Views

Trustees Week – from staff member to Trustee

It’s Trustees Week and as a charity and social enterprise, it is important to recognise the importance of our Board members across our charities in England and Wales as well as Scotland, on how they help support our activities across Britain. 

One Trustee with a special insight into Sporting Memories is Angie Mills-Curtis. Angie was appointed to the Board of Trustees in England and Wales earlier this year having previously been our Volunteer Coordinator for several years.

We started our conversation with Angie by asking how the transition from staff to board member has gone so far.

“I’m still really new to the role, but we meet via zoom every three months for a couple of hours and Chris (Wilkins, our CEO and Co-Founder) goes through the business report and budget showing what’s been happening over the last quarter and what’s coming up next.

“Essentially the Trustees are there to ensure that the Sporting Memories charities stay on track and that funding that is received are allocated and used appropriately - which Sporting Memories definitely are.

“I’m really honoured to be a Trustee of Sporting Memories and to be able to help in its continued success. I’m not a real sports fan as such but I’m definitely a Sporting Memories fan.

“Every Club I’ve ever visited over the years - and I’ve been to a lot - has been full of people enjoying themselves, laughing, joking and making friends through the power of the sessions and that’s the impact that Sporting Memories has.”

Whilst enjoying the new role, Angie is still active on the ground as she supports at our Club in Andover, Hampshire, with regular stints as a volunteer.

“I go regularly to help with promoting the club whenever I get the chance. I’m also first call for volunteer holiday or sickness cover, and I’m actually covering at the moment as one of Andover’s volunteers has just had a knee replacement!

“For me it’s great to still be involved in something that I truly know makes such a big difference to people’s lives.”

In her time with us as part of the staff, Angie was a Project Coordinator in the South of England, where she helped to set up 10 Sporting Memories Clubs, as well as providing face-to-face training for volunteers, before taking on a volunteer coordinator role. We asked Angie to reflect on her time as part of the Sporting Memories team and she shared some of her highlights being part of the day-to-day team.

“I’ve got so many cherished moments and the list could be endless but I think one of my proudest was opening my first Sporting Memories Club. Along with that there’s also been seeing the friendships develop between members at various clubs, and also building that bond with members and carers, which I think is hugely important.

“Once you spend some time at a Club you can understand the real impact they make on individuals, but also their loved ones too.”

We finished our conversation with Angie by asking what her hopes were for the future of Sporting Memories.

“I think it’s the same as it has always been from my point of view – I just want to see Sporting Memories grow and ideally have a club running in every town where possible. I just hope that I can help in my role as a Trustee achieve that moving forward.”