Amanda came to Orkney in 2021 and joined the Board of Relationships Scotland Orkney (RSO) shortly after. When their previous Chair approached her about becoming Vice-Chair with a view to succeeding him, she laughed and said "I guess I couldn't keep dodging it forever!". She has now been Chair since July 2025.
I’m a qualified counsellor in my day job, and I’ve volunteered as a charity trustee on and off for the past 12 years. In 2017 I was asked to consider becoming Chair of the mental health charity I was with then, but I chickened out – I think I probably had good enough experience and skills for the role, but I really lacked confidence.
Being Chair pushes me outside my comfort zone, but in a moderate, manageable way, so that I can learn and develop new skills without freaking out too much! e.g. the challenges listed below, which certainly are challenges, but also very much development opportunities.
Now my confidence connecting with both my fellow trustees and also the staff team in the organisation has increased a lot. I’m always more at ease when I have a sense of purpose, and I think that as Chair I get to spend more time than I used to with the staff, and get a deeper insight into the day-to-day of the work the team does, and the challenges they face. I hope that in turn I bring some of that deeper understanding into discussions at the Board about our strategy and governance, so I can support the managers in providing two-way communication between staff and Trustees.
I especially appreciate the regular conversations I have with our Service Director, where I act as an advisor and sounding board on behalf of the trustees. I enjoy the relatively close working relationship I’ve been able to develop with the charity’s managers.
Like any trustee, I have a duty to pay close attention to matters of the company’s governance and management, and because I actively enjoy working with finances and contracts and so on, this part of the role is genuinely a highlight for me
When I agreed to become Chair I was mainly worried about two things: running Board meetings effectively, and the more public-facing aspects of the role like representing the organisation externally, or standing up to speak at the AGM.
Just over a year in, I’m not going to lie, both these things still scare me. I’m quite an introverted person and I’m much more comfortable speaking to one or two people at a time than a roomful. I’m also not very confident about managing and containing a Board discussion. Nevertheless, I take a deep breath and do these things, and every time builds on the time before, and creates a little bit more confidence.
In more practical terms, being Chair is a considerably bigger time commitment than being a regular trustee was, and that can sometimes be quite challenging. I can be a fairly flexible, as I’m self-employed, but it can still be tough to find overlaps in schedules for important meetings.
Amanda's advice for trustees:
I think a lot of people think “oh no, I’m not the right sort of person to be a charity trustee” and then out of the ones that don’t think that and do become trustees, a lot think “oh, I’m not the right sort of person to be Chair”. There’s no question that not everyone would fancy it, and you do have to be willing to give it a go; but you really don’t have to be some strong, confident leader-type. (Actually, based on some of my experiences in Board rooms over the years, it’s probably much better for the organisation if you’re not!).
I consider myself lucky to have had mentoring into the role during 2 years as Vice-Chair by my predecessor, and to be working with an experienced organisation manager who’s very capable and proactive. VAO also provided me with some mentoring and guidance as I stepped up into the role. I don’t think this is especially unusual. You may be leader of the Board of Trustees, and so in some ways of the organisation, but you’re not on your own.
To end, I must just mention the huge satisfaction and sense of contributing to the local community in very tangible ways that I get from being RSO’s Chair. Like many people, it’s important to me to give back, and this is a really great way to do that.
