From 6th – 10th November it’s Trustees Week and we'd like to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful board of trustees!

Our board of trustees are a diverse group of individuals from a range of backgrounds, who contribute so much to ensuring we can continue supporting older victim-survivors of abuse.

Their skills, knowledge and experience inform our direction and their dedication to our mission is appreciated by every single member of our team.

We spoke to some of our trustees on why they chose to become a trustee for Hourglass and what it means for them.

What was your original motivation to becoming a trustee of Hourglass?

"I became very aware that whilst there was a range of abuse and domestic violence services available for women and young people, there was no specific provision for older people until I found Action on Elder Abuse, now Hourglass. The charity is unique in its purpose and whilst this is positive in lots of ways it brings its own challenges and so I joined as a trustee to help shape the service strategically and manage those challenges, bringing my professional and personal experience to bear. "

"Hourglass has been close to my heart for many years - I am the owner of a Home Care business and the thought of anyone in my care ever being abused horrifies me - to this end I wanted to become a trustee and do all I could to support the end of abuse towards older people. 

"Throughout my career I have been committed to and passionate about safeguarding older people and joining Hourglass as the only UK-wide charity dedicated to ending the harm, abuse and exploitation of older people has enabled me to continue being involved in this critical work."

How has being a trustee made a difference to you, either professionally or personally?

“On a personal level I have learnt how charities are structured in terms of legislation and how funding is accessed and secured. Importantly I have confirmed my belief that Hourglass fulfils an amazing role on very little funding, impacting positively on older people's lives, often filling a void not filled by statutory agencies.

I have gained in confidence in chairing meetings and speaking in public about the charity. I have a real sense of giving something back as well as gaining positively myself. This enhances my wellbeing and sense of self. Being a trustee can be and certainly is for me, a mutually beneficial thing to be involved in."

“Being there to support the Hourglass team who work tirelessly to be there 24 hours a day to those in need, that means the world to me. Being a trustee allows me to be part of the change that the world needs to see.”

"Being a trustee has allowed me to remain connected to the work to safeguard older people and to help raise awareness of the prevalence of abuse in our society and to garner support from all sectors to create a safer environment so older people can grow old safely. As a Trustee I can keep myself updated about the current safeguarding issues impacting older people and how as a charity we can help and support change to benefit older people."

As a trustee of Hourglass, what ambition do you have for yourself or the charity?

"I have two key ambitions for the charity. Importantly with securing funding becoming increasingly more complex and at times difficult one of my key ambitions for the charity matches that of the board and the CEO and team, which is to ensure the charity is sustainable. Equally, it is also important that we continue to work hard to ensure that awareness of the issues and commitment to make changes that will make a difference, is high on the agenda both politically and societally."

"I think my short term ambition is to raise awareness and make sure that Hourglass is a household name to contact when people see abuse in the older population or are being abused themselves. I think the ultimate end goal for every trustee is to not be needed, for the charity itself not to be needed, for us all to be out of a job and the end of abuse towards older people ."

"I am hopeful that through the charity's lobbying and campaigning work over the next few years that awareness about the abuse of older people is raised significantly and that the charity receives the funding it needs to continue and to expand our casework across all nations of the UK. I also hope that our Safer Ageing Index will influence how other agencies tackle the issues facing older people in society."