Charities thrive with trustees like Isaac

Isaac enjoying a skate break

Meet Isaac. Isaac has a giggle that always makes me smile, a whip-smart mind and a love of rollerblading, even though he doesn’t walk.

Isaac is president of Wheels and Wheelchairs, a brilliant charity that matches wheelchair users and skaters. Rollerbladers push the wheelchair users at speed, mostly around Battersea Park in London but also street skates around the city.

My daughter, a wheelchair user, has been skating with the crew for five years. She LOVES it. After Isaac joined us to skate in 2020 he was quickly elected to the role of President. He brought his considerable video-editing and social media skills to the charity but so much more.

This week the Charity Commission said too many organisations have trustees that don’t reflect the communities they serve. This statement came in response to an open letter from 65 organisations asking the regulator to monitor the diversity of charity trustees and senior executives.

Written by Black, Asian, multi-ethnic and refugee-led charity Money4YOU, the open letter argued transparent data would encourage diversity and build trust and accountability in the sector.

It feels obvious that the more representative your board, the more you are reflecting your clients. And the more diverse your board, the greater range of ideas you are likely to have and to put into place. Talent exists in so many forms.

Yet research by Inclusive Boards showed the largest charities in England and Wales had less diverse boards than FTSE 100 firms. There seems to be little research into the number of disabled trustees.

As a user of Wheels And Wheelchairs, Isaac immediately recognised the benefits the charity brings: decreasing isolation, allowing sports participation, increasing the visibility of disabled people and a whole lot of laughs.

As its president, he has added dynamism and perspective, accelerated the growth of the charity and considerably widened our user base. He is an ideas machine and frequently collaborates with like-minded groups to fundraise or swap ideas. His LinkedIn connections are off the scale.

Since becoming our boss, Isaac and the charity’s co-founder Muhayman Jamil have been awarded the Prime Minister’s Point of Light Award, Isaac has been the subject of a One Show film, and Wheels and Wheelchairs were featured on BBC News.

We are so lucky to have him.