This year, the Volunteering function adopted our charity’s trustees. They previously sat independently to Volunteering at Humankind.  

As a trustee for a Community Interest Company, I know how tirelessly trustees work, often without others appreciating what takes place behind the scenes and the investment required. 

This has helped me to appreciate our trustees at Humankind in a way I just couldn’t have done beforehand.  

During Trustees Week, which took place from 6 to 10 November 2023, asked people across Humankind to share any messages of appreciation they had for our trustees. Here is a selection of some of those messages: 

“The interest you have shown in our learners during trustee visits has been truly impactful and highly valued by both learners and colleagues.” 

“I particularly appreciated the time you committed to prepare in advance of the recent Ofsted which supported us to achieve a ‘Good’ rating, your openness to learning and transparency in this process was refreshing and valued by those involved.” 

“Always reminding us why we are here and remaining passionate about ensuring that we never stop keeping people at the heart of everything we do.” 

Our Board of Trustees come from diverse backgrounds, ranging from people with lived experience of drug and alcohol issues who have used their experiences to write plays and articles about the drug treatment system to entrepreneurs who have founded several tech start-ups. We also have a trustee who has over 20 years of experience of working around operational risk with a science background in Biotechnology and Molecular Genetics, Academia and charity work. 

This is just a small snapshot that highlights the real breadth of experiences and diverse thinking that our board hold. 

While reflecting on their involvement with Humankind, [one trustee] said, “I think the standout for me has been the ability of people to turn their lives around and rise from some very dark places into the sunshine. To be associated with that lifechanging journey and know that our charity has helped in the process is fantastically rewarding and certainly keeps me enthused.” 

We recently asked Trustees for some feedback via a new annual Trustee Survey and will share the results shortly.