Harvey Grenville, Trustee
Why become a Trustee for The Fire Fighters Charity? What do you want to achieve or do as a Trustee?
Volunteering is important to me and I volunteered for The Fire Fighters Charity because I think it does great work in the fire and rescue service community. I still have a strong affinity even though I only served as a firefighter for a short period of time and I felt that volunteering my skills and experience could help the charity in its next phase of development.
What will you bring to the Trustee Board? How will your past/professional experience support the Charity?
Hopefully I can bring a diverse range of skills and experience particularly on charity governance, financial/commercial management and beneficiary services. My professional and voluntary work in the charity sector over the last 15 years provides me with a good insight into best practice in the charity sector and how other charities are adapting to meet some similar challenges facing The Fire Fighters Charity.
Do you have any personal experience of the Charity? Have you used our services in the past or known anyone who has?
I was quite involved in fundraising activities such as car washes for the Charity when I served as a firefighter at Bracknell. I also organised a 120-mile march in breathing apparatus from Hereford to Bracknell, involving a team of eight firefighters, which raised funds for the Charity, although that’s a long time ago now!
What do you think are the biggest challenges we face?
There are many, but two of the key challenges that spring to mind are:
- growing and further diversifying the Charity’s income sources, in particular from the general public; and
- developing the Charity’s services to meet the changing needs of our beneficiaries and service users.
In short, being agile!
Have you previously volunteered?
I have over 10 years’ voluntary experience in the military charity sector. I have been a trustee of a regimental museum for nearly seven years and have previously served as a welfare officer for a large military charity and a regimental association. I think this voluntary experience will be helpful in my role as a Trustee of The Fire Fighters Charity
