Shropshire Star

Shropshire's children's hospice seeks new volunteer trustees

Shropshire's children's hospice has launched a search to find more volunteer trustees to join its board.

Published
Steve Henly

Hope House wants to find people with the skills and dedication to play a vital role in making sure the charity is run in the interests of the children and families they support.

Its search coincides with annual Trustee’s Week (November 4 to 8), an initiative led by the Charity Commission to promote the importance of trustees. They say that there are already more than one million trustees in the UK overseeing 196,000 charities. It is a vital and important role.

Meinir Wigley has been a Hope House Children’s Hospices trustee for 12 years. She lives on her family’s farm in Mid Wales and works full time for Natural Resources Wales.

She first came across Hope House when she was involved in local fundraising and was really impressed by the difference the charity made to local children with life-threatening conditions.

Meinir Wigley

“When I was fortunate to then have three healthy boys I felt the need to help," she said.

"My advice to anyone thinking of applying would be, go for it. It is a hugely rewarding opportunity to work with people who want to make a difference to children and families.

“The most challenging element is time. Juggling work, a busy family and the family farm means that I have to make sure that I have time to read the board and committee papers before meetings so that I can make as valuable a contribution as possible.”

Steve Henly is the current Chairman of Trustees at Hope House Children’s Hospices. He became a trustee eight years ago after having spent 30 years in the private sector and 16 years running his own businesses.

Vision

“I wanted to do something that used my business insight and commercial skills not to just make money but for a more worthwhile purpose,” he said.

“Being a trustee can be an extremely rewarding and worthwhile experience. We need people who bring skills from many walks of life and offer diverse ways of thinking.

"We are looking for trustees who have nursing, fundraising, commercial or legal experience. We’re also keen to hear from ex-service users, Welsh speakers and people from all cultures and backgrounds.”

Chief Executive Andy Goldsmith invited anyone who might be interested in becoming a trustee to call the hospices and arrange a tour and a chat.

He adds: “Our vision is to ensure that children affected by conditions so serious that they’re not expected to live longer than early adulthood enjoy, together with their families, the best possible quality of life - with access to specialist care and bereavement support, when and where they need it.

“It’s a big and bold vision that we may never achieve, but one we have committed ourselves to. We will seek to deliver what we can ourselves and work in partnership with others to support its achievement.

“If you share our vision and have the energy, experience and time to join our Board of Trustees to lead, guide and support a capable, dedicated and enthusiastic team we will be delighted to hear from you.”

You can find out more about the role and apply online at www.hopehouse.org.uk/jobs