Time flies…

It's already February?! How did this happen?!?!?!?  A lot going on at the moment with life in general, work, British Youth Council – never enough time to do everything :o(

 

Still, the New Year's resolutions are still partially intact (joined a yoga class and have been going to my local French conversation group), although the trumpet practice has fallen by the way side (Jeff is trying to teach me, but I can't even play a scale yet!).

 

The yoga is good – not only am I discovering muscles I had long forgotten existed, but a couple of the guiding thoughts are a) that the past has gone, the future is ahead – what matters is now and b) that your yoga time is a time for you alone and all other things can wait.  I think that we often forget that everyone needs some time for themselves – especially when working with volunteers.  I mean, the work of a trustee or any other volunteer is their hobby, right?   But how many volunteers have been put off by their hobby becoming a chore?  How do charity's attract volunteers to take part in their work?  More importantly, how do they keep them?

 

Happy Holidays

Hey,

It's that time for christmas parties and fuzzy heads the next morning...so i'll be taking a break from blogging to enjoy a well earned rest and i'll be back in the new year with news of what faces BYC in 2007.

Hope everyone has a great and restful break and a very happy new year.

See you in 2007!!!!

The season of goodwill

As Christmas approaches, and the cold weather draws in, it's easy for Trustees to focus on the festivities and to put the charity on the back burner. How do you stay focused when there are so many Christmas parties to go to?!

Friends often ask "why do you do it?" and workmates find my evening and weekend meetings incomprehensible; "why not come to the pub for a pint and a bag of pork scratchings?" or "why not have a nice, hot, relaxing bath?". Two reasons, I guess – my boiler has broken down, so the bath is not an option and secondly, being a trustee is something I choose to do because I enjoy the challenge and satisfaction it gives me.

Well, most of the time…;o)

How do you tempt young people, with all the distractions and challenges they face, to give up their free time to help run not-for-profit organisations? Whether they are working, studying, trying to buy or rent decent accommodation, start a family or just spend time with friends – volunteering in any capacity would seem like a low priority for them. But 45% of 16-24 year olds participate at least once a month in informal volunteering – the highest level for any age group. Statistics on youth volunteering contrast with the hoodie-wearing, ASBO-holding, alcopop-drinking image we see in the media. Yet many of these young people won't find their way into the governance roles of the organisations they volunteer with and the organisations will miss out on the valuable input these people could bring.

So here comes the shameless plug for the British Youth Council – we are running a programme called youth at the table – which will help young people and the organisations who want to involve them in their governance structures. You can find out more at http://www.byc.org.uk/submenu.asp?id=6&menuid=34&subid=34

We're also running campaigns to highlight the positive contributions young people make to their communities – get more at http://www.byc.org.uk/submenu.asp?id=3&menuid=12&subid=7

But neither of these projects will get the Christmas shopping done for you :o)

International tea crisis

Most of last week was taken up by the European Youth Forum General Assembly in Lithuania, which I attended with another member of our Board.

 

The meeting is the equivalent of our old AGMs, combining the legal obligations such as approving the accounts with policy approval.  It struck me more at this meeting than ever before that the role of culture is probably the biggest factor in determining the governance structures of an organisations.  Things that seem quite normal to us in the UK seem alien to others, for example the role of the head of the operational side of an organisation (CEO/Secretary General) and the balance of roles between operations and governance.

 

However, not being a cultural imperialist, it is interesting to look at the benefits of the different systems, and of corse the problems. Can a CEO meet with auditors on behalf of the Board, if they are a non-voting member of the Board? Is it better that the person who does meet the auditors knows about the finances, rather than being an elected Board member?  Should we elect the CEO? After all, many of the decisions and representational roles they will be asked to take will stray across that fuzzy line between what the Board should do and what the CEO should do.

 

Although legislation will dictate some of these points in some countries, what is the ideal solution and way of working? Is there one?  Surely we can't be that different?!

 

It also struck me that the problems of engaging the membership of an organisation are universal - and reaching out to all beneficiaries is even harder.  What is the level at which we begin to comply with our legal obligations?  Is it when we lead the horse to water, or when we make it drink?

 

I'm noticing a lot of questions in the blog - and not so many answers... this is an accurate reflection of how I'm feeling about the role of Chair at the moment.  Trying to balance these responsibilities with work and a private life is tough - so many things to do that I've forgotten what the weekend looks like...

 

Currently writing an article on 'why become a trustee?' - it's proving tough - answers on a postcard, please!

Food for thought...

Life outside of work and BYC this week has been restricted to eating and sleeping (and buying a car so we can get out and enjoy the Yorkshire dales!). Last weekend the trustees held their induction meeting and I've spent most of this week recovering.

It was a packed weekend, with trustees new and old getting to know the staff and programmes the organisation runs. We also looked at decision making processes and communication within the Board and from the Board to its stakeholders (young people, staff, funders and so on). Communication is the key!!!!!

One of the most positive aspects was the strength of contributions, particularly from new trustees. Having observed "adult" boards, the questions and comments made by our trustees were as useful and strategic if not more so and this is both reassuring and exciting. We've got a great team!

Our trainers, David and Suzie, did an excellent job at asking sometimes uncomfortable questions of the Board. I'm still thinking about how to answer some of the questions and more importantly, how we can make sure that when we are asked the same questions next year, our answers will be better.

However, it seems as if the list of things to do is getting longer rather than shorter – my focus for this weekend is to look at what we still need to do as a board and start prioritising for the year ahead. I'm hoping that the spectacular scenery in the Dales will help …

Day 1: Who me?

Welcome to my new blog - which I hope some of you will find interesting and maybe even a bit entertaining at times. To get to know me a bit better, you can read my profile, but be warned; I'm no Bridget Jones, so those of you looking for Hugh Grant should leave now...

I became a trustee just over a year ago - I'd been involved with BYC for a couple of years before, mainly through the international representation work BYC does with our partners, the European Youth Forum: http://www.youthforum.org/. The focus of the work was taking the results of BYCs work with young people in the UK and sharing their ideas and views with other youth organisations from across Europe, and bringing ideas back to BYC about how other young people do things. I got really interested in what makes youth-run organisations different and how they adapt to the challenges they face - both because of the needs and priorities of their organisations, and of the young people involved. Then I saw the advert for trustees of BYC and decided to apply.

I served on the Board for a year before becoming Chair and in that time there was a lot to learn - for example, the laws that trustees have to follow to make sure that the organisation is run properly, that we are good employers to our staff, that we're taking care of the organisation's funds and reputation and that we're doing the things we said we'd do with the money we've been given by our members and funders. I remember the day I was told that if we got BYC into debt, as trustees, we would be responsible for the debt! That certainly focused my mind on the job.

I've spoken to lots of other trustees over the past year from all sorts of organisations - national charities and trusts to small community associations. It seems to me that most trustees, regardless of age or experience have the same questions and worries about the role. Hopefully, those of you who are interested in becoming a trustee, or finding out more about what it involves will find this blog useful in helping you decide. For those of you already involved in similar structures, I hope you'll find some comfort in knowing that other people are asking the same questions and hopefully, through the discussions, we can find some answers together.