An interview with our Trustee for Scotland, Paul Ballantyne

What was your professional background before you became a Trustee at People’s Health Trust?

My background was in community development and adult education. Early in my career therefore I did a lot of work providing development support to a variety of community organisations and facilitating adult learning groups.

What compelled you to become a Trustee at People's Health Trust?

Its mission and core value base felt very close to my own personal and professional background.

I grew up in one of Glasgow’s peripheral estates and from an early age was conscious of how poverty and lack of opportunity impacted negatively on people’s lives, even tragically cut some short at an early age.

I was lucky enough in my late teens to meet and be encouraged by a youth worker to take up community work training and probably found my vocation on the back of that.

When I found out about People’s Health Trust it seemed a natural fit with my own values, gave me a chance to give something back as I approached finishing full time work and - as I quickly found out - was governed by a superb team of talented Trustees and an equally talented, passionate and committed staff team.

The Trust works to tackle what are called the building blocks of health or the social determinants of health which lead to some people dying young. It wants to see a world without health inequalities where everyone gets a fair chance to lead a long, healthy life.

Throughout my career I have had opportunities to work in housing, education, employment and community regeneration sectors, all of which focused on empowering of communities to bring about change on the ground.

A colleague brought to my attention the vacancy for a Trustee for Scotland. I could see immediately the connections with my own experience, so I applied and was lucky enough to be appointed back in 2014.

How did you apply your experience to the role?

I had also been a volunteer Trustee with a number of local and national charities in Scotland by this time, so was able to contribute to the Trust’s overall governance and its strategic development.

My community development practical experience helped me contribute to how funding programmes might develop and be supported.

Later in my career I had also commissioned and overseen a number of research and evaluation projects and that helped me contribute to a large formal evaluation programme run by the Trust, including chairing its Learning and Evaluation Committee.

What advice would you give for people thinking about becoming a Trustee?

Only apply for a position where you have some affinity - even better, a passion - for what the organisation does. And in the course of doing so, never underestimate or underplay your own personal and professional experience. Good governance is best done when organisations encourage and support diversity in the Trustee collective body.

What benefit do you see to the Trust and for yourself of being a long-term trustee?

I would hope that my commitment has helped it reflect, understand and explain trends over time and bring a sense of perspective to issues. And from that, adapt to changing external circumstances, learn from experience and the views and feedback of local projects and shift priorities and focus accordingly.

Words can’t really describe how much I have learned over 9 years or so from Trustee and staff colleagues, all highly skilled and experienced in different fields. But above all I have enjoyed and value the personal relationships that have grown over time.