Introducing Clotilda our first Young Trustee!

4 April 2024

We recently started recruiting for a young person to join our Board. As a youth organisation, we believe it’s crucial that young people are given a voice and an opportunity to have a say on the direction of our work moving forward. YMCA’s Get On Board supports young people’s journey to becoming full Board members at their YMCA. YMCAs have always delivered activities that benefit young people. Over time there has been a positive shift towards programmes that benefit young people and are designed for and by young people.

After a lengthy recruitment process we were delighted to welcome Clotilda to our board as our first young trustee. She has been a part of YMCA Black Country Group for many years and her desire to give something back is what encouraged her to apple. Through the Get on Board programme, Clotilda was able to attend a week long residential to learn the ins and outs of becoming a board member; what it means, why it’s important and the impact you can make. Clotilda has been paired up with one of our long-standing Board Members, Phil Walker, who will “walk” Clotilda through the process; they meet on a regular basis to go through board papers and processes to ensure that Clotilda is confident on how she can give her input.

Here’s a little more from Clotilda herself;

Hi my name is Clotilda, my story with YMCA starts many years ago. I came to YMCA needing support through the Open Door project, fast-forward to today, I am now living at Y-Living City Gateway whilst I complete my nurse training at New Cross Hospital. After being with YMCA since I was in school, to where I am now I wanted to become a Young Trustee to give back and to lend the skills and experience I have gained to a good cause, to help people in need, who may find themselves in a similar situation to mine. Recently I attended the Get on Board training program which was absolutely amazing! I learned a lot about the program and I met other wonderful trustees. I learned new skills, gained useful knowledge and had the opportunity to develop myself as well as an understanding how the organisation works. I have always wanted to say thank you to  YMCA for everything they did for me and being a Trustee is another way I can help other people in need like I was and help make a difference.

Listen to Clotilda’s journey with YMCA