6^th – 10^th November 2023 hosts Trustees’ Week, a time to come together to celebrate the achievements of almost one million trustees in the UK.

The theme for 2023 is: Many voices. Working together. With purpose. This year Trustees’ Week is celebrating the individual talents, viewpoints, and experiences each trustee brings to their board, their collective decision making, and how diversity can help make a charity stronger. We have asked one of our valued trustees to provide us with an insight into their role as a trustee at NIDAS.

Meet Jayne Bouch

Jayne has generously donated her time, skills, and dedication to NIDAS for the last 11 years. When not concentrating on NIDAS, Jayne works in the NHS specialising in Primary Care Contracting.

Why did you choose NIDAS for your trustee role?

NIDAS in its previous form as Women’s Aid, supported myself and my family through an extremely difficult time. We were supported for almost three years following years of domestic abuse from my ex-husband. This was a terrible period in my life and without NIDAS’s support, we would not be where we are today.

NIDAS helped myself and my two daughters to handle situations in a different way and showed us how to not fuel situation with my ex-husband. We were guided to put a safety strategy in place, which protected us against potentially dangerous situations, shown how to not let situations get out of hand, NIDAS support workers attending court with us, and many other areas of support.

My family and I had a long journey ahead of us when we first started out and with NIDAS’s support, we were able to get through the bad times and move into the light to live a life free from domestic abuse.

A few years after our experiences with domestic abuse, I felt it was time for me to give back to NIDAS. Together with my experience as an ex-service user and in a professional capacity working for an NHS corporate organisation, I wanted to use my skills and knowledge to support other families affected by domestic abuse, as well as supporting the NIDAS team to deliver such vital services.

What does it mean to you to be a trustee at NIDAS?

Being a NIDAS trustee is extremely important to me, and NIDAS is an organisation very close to my heart. My role as a trustee is a passion and not just a role or a tick to put on my CV. I have a genuine alliance to NIDAS and value my role immensely in supporting the NIDAS team to deliver quality services to all of its users.

It is great to see how NIDAS have gone from strength to strength over the past two years. It has been exciting to work with the team on strategic thinking and planning, the effective management of resources and assets, and it’s fantastic to see NIDAS in the best financial position they have been in for many years. Well done NIDAS!

Thank you Jayne

Thank you to Jayne and all of our trustees for the time, commitment, skills, knowledge, and effort you bring to NIDAS.

If you would like to find out more about becoming a trustee, visit trusteesweek.org. Find out more about how you can develop your skills through the wide range of events, training, and guidance available.