As Citizens Advice North Herts prepares to continue to support the community during the coming year, meet Darren Coyle, the organisation’s Chair of Trustees.

I joined Citizens Advice North Hertfordshire as a Trustee in early 2021, and became chair in October 2021.

I was keen to volunteer my time to support the vital work that Citizens Advice provides to help the local community.

On a very personal level, I was also highly motivated to give something back, given the help I remember Citizens Advice gave to my parents when I was growing up and times were really difficult during the recession in the early 1990s.

Some things you never forget in times of need, and Citizens Advice was certainly a lifeline to my family back then. 

In my day job, I work for a large international charity, where I lead a team delivering a range of programmes that support school systems to provide a better education for young people in developing countries around the world.

There are lots of interesting parallels but also differences between my paid role and the voluntary role I do for Citizens Advice.

Luckily, my employer encourages staff to volunteer over a certain number of days in the year. It’s seen as a way for staff to further their own professional development, develop their networks and gain new experiences.

I certainly benefit from all these things, and more, in my role as chair at CANH. It has been brilliant working alongside Rosie Waters, a really committed and enthusiastic Chief Executive.

My role includes providing strategic input and acting as an objective sounding board. I also enjoy working alongside such a committed and skilled group of trustees, who come from a variety of different professional backgrounds and bring a range of perspectives into trustee board meetings and other forums where we regularly meet.

Together with the Chief Executive, as trustees our role is to set the strategic and financial direction, plus targets for the charity.

We also monitor progress and agree changes where necessary, and further the work of Citizens Advice so it best serves the needs of its local community.

Essentially that’s what it’s all about – especially during these challenging times where it is even more important to so many people to try to make a difference.

My advice to you if you are considering being a trustee is to give it a go! The rewards for doing so are really worth it.