Powys Challenge is governed by a Board of Trustees. Their work is both responsible and interesting and we asked our present trustees to pen a few words about what they do. These appear below:
From Chair Eileen Jobling:
Being a trustee of Powys Challenge is never dull! Yes, there are meetings with minutes to keep, balance sheets or policies to study and strategy to consider. But this underpins the work of our staff and ultimately our volunteers, who can really make a difference to the level of crime in Powys.
As Chair, I meet regularly with the Chief Officer to plan the next agenda and to talk over the work and health of the whole organisation. We plan the next AGM, discuss funding sources and work that needs to be done. Problems are aired and any complaints or grievances must be dealt with or delegated.
We try to do our best but it is all a challenge indeed.
From: Christopher Geake:
My specific role as a Trustee is to represent the volunteer's perspective in Management Committee discussions. I am also able to bring to the Committee my management experience from my professional life, specifically in the areas of budget monitoring and policy development, and knowledge of health and social care issues.
As a Trustee, I see my role as ensuring good governance of the organization, and supporting the Chief Officer and her team, even if that sometimes means being a “critical friend”.
From Ruth Forrester:
When I was a probation officer, often the best support for offenders came from volunteers (in the 1970s they were called ‘probation volunteers'). My interest in volunteers continued
throughout my career because volunteers can give people many things which cannot be given by official bodies and are more acceptable to offenders.
Volunteers also represent the community acceptance and reconciliation. Powys Challenge embodies these principles in it’s work and when I was approached to be a Trustee, I was pleased to help.
From Nina Wilkins:
Being a trustee gives a greater insight into the working of an organisation. Powys Challenge is a bit like an iceberg. What you see is the excellent work that volunteers and paid staff do but behind all that is the planning, the applications for funding, the recruitment of staff and volunteers and providing the support networks that all require. When placed along side the continual need to protect and preserve the positive and vibrant ethos at the heart of everything, the trustee's task of overseeing this is mountainous indeed. I am still agog at what is involved!
