Alan Smith, our chair of the board of trustees, about a life of Volunteering
To celebrate 40 years of volunteers’ week, who could be better suited than one of Groundwork London’s longest volunteers: Alan Smith, involved on and off with Groundwork since 2001, a trustee since 2012 and our chair since 2014.
Alan Smith, based in South-East London and specialist engineer by trade, has been involved in serving his community volunteering for various organisations in his spare time for over 25 years.
Becoming a Chair
One of his first main voluntary roles was in the political life, as a Councillor for Lewisham. This is how he learned about Groundwork London for the first time (called Groundwork Thames Gateway London South, TGLS, at that time).
“I was elected chair of the Environmental Committee in Lewisham and that came with a role on the board of Groundwork TGLS because Lewisham Council used to be one of their core funders.”
“As councillor, I represented one of the poorest areas of London. And I could see that what Groundwork was doing was very good and helping people. I got engaged with it straight away.”
After a successful career, Alan tells us he is now part of the middle class, but that wasn’t always the case. His humbler beginnings helped him understand the importance of the impact Groundwork was delivering from a lived experience point of view.
The Groundwork London merger in 2009, which saw 7 local trusts in London form one united ‘Groundwork London’ led to Alan join the Local Authority board and later being appointed onto the Groundwork London board.
“In 2014, a couple of years after being a trustee for Groundwork London, I was nominated as a chair. This was a real privilege”.
What did you want to bring to Groundwork London?
Reflecting on his experience as a trustee and then chair of Groundwork London, Alan tells us that while other trustees had lots of finance expertise, helping us grow in a strong and financially sustainable way, his strengths complimented others on the social elements.
“I had a good knowledge of how local authorities work, but also an insight on service beneficiaries, who are different than paid customers in the business world”.
“Engineers are problem solvers. We are wired to find and assemble knowledge to find solutions. 90% of design engineering is plagiarism. It’s about borrowing something from somebody else. We don’t try to keep reinventing the wheel. That kind of approach, I think is very useful.”
Alan’s drive in helping people led him to retire from his career as an engineer in order to become the deputy mayor and cabinet member for regeneration and employment in Lewisham in 2010, a role he pursued alongside his volunteering as chair of Groundwork London.
What did you gain as a volunteer yourself?
Alan told us that one of the main things he gained from his involvement as a councillor and as chair of Groundwork London is to see first-hand the improvement on the communities and on people’s life.
“It is an enormous reward to help somebody”.
Joking that councillors rarely get thanked for their involvement in the community, he shared with us that he appreciates being able to receive direct feedback from the people when visiting Groundwork projects.
More seriously, Alan remembered difficult times in his early adult life, when he experienced homelessness in Notting Hill and how receiving the support from Shelter helped him get out of a situation which ‘could have ended pretty badly’.
“I got through thinking, somewhat, I should repay some of that”.
What is the role of a trustee?
Trustees are a legal requirement for non-profit organisations. They are there to oversee the charity, and play by the rules of the Charity Commission, making sure that they are sustainable financially, and deliver the missions they are set to deliver.
But most of all, Alan explained why a diverse range of people and expertise can really support an organisation.
“When you have a range of knowledge across the board, you have a good board. There are people you can call upon for specialist information and guidance with some of those more pressing issues, particularly around finance. They also bring a fresh eye to things. You will have people who don’t know anything about the particular subject, so we’ll ask some quite difficult questions. It sharpens people’s focus and thought about what’s going on.”
Why are projects’ volunteers important for non-profit organisations?
Groundwork London has a range of projects’ volunteers involved in delivering our services. From our youth forum which is shaping and collaborating on the way we deliver and communicate our wellbeing and youth services; to our workshop volunteers who help refurbish second-hand furniture in Collindale so the local community can access affordable furniture. Groundwork London’s volunteers are an important part of our impact.
One of the key elements which makes volunteers a key aspect of what we do is that they often volunteer in their own community and can therefore, provide insight, knowledge and passion to the work we deliver.
‘They are the lifeblood of those projects’.
What are the benefits of becoming a volunteer?
The reasons to become a volunteer are broad. For some people, it helps them re-engage socially with their communities. It can have a great impact on one’s mental health and wellbeing.
“In most cases, it helps build confidence, which is always helpful in terms of employment. It shows you have some drive, abilities and skills.”
“In the case of becoming a trustee, it is a good way to pass on knowledge. It is an opportunity to do something for society, something they might not have done much of in the past.”
We asked Alan what advice he would give a new trustee joining Groundwork London.
“Don’t be afraid to ask questions. It is such a broad spectrum of things that none of us have a handle on everything that the organisation does. Between us (all the trustees), we’ve probably covered most of it, but not one of us knows all of it.
You need to be able to feel that you are free to ask questions as well. That’s kind of what I’m trying to bring to my style as chair. To give everybody options, talk and discuss what’s going on.”
Is there a Groundwork London project that stood out over the years?
Two projects stay with Alan as some of the most impactful: Achievement coaching, helping young people re-engage with school; and a community gardening project in Plumsted. Alan says that one thing he really enjoys witnessing are the ripple effects of a project on the community, leading to positive outcomes that were not originally intended.
“The end result of it was that the community garden also attracted other people from the area and they started helping each other, particularly with learning English. Just over gardening. To begin with not speaking a common language, but by the end of it, being able to communicate; It’s great to see people become friends and becoming much more part of the community. That was the best result.”
“From my personal point of view, it has been an amazing journey so far. I’ve learnt a lot and it’s probably changed my view of the world to some extent. To be involved in an organisation that does what it does and does it successfully. It’s just a massive privilege.
I have learned that often the simplest and smallest changes are the best.
Taking people with you slowly, rather than try and force change, is always more successful.”