Swansea charity Faith in Families welcomes record number of new trustees

Swansea charity Faith in Families has welcomed six new trustees including a poverty expert and high-profile business leaders from Swansea.

The revamp of the board follows the charity’s completion of the Pilotlight360 programme run by Pilotlight, a charity that supports other charities to grow and develop.

In the Pilotloght360 programme, a charity works with a team of four senior business leaders – Pilotlighters – over 10 months to review operations and strategy.

“The process resulted in us having a set of challenges to complete,” says Faith in Families CEO Cherrie Bija. “We then linked in with Lloyds Bank Foundation and their consultant Bev Garside, who supported us to complete these challenges.

“As part of the programme, Pilotlight helped us look at our governance structure, and Lloyds Bank Foundation helped us recruit new trustees.”

The new trustees are: Karen Grunhut, who recently retired having spent the last 20 +years in roles focussed on tackling poverty and social exclusion; Jane Parker, an area manager for Swansea Building Society; former director of The Wave and Swansea Sound Helen Bowden; retired financial adviser Martin Jones; AB Glass founder Alan Brayley; and Jessica Harrington, managing director of Make the Change Consultancy, which supports businesses to win funding and realise business efficiencies.

“We recently held the first board meeting of the year where five of the six new Trustees joined us,” said Faith in Families CEO Cherrie Bija. “It was dynamic and exciting and we are thrilled at the way they will take our charity forward to the next level. Many of them have thousands of connections and a great deal of influence across the city.

“This could not have happened without Pilotlight. When we began our Pilotlight journey I really had no idea whether the time and commitment would be worth it and if the promise would be real. We were blown away by the insight, challenge and support from the experts that joined us, and we’re delighted that the journey has resulted in us gaining six amazing new board members.”

At the recent board meeting the team signed the Time to Change mental health pledge, which indicates a commitment to changing the way we all think and act about mental health in the workplace.

“This really signifies how we intend to ensure that we do everything we can to build a city where every child can reach their full potential,” says Cherrie. “We hold on tightly to our values to promote, instil and demonstrate CARE – Compassion, Aspiration, Respect and Empathy.
“Our Mission is to build better futures. Rooted in our communities, we nurture growth, cultivating fairer opportunities for all, especially during childhood and improve how people who live in poverty and trauma are seen by others and to create positive change.

“We have an unshakable belief that we can reshape poverty if we unify and speak truth to those in power and motivate everyone in a call to action. The children we work with are precious valuable human beings, they deserve the opportunity to live their best lives and for their childhood to be safe, equitable and inclusive.”

The new board is keen to promote the work of the charity in Swansea and the difference it makes in the city to some of the most vulnerable children and family. They aim to raise awareness of what Faith in Families achieves and broaden its reach through their connections.

“We’re delighted to welcome out new trustees, who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience from various sectors,” said Cherrie. “We can’t wait to see what they help us to achieve.”

The trustees will have different areas of focus, reflecting their skills and experience. Karen Grunhut’s previous roles include being Communities First Co-ordinator in Bonymaen, Welsh Government’s Child Poverty Unit, Swansea Council’s Tackling Poverty Manager. Most recently she set up Crisis UKs only Welsh homelessness services. Speaking about her new role as a Faith in Families trustee, she said:

“I’m looking forward to working with the board, staff and service users to ensure the services we deliver have the maximum impact for the children and families. We’re very lucky to have such an incredibly committed staff team. I’m looking forward to working with the staff, the other trustees and service users to ensure the services we deliver have the maximum impact for the children and families we currently support and will need to support in the months and years ahead.”