Trust is that opportunity,” says Ceri.
As CEO, I strongly believe it’s important for a charity like Shannon Trust to have a diverse board with a broad mix different backgrounds and experiences, including lived experience of both being in the criminal justice system, and of having struggled with reading. Any board operates best when it draws on multiple areas of expertise and different points of view.
Since my appointment, we’ve been working to fill some vacancies on Shannon Trust’s board. We are particularly keen to recruit trustees with lived experience, as well as from a wider range of communities. The closing date for applications was 31st October and I’m grateful to all who have expressed an interest. We’ll be able to announce and welcome our new trustees in the coming weeks, and I’m sure the individuals chosen will add to the rigour, dedication and collaboration I already appreciate from our trustees.
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