Trustee week 2020

Every year trustee contributions are celebrated during Trustee Week which takes place 2^nd – 8^th November. This year, as we have appointed a new chair, gained new trustees from our LinkAge merger in April, and been joined by 5 more trustees since then, we felt it was an important occasion to mark and to introduce you to some of the people working behind the scenes at Age UK Bristol.

So what does a trustee do?

Trustees play an essential role in the running of a charity, which is almost always unpaid (At Age UK Bristol this is an unpaid role). Whilst it is not a role to be taken on lightly and may be demanding of time and skills, especially within a smaller organisation, it can be rewarding for many reasons.

A charity’s trustees share ultimate responsibility for making sure the charity is doing what it is set up to do, in line with its charitable purposes, and that all decisions put the needs of the beneficiaries first. They control, and are legally responsible for, a charity’s management and administration, and uphold a responsibility to safeguard the charity’s assets and reputation.

Meet our Trustees

Mina Malpass has been a Trustee at Age UK Bristol for 5 years and was recently appointed to Chair. Mina has had a long career in the voluntary sector and when she retired from her role in 2010 she began volunteering in her community, as a Trustee for another organisation and as a volunteer reader at RSVP – although Mina quickly found herself getting involved in the organisational side of this voluntary body.

Through her work with RSVP, Mina became involved in Age UK Bristol’s work and the early stages of the Bristol Ageing Better programme. “I wanted to get involved in an organisation that was small, lively, energetic, doing things that are going to make a difference, I have never ceased to be impressed by how amazing Age UK Bristol is.”

Mina hopes to bring her previous experience and knowledge of Age UK Bristol to the role of Chair and offer a “voice of stability and continuity during times when the organisation is experiencing a lot of change.”

(Mina is pictured at her allotment.)

Guy Robertson is the author of ’10 Steps of Positive Ageing’ and lead a lot of the strategic work on older people’s services for Bristol City Council before moving on to leading a national programme for the Department of Health to find new ways of supporting older people at home rather in hospital.

Guy has worked with Age UK Bristol on a number of occasions during his career, and after having more free time available to him he decided he wanted to “put something back into the city I love.”

Guy believes strongly in challenging internalized ageism. “I think we need to begin to better understand the psychological and emotional aspects of ageing.  We are individuals and our experience of ageing is an individual phenomenon - though heavily influenced by external factors.”

Jo Sutton has a history in finance systems and, in the last decade, has specialized in providing cloud-based solutions to charities. This experience gave Jo an interest and insight into how important it is for organisations to have efficient back office tools to free up resources to be able to concentrate on their strategic goals.

Jo has lived and worked in Bristol since 1987 and when considering various volunteering roles she decided she wanted to be involved with the local community. “COVID has highlighted the importance of neighbourly cooperation and support, and it has been particularly difficult for older people who can be isolated and limited in mobility. If I could wave a magic wand I would bottle up the lockdown spirit from last April and spread it liberally around all Bristol neighbourhoods in the years to come to encourage generations to mix, the able to help the less able and to end loneliness.”

Trevor Jones spent his career working with young people with the last 23 years as CEO at local organisation, Young Bristol. But there comes a time when you’re feeling a bit past it for working with young people so having taken early retirement he decided to continue to use his skills and the knowledge of Bristol built up over the years, and he joined the board of LinkAge in 2016.

Trevor took over as chair in 2017 and led the merger negotiations with Age UK Bristol. LinkAge and Age UK Bristol merged on 1st April 2020 and along with Jim and Ross, Trevor joined the AUKB board of Trustees. He says, “Bristol’s a great city to live and work but there are many issues and inequalities that need challenging and addressing. I’m looking forward to using my experience and knowledge of the city to the benefit of the people that we work with through Age UK Bristol.”

Judith Brown is an 81-year-old Mother, Grandmother, and is a trustee for both Age UK Bristol and Bristol Older Peoples' Forum. Judith was recently widowed and says that her volunteer work saved her, and got her through the first grief. Judith works for the empowerment of older people, and for their welfare and better life. She has a wealth of experience in the field of campaigning and older people, she is the Chair of Bristol Ageing Better and a co-optee to Bristol City Council’s People Committee.

"It seemed natural to be a Trustee for Age UK Bristol, a leader in the field and a charity that does so much for older people. I look forward to the months ahead!”

Jim Currie is retirement coach and has a history in marketing, he is interested in shaping the strategic priorities and future direction of Age UK Bristol. Jim is invested in getting the right message across in an informative, persuasive way. Previously, Jim was a LinkAge Trustee and joined Age UK Bristol as a part of the merger.

“I am passionate about the potential of older people. It’s tough to say, but they are sometimes written off. Yet older people still have so much talent, energy, and creativity. Age UK Bristol is all about supporting and empowering people to lead fulfilled, enjoyable, high-quality lives. So it fits with my values!”

We’ll be updating this piece introducing all of our trustees over the following weeks.