Helen Ralston

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

After 18 years in financial and general management in an international electronics company, I transferred into the charity sector as CEO of a major fundraising volunteer-led charity. I have also been the Chairman of a pension fund and on the grant-making alumni fund of my old university and on the assessment committee of a grant-making charity. I felt I could take all this rounded broad experience and put it to good use in new arenas.

2. Which organisation(s) do you represent?

Asthma UK – promotes services for the 5 million people affected by asthma, funds research to find the causes and new treatments and campaigns for change to improve the quality of life of those who suffer from asthma.
Penrose - works across London to reduce re-offending and rebuild the lives of those trying to regain independent lives after crime and mental disorder.

3. What particularly attracted you to these organisations?

My sister-in- law and some close friends have asthma and I felt that those not affected by it on a day-to-day basis have little understanding how devastating it can be. I was interested in mental health  again from experience with friends and in housing but had not really been involved with issues surrounding ex-offenders so wanted to be challenged by learning new things.
Having been in a charity which was an appealing cause, I wanted to contribute to ones which had a harder time raising funds and profile. I was also extremely lucky to find two charities who saw value in bringing people on who wanted to question and challenge. Even though you may not have personal experience of the particular area, it is crucial to have empathy with the cause. It is much easier to be constructively questioning when you know you do not know all the answers!! A fresh line of thinking can be invigorating to the charity - and learning new skills and tackling new topics can be very rewarding for the trustee.

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

More time to get to know the other trustees outside Board meetings – and thus build strong open dialogue and find the “gold nuggets” hidden in their experience and networks.

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

In one charity – expanding the sources of funding. In the other -  handling the rapid changes in the commissioning environment. And overall in the charity world – trying to reconcile the demands of the external environment and the need for professionalism within the ethos and limited resources of  charitable entities.

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

Working with well- constituted boards of trustees from very varied backgrounds of all ages who want to see their chosen cause prosper and grow in a changing environment. Being a “critical friend” to the CEO and able, committed senior management teams so they can try out ideas in a co-operative atmosphere but know that there is a clear boundary between governance and management.

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

In short, no. I believe there may still be a view that all it takes for a trustee is to turn up to some Board meetings and read a few papers beforehand. If it were better understood what the responsibilities of a trustee are (and how varied and interesting the many topics they have to get to grips with!), I think this actually would attract more people. Definitely when it comes to an office-bearer role – and in particular Chair -  there is not enough recognition in the wider world of the challenges – and what it takes to keep several different constituencies all happy, drive the charity forward and forge a good open honest working relationship with the CEO and senior management team.

8. Have you felt that the demands made on trustees/Chairs have grown over time?

I have been Vice Chair of Penrose almost since joining the Board last year but have been involved with third sector boards for over 15 years. Yes the demands have grown but for the most part only to bring them up to a correct professional standard – however recently I am concerned that the demands are becoming such that little recognition is given to the fact that charities vary enormously in terms of resources and expertise – and one set of demands cannot feasibly be applied to all. I see a danger of too much form-filling and box-ticking – not what people want to do in their spare time!!

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

This very much depends on the stage of lifecycle of the individual charity and its recent performance plus what issues it is facing. However in general I cannot see a trustee really being able to contribute until at least one year in to getting to know the charity and so I would recommend two terms of three years – with the ability to extend for another year maximum to facilitate succession planning if needed. For a Chair or Vice Chair – I see at least a three year term as being invaluable so both Chair and CEO can get to grips with any thorny issues without thinking short-term – and have a chance to build up a successful working relationship. I would recommend a maximum of six years for an office- bearer.

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

Early on – get out and about. Talk to staff – visit projects – meet other charities in the same field – and ask loads of questions. Use the web – there is plenty of interesting and useful information available – from CTN, Charity Commission, ACEVO, NCVO, DSC…

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

Probably get more involved in a hands-on way with some volunteering more locally – and there is always the tennis which I say I will play some day….

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

I believe that there are several different roles – supporter, volunteer and member. These may overlap but in today’s time pressured life, I think you need to acknowledge that “membership” can be off-putting to many people as it resonates with voting, AGM papers etc and it can carry an administration burden for the charity out of all proportion to the membership income. What is important is people who will give time and/or money to a charity – and therefore we should not think of people as being in discrete boxes but acknowledge that they may wish different involvement at different stages in their lives. Validity for a charity does not just come from the number of members.

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

What ways are there to get people who have not been involved with charities e.g. out of commerce or public sector to see charity trusteeship as being a role which can give to as much as it gets from the trustee?

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