Get On Board! By Deborah Gabriel
January 23, 2007 - Black Brittian Daily News
A group of friends responded to a story about hardship in Ghana by forming an international charity to provide financial assistance. Nana Sekyiamah tells Black Britain why more individuals should consider being trustees of charities.
Today sees the launch of a new campaign called Get on Board , which is aimed at recruiting more individuals to become trustees of charitable organisations. There are around 190,000 UK charities worth in the region of £36 billion and currently 93 per cent of voluntary organisations have between one and five trustee vacancies. But only 4.7 per cent of charity trustees are from ethnic minority backgrounds.
“If everyone just thinks ‘what can I do to make a difference’ it will have a huge impact in the long run.” - Nana Sekyiamah, Trustee of the Korle-Bu Family Fund
As 29 year old Nana Sekyiamah discovered, there are different routes to becoming a trustee of a charity. In her case she became a trustee by forming a charitable organisation. It all started when a friend read a story being circulated about children being detained at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, in Accra, Ghana because the parents could not afford to pay the medical bills. She told Black Britain:
“We just could not believe that this was happening. We started to investigate deeper and found that it is actually a regular occurrence.” Sekyiamah learnt that if the parents cannot pay and do not have a sponsor to pay the bills then the child is detained at the hospital until the debt is cleared. A few friends who read the story decided to do something about apart from just sympathising and so joined together to form a charity, with Sekyiamah being appointed as one of the trustees:
“We wanted to meet the practical needs of the parents and the child,” she said. Although down the line, the charity will get more involved in lobbying, right now they have decided to focus purely on fund-raising so the charity can act as sponsors to step in when parents are unable to pay their child’s hospital bills:
“Part of our work in the future will be to do a lot more in terms of lobbying to try to get the hospital to change this rule, but right now we just want to raise funds,” Sekyiamah said.
Korle-Bu Family Fund (KBFF) is already an international charity with a branch in the US where co-founder Malaka Gyeke is based; there is also a branch in Ghana itself. With trustees based at various locations: “It really is an international charity with an international effort,” Sekyiamah told Black Britain.
Sekyiamah has come up with creative ways of fund-raising, from organising singles parties to networking. Other supporters have also organised events and donated some of their profits to KBFF. She explained her key role within the organisation as a trustee:
“Gaining experience in the voluntary setcor is a good place to start It feels really rewarding to be able to do something where I can see how I am contributing to my country.”- Nana Sekyiamah, Trustee of the Korle-Bu Family Fund
“Being the face of the charity, representing the charity, speaking about what the charity does, raising money and keeping up with the legal requirements.”
Having worked in the voluntary sector for several years, Sekyiamah already gained a great deal of experience of how charities operate. She insists that as a practical person she prefers to try to find concrete ways of addressing issues rather than just talking about them. She told Black Britain:
“If everyone just thinks ‘what can I do to make a difference’ it will have a huge impact in the long run.” Sekyiamah believes that the types of people who make good trustees are: “People who are interested in what is going on in the community.”
Those without the background in voluntary work that Sekyiamah has gained would be well advised to start off by volunteering with an organisation and getting a taste of working for a charity by learning the ropes.
Having been brought up in Ghana Sekyiamah gained a great deal of personal fulfilment in being able to run a charity that helps people from her home country: “It feels really rewarding to be able to do something where I can see how I am contributing to my country,” She said.
In the year the charity has been operating the biggest challenge Sekyiamah has faced has been one of time, as she already has a full-time job as a personal development trainer and life coach and in addition sits on the management board of the London and South East Regions Global Dimensions, which promotes global education.
But she is adamant that it is a worthwhile pursuit and would definitely encourage others, particularly from the African Diaspora, to follow her example. People that have concerns about issues that impact on the lives of the global African community should do something about it: “That is really why you get involved,” she told Black Britain.
Acting as a trustee of a charity usually involves decision-making. Many mainstream charities are also trying to be more reflective of the multicultural society that they serve and would welcome trustees from the black communities. Sekyiamah advises individuals seeking to go down this route to seek out charities that have the same aims and objectives that they hold to find a suitable organisation to work for.
Although trustee work is voluntary and therefore unpaid work, aside from certain expenses, it does have added benefits, as Sekyiamah explained: “It’s a really good way of building up your skills and experience and gives you essential skills that can help you move forward in your career. I can really see how working in the voluntary sector has helped me.”
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