Top Tips For Trustees This Volunteers' Week: From Sarah Bear

Hi, I’m Sarah Bear, and I recently joined Willows Counselling as a Trustee. Having worked in the charitable sector for over 10 years I was looking for a way I could give back, but also further develop my own learning, Willows was the obvious choice.

As a new Trustee it’s always daunting joining a new group of people, but the team at Willows have welcomed me open-armed and really made me feel valued and useful. I heard about the role after seeing their volunteer Trustee advert on LinkedIn. At the time they needed a financial Trustee, so with my experience as a business director for Wiltshire Treehouse, charity knowledge and financial skills I thought I would apply and hoped I could help.

As part of the recruitment process, I went for an informal interview with 2 of the existing Trustees and came away feeling that I could genuinely support them. Also, as a past beneficiary of their accessible counselling it was wonderful to be able to give something back. I’ve now done 2 Trustee meetings, and I also made time to go in and meet the team, talk to the staff and sit with the co-CEO’s, helping to understand the organisation and their work. But also finding out where I can add value and support them.

I’ve still got quite a few policies to read through, and I’ll always be learning. But I’m excited in how I can support the charity devise their next phase of strategy, develop fundraising and ensure that this amazing charity is around for years to come.

My top tips for Trustees:

• Be prepared to show up. We have around 8 meetings per year, and coming from a charity, I know how important attendance is. But also, when you are a small group of people it’s vital that you are ready to be accountable for the actions you sign up to, showing up in more than just a turn up and nod kind of way.

• Listen – Truly listen, take time to meet the team, and meet the people where they are.
• It’s okay to ask the question. Being new is brilliant, it offers the opportunity to see things with fresh eyes and a different perspective. That alone is vital to an organisation, so don’t be afraid to ask the questions.