Warwickshire Young Trustee Development

Our Warwickshire young trustee development programme was an exceptional opportunity for more than 20 young people to develop their skills and interest in joining the boards of organisations – from local community festivals to NPO’s. 

We worked with the Warwickshire Local Cultural Education Partnership (Shout Out for the Arts) and Arts Connect (Regional Arts Council England Bridge Organisation at the time) to recruit young people from across the county and attend a training day in the splendid Jacobean mansion that is St Johns House (Warwick) in December 2022.

The day featured an exploration of what a trustee is, the different type of organisations they might come across (including those they might join a board of which isn’t a trustee; but a director committee member for example), the skills needed to effectively share their voice in a meeting, the importance of diverse representation and how to make the most of such an opportunity. We also undertook role plays of meetings with existing trustees who also provided a direct insight to the various roles they play in their organisations.

After the training day all of the young people reported that they felt either excited, confident, prepared or ‘looked forward’ to joining boards.

More pictures and comments from young people can be found on Shout Out for the Arts’ blog at: https://shoutoutforthearts.co.uk/2023/01/04/a-unique-experience-training-day/ 

Since then, up to June 2023, we have delivered monthly support sessions discussing young people’s experiences on boards, providing support and guidance, and maintaining a peer network of young trustees through a Slack workspace – a safe and convenient way to interact and ask questions 24/7.

What did young people learn from the programme? A few of the responses include:

“I learnt a lot about the role of the board in a charity – I’d never had a chance to explore them so it was very interesting and new.”

“A better understanding of what trustees are and what goes into the work that they do.”

“How a trustee should act in the world of work, what a trustee should do in different situations, and how the situation should be approached.”