Hannah Ratcliffe, 26, has recently become a trustee with Home-Start in Suffolk.
She was inspired to become a trustee in her 20’s because of her experience with the Young Leadership Project.
“I wanted to be able to give back through the skills I was developing in my career, in a volunteering role which would fit around working full time and studying part time.”
Hannah added:
”Learning that the average age of a trustee is 60 + made me feel even more that I wanted to be part of a movement which would be increasing diversity, as young people we have an important place at the table and are able to offer different insights.
Particularly for charities who have younger beneficiaries, I believe it is essential to ensure that this representation is embedded across the whole organisation.”
Janet Perry, from Community Action Suffolk, said:
“There are so many great opportunities out there for younger adults to get involved in charities and make a real difference in their community.
Sadly, the perception is that trustee boards only want much older people, or perhaps that they need to have had prior experience with a charity, but it’s not the case.
“The skills and confidence you can gain through a charity trustee role are vast, and we would encourage people across Suffolk to get in touch with us and find out more.”