New Trustees join The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse is happy to announce that the Board has appointed Jakki Morgan and Robin Beadle as new Trustees.
What is a Trustee?
Trustees ensure their charity has a clear strategy, and that its work and goals are in line with its vision. A trustee’s role in a charity is to be the ‘guardians of purpose’, making sure that all decisions put the needs of the beneficiaries first.
They safeguard the charity’s assets – both physical assets, including property, and intangible ones, such as its reputation. They make sure these are used well and that the charity is run sustainably.
Trustees don’t usually do the day-to-day running of the charity. They delegate this to the staff, led by the Chief Executive. Instead, they play the role of a ‘critical friend’ to the Chief Executive by giving support and by challenging – in a supportive way – to help them manage effectively. However, in smaller charities with few staff, trustees may take hands-on roles too.
Reach Volunteering
New Trustees – Jakki Morgan
A resident of Grange over Sands, Jakki has been involved with the Third Sector for many years. She will bring valuable knowledge and experience to our organisation. With a lived experience of mental health issues and an understanding of a wide range of voluntary organisations, she will help drive The Lighthouse forward as we expand and grow in the coming months.
Jakki’s experience includes being Deputy Director of a London Branch of The Samaritans, where she trained regular volunteers and ‘Listeners’. The Listener scheme is a peer-support scheme within prisons which aims to reduce suicide and self-harm. Listeners are prisoners who provide confidential emotional support to their peers who are struggling to cope or feeling suicidal. They are specially selected and trained for the role by The Samaritans. Other experience includes management and CEO roles in large community transport organisations in London. In addition, Jakki has been Chief Executive of a home care agency supporting people with physical disabilities.
Although initially training as a Non-Contentious lawyer, Jakki was drawn to the Third Sector after becoming a political lobbyist and a Special Advisor to the Metropolitan Police Service. A fervent advocate for LGBTQIA2S+ rights, Jakki was a member of the pressure group’ Press for Change’, instrumental in introducing the Gender Recognition Act in 2004.
Already active locally, Jakki is involved with other charitable projects in Grange. Recently, she has been influential in helping to raise the social media profile and web presence of The Lighthouse.
In her spare time, Jakki enjoys hiking in the beautiful countryside here in the South Lakes (where she is a Walk Leader with Active Cumbria), photography & creating digital art, and she is nearing the end of writing her first novel! Whether that ‘spare time’ will continue to be available once we put Jakki to work remains to be seen!
New Trustees – Robin Beadle
Many will already be familiar with Robin as he has spent time with The Lighthouse as a volunteer and operations manager. In addition, Robin previously served as Chair of Trustees between 2020 and 2022.
Now residing in Backbarrow, Robin spent his early career with Rolls-Royce in Derby as an undergraduate, graduate apprentice and engineer. Whilst there, he earned a BSc (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering.
After leaving Rolls-Royce, Robin spent four years as a research assistant and teacher at the University of Bristol.
A passionate and lifelong hillwalker, it was inevitable that Robin would follow his dream to be a rock climber and mountaineer, becoming a qualified UIAGM Mountain Guide in 1993. With his own company, Robin Beadle Mountain Guides, which he runs with his wife, Rebekah, Robin has over 30 years of alpine mountaineering experience and has travelled extensively to peaks in Europe, Peru, India, Nepal and Africa.
Working as a guide has given Robin the ability to assess individuals’ capabilities, which, partly as a consequence of COVID-19, has enabled him to bring those skills closer to home. As Chair of Trustees of The Lighthouse, he supported our founder, Maddie Iddon, during the organisation’s early days. Following Maddie’s departure, Robin spent time as our operations manager before stepping back to focus on mountaineering.
As The Lighthouse looks to expand and grow, Robin has responded to the call to rejoin us as a Trustee. Robin is a strong supporter and mentor who brings a wealth of Lighthouse experience and skills. These will be invaluable as we look to an exciting 2024.
With the appointment of Jakki and Robin, we are confident we can meet the exciting challenges ahead. Entering a period of growth, we’re looking to deliver more services to benefit our local users.
