It’s Trustees’ Week, a chance to highlight the unsung heroes of the charity sector.  Trustees ensure their charity has a clear strategy and that its work and goals are delivering on its mission.  They are the ‘guardians of purpose’ for the organisation who ensure that the needs of those they support are at the heart of all activity.   

At Book Aid International we are governed by our Board of eleven trustees, all of whom bring their skills and experience to help us thrive. 

This Trustees’ Week we talked to a few members of our Board about why they chose to become a trustee, what excites them most about the work the charity is doing and what their hopes are for the future of Book Aid International.  

““I joined Book Aid International nine years ago as I was very enthusiastic about the programme development work that the charity was undertaking.  This is an area that continues to grow, by looking at ways to ensure our local partners are in a good position to make the most of the books they receive. 

One of my greatest pleasures is in the fact that we now work with organisations and groups to enable us to get books to refugees – both those in Europe and in Africa. 

To continue to increase its work with partners – both with partners who receive our books and with partners who share our interests and concerns – I would like to see growth in initiatives like the Community Reading Awards programme which give us a real opportunity to hear the voices of those we work with.” 

“When an opportunity came up to become a trustee at Book Aid International and bring my knowledge of publishing, distribution and data to the Board, I jumped at the chance. Working in publishing, I’ve supplied titles to Book Aid International for many years and have always been impressed by the valuable work that they do. The scale and impact that the charity has on communities around the world is huge. The charity delivers hope and joy within the covers of every book. 

It is great to see the charity working closely with local partners in areas of greatest need and becoming ever-more focused on supporting partner needs, taking supply of diverse titles from publishers and curating meaningful and joyful collections of books for partner libraries, schools and other projects. 

The charity is going through a major transformation as it looks to move warehouse, with profound implications for the people, culture and ways of working. This is a big project, and Book Aid International has an on-going capital appeal to help deliver it. Most importantly, there is the potential to expand Book Aid International’s reach by distribution of even more books and I’m pleased to play a small part in helping the charity realise this ambition to grow its work. 

I want the charity’s changes in warehousing and office to have minimal impact on delivery of partner projects whilst creating the capacity to accelerate its work once the transition is complete.” 

“As a publisher, I’m aware of the challenge of our domestic context in which we have a plentiful supply of books set against a current decline in reading for pleasure.  Working with Book Aid International is almost the inverse, a desire to read from widespread communities that requires a steady supply of books and complex logistical challenges to be managed.   

The team at Book Aid International are so knowledgeable and passionate about overcoming delivery challenges and empowering the communities in which they work. I’m proud to be a trustee of their organisation and to support them in their mission.” 

We’d like to thank all our trustees for volunteering their time to support us. You can find out more about our Board here: Our Board of Trustees. 

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