Trustee Story – Moin, Trustee with Outlookers
About you
I am the founder and owner of Valli Opticians, an award-winning company and one the largest independent opticians’ groups in the UK.
How did you find out about becoming a Charity Trustee?
In 2016, a business colleague of mine saw a post by Outlookers (formerly known as Kirklees Visual Impairment Network ) who at the time were looking for trustees. I went and met the founder and Chair, David Quarmby, and was impressed by his passion and the work the charity was delivering. I realised there was a lot of value I could personally add with my business experience and agreed to become a trustee.
Can you give us some examples of the tasks you undertake in your Trustee role:
As vice-chair, I get involved in many tasks such as strategy, business development, finance, fundraising, and recruitment.
We merged with another charity this year and I lead on the work that needed to be carried out on this. This was a complex and varied task at times where we needed to ensure the legal aspects of the merger were carried out correctly.
I also lead on the project to rebrand the charity, from sourcing the correct marketing agency, right through to working with other Outlookers colleagues to ensure the new brand was a true representation of the charity.
How has becoming a Charity Trustee made a difference to your life?
There is a great quote which is “Always give without remembering and always receive without forgetting”. My family brought me up like this and I try to live in this way. What we have achieved in the 7 years I have been a trustee has been outstanding. My goal when I joined Outlookers was to help the charity grow. The work Outlookers carry out is exceptional and extremely relevant, however we needed to reach more people in the visually impaired community to provide them with the outstanding peer support and technology support Outlookers specialise in. We now have multiple drop-in centres across Kirklees and every person we help is an achievement we are immensely proud of.
What would you say to encourage other people to consider becoming a Charity Trustee?
For me, becoming a trustee gave me the opportunity to play a role in a completely different organisation to my day job. I love working with incredibly talented and humble people, helping to shape a charity that I am passionate about, and having a real say in issues that are meaningful to me.
Has Moin inspired you? If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a Trustee please visit:
https://tslkirklees.org.uk/have-you-ever-thought-about-becoming-a-charity-trustee/