Trustees' Week Interview with Linda Barrie

Trustees' Week is a five-day-long event to celebrate the achievements of nearly one million trustees across the UK. To mark the occasion, we sat down with one of The Island's trustees, Linda Barrie to get her thoughts on the charity sector and what it is like to be a trustee for a small children's charity.

Why did you decide to become a trustee at The Island?

I'd been a mentor for a young person and saw first-hand some of what went on within the organisation. The work they do is incredibly impactful and is far reaching. I knew there was a vacancy on the board, and I really felt I wanted to be part of the team who were making good things happen, so I put an application in to become a board member.

Did you know much about The Island before you became involved as a trustee?

Yes, I did, to be fair, but only because I was a mentor. Being a mentor gives you a lot of insight from an inside perspective - the training, the supervision, the social get togethers, all helped to build the picture of what The Island was all about. Would I have known the same if I hadn't mentored, probably not and the lovely thing about learning about any organisation from that angle is that it gives you a very truthful, peek behind the scenes. 

Now that you know more about The Island, what aspect of their work do you most value and respect?

How relational it is. At its very core is the focus on relationships, and that is the same throughout the organisation. We can dress it up, add all the bells and whistles we want, but the success of any business or charity lies in the relationships between the people involved. The Island is brilliant at giving the tools, and time needed to support those relationships. I find that inspirational.

What have you personally learnt during your time as a trustee at The Island?

That if we focus on the people, the rest will follow, and that when we work together to keep respectful and honouring relationships at the core, we can add value and bring wisdom to the organisation. We won't always get it right, at times it has gone and indeed will go a little wobbly, but the team has a way of being able to recognise it, refocus and restart. That for me has been my biggest learning so far, and that the same respectful honouring is equally important between our mentors and young people - if we model that as adults, we can inspire our young people to do the same.

Why do you think others should consider becoming trustees of charities?

The charitable sector in the UK is huge, and depends so much on volunteers, they are critical to the sector's survival. 

During the pandemic we saw a huge uplift in people wanting to volunteer and now that's not the case, as many have gone back to their busy routines. We cannot simply think someone else will volunteer though, because if everyone were to do that, where would we be? We all have something to offer and contribute, and often we don't see that in ourselves, so we doubt the value we can bring or offer. We have an amazing, retired gentleman at The Island, who turns up each week, and prepares a meal for the young people who attend our groups. He cooks from scratch, inspiring our young people to try new things, showing them how they can make really tasty foods in the microwave. Ironically, Jamie Oliver now has a new series doing just that kind of cooking, and our lovely George has been doing it for all this time with our groups. The contribution George makes is priceless and cannot be underestimated and I believe we all have something to bring, be it being a trustee, or a hands-on volunteer, both of which bring equal value to the organisation.

Beyond, The Island, what do you think is the biggest challenge that charities are facing in general?

Funding is going to be increasingly difficult and harder to access for many charities and will mean more time needs to be invested in finding relevant grants and funding pots, and this will mean those charities without a specified fundraiser role will struggle.

As a nation we are very reliant on the charitable sector and the good work it does, it is a huge contributor to our economy and should not be underestimated. I also believe the sector's ability to attract volunteers will become much more of a challenge, especially as we look ahead to a difficult season for our economy, and we need to find a way of addressing that. Any ideas would be welcomed! 

We hope you found this blog post useful, if you have any thoughts and or ideas that you would like to share with us then comment below. Alternatively, if you would like to find out more about Trustees' Week, then click here.