We have a resident on our Properties Committee and it works well – she has a lot of skills having spent her life working on historic buildings.
We have another resident who is interested in becoming a trustee and is a trained accountant which meets one of our trustees skills gaps.
All trustees sign confidentiality agreements so I dont see it being a problem having a resident as a trustee. We are trying to move away from engaging trustees in the day to day joys of residents lives and they are instead involved in the strategic decisions about redecorating a residents home rather than whether they are in hospital or not.
When running youth charities I would aim for 25% young people on the Board so I dont see why it cannot be the same for Almshouses.
William Clemmey
chiefofficer@municpal-charities.org.uk