Alex Swallow

1. First of all, about you: what attracted you to becoming a chair/trustee?

Originally I became a member of the Housing Committee for Centre 404. I am from outside London so I wanted to do something that would give me an attachment to the local area. I enjoyed the role and was very surprised to be asked by the Chief Executive if I would consider being a Trustee. To be honest it wasn't something I realised that people my age (27 when I started) could be. I am now also Chair of Housing and on the Building Committee: I've really appreciated becoming more involved.

2. Which organisation(s) do you represent?

Centre 404 is a charity in Islington which supports people with learning disabilities and their families.

3. What particularly attracted you to these organisations?

An ex-girlfriend worked in a L'Arche community in France and I was very impressed with the way that barriers between the residents and the staff were broken down. When I actually applied to be a volunteer at Centre 404, I was immediately made to feel very welcome.

4. Is there anything that would make you an even more effective trustee/chair?

I need to continue to learn from all the other people connected to Centre 404, particularly my fellow Trustees. I think there are still parts of the organisation that I need to understand more about and that it is part of my responsibility as a Trustee to take on board as much as I can.

5. What’s the biggest challenge you have faced in your role?

Trying to bring myself up to speed as the other Trustees have more experience than me, especially because some are family carers and have been wrestling with the issues we confront for most of their lives.

6. What do you consider the most satisfying aspect of your role?

Feeling that we (meaning the Trustees, other volunteers, staff, service users, family of service users and other supporters) are all pulling in the same direction. One of my favourite things I did recently was to attend the live filming of Children in Need at the BBC studios with some other representatives of the charity. The pop group JLS had visited some of our children at our main building, so we got a lot of good publicity out of that. While we are locally based, I really think we punch above our weight and some of our services are setting standards nationally.

7. Do you think there is enough general recognition of the value of the trustee/chair role?

I think that I am treated exceptionally well as a Trustee by the organisation. In society in general, I think that many people don't understand what Trustees do but that this ties in with other prevailing misconceptions of charities. I also work for a charity full-time, so I see this from a number of perspectives.

8. (If you have been a trustee/chair for some time) have you felt that the demands made on trustees/chairs have grown over time?

I haven't been involved enough for long enough to be sure but my perception is that over time the demands on Trustees have grown as the charitable sector has professionalised and expanded.

9. What do you think is the ideal term of office that a trustee/chair should serve?

For a Trustee I think it depends very much on the person. As long as people retain passion for the cause I don't see why they should have to leave. A Chair probably deserves a break after a few years!

10. What tip would you give to a new trustee?

Recognise what your own skills are and offer them up. Even if the people around you seem to know more than you do it is likely that you have your own area of expertise that can make you helpful to the organisation you are supporting.

11. If you weren’t a trustee, what would you do with that time?

Have a decent sleep! Only joking, I expect I would do some other sort of voluntary work. There may come a time in my life when I have had enough of volunteering but for the moment I feel I have something to give and even more to learn.

12. What steps do you take to increase/retain your organisation’s membership?

For a start I think that everyone connected with Centre 404 is evangelical about it, which helps spread the word. For example, I haven't met a single member of staff for whom I perceive it is 'just a job', they care deeply about the future of the organisation. We are interested in updating our facilities to attract a larger and more diverse range of people: our current fundraising efforts are focused around improving and extending our main building.

13. What question do you want to ask next week’s trustee?

How do you make sure that you are kept up to speed with what is happening in your organisation 'on the ground'?

For your opportunity to answer Alex's question, please click on the link to the Forum.