This Trustees’ Week, the chair of our trustees’ board, Jeremy Horsell, has shared a few words on the rewarding and vital role of trustees in an organisation like Touchstone…
What an absolute pleasure and privilege it is for me to be chairing Touchstone’s Trustee Board! The 2022 Trustees Week is a celebration of the work of charity trustees throughout the UK and an acknowledgement of their ‘contribution, passion, skill, and commitment’. So what better time to reflect on the contribution of our volunteer Touchstone trustees in these incredibly challenging times for staff and service users alike?
The theme of this year’s trustee week is ‘Making a difference in changing times’ and you won’t need me to remind you of the extraordinary challenges of the pandemic and now the cost of living crisis with all its implications for local and national government finances. At the same time, we as an organisation and as individuals are having to confront severe economic hardship and a huge increase in demand for our mental and physical health and wellbeing services.
As trustees, we are inevitably somewhat detached from the day-to-day realities of operational delivery but, without doubt, there is a real and heartfelt commitment amongst all our trustees to the Touchstone ‘cause’ – our mission and values. And we consciously work hard to ensure these goals and our work align with the aspirations of the senior leadership team led by our CEO Arfan.
Whilst there can hardly have been a more challenging time for Touchstone as an organisation, we as a group of trustees are excited and wholeheartedly supportive of the reframed strategic focus for Touchstone – and will ensure that the resources will be there to support the SLT in a financially sustainable way. We support, we challenge, and we celebrate!
So to all my fellow trustees I say a huge thank you for your commitment, your expertise, your passion, all your diverse views and experience. I truly believe that Touchstone is extraordinarily well served by this group of trustees and we are fortunate to have you all on board ‘Inspiring communities, transforming lives’.
