Stand for election to our members’ council – Lin’s story

You can now make a nomination to stand for election to our members’ council. Did you know that our staff are also members of our Trust? That’s why we have members of staff on our council to represent the voices of our workforce.

Lin Harrison, a senior psychotherapist, has worked for our Trust for 17 years and decided to apply to stand on our members’ council as a staff representative in 2017. She explains why:

“I’ve always been involved and interested in the work of the Trust as I want us to do the best we can and improve our services for our service users. I’m very passionate about the NHS as a whole too and have always been someone who will speak up in our team meetings to make a difference. I realised that this was something I wanted to do on a larger scale, so the members’ council seemed like a great opportunity. I just thought, ‘why not?’!

“Since becoming a governor I’ve been invited to do so many things which makes me feel as though my opinions and ideas are valued. I’ve been asked to attend meetings and events which I like to go to when I can but if I can’t make them, there’s no pressure. The great thing about the meetings I go to as a governor is that it gives me a chance to have my voice heard. At a recent meeting, Angela Monaghan, our chair, was discussing a wider national issue and I was able to discuss and debate the topic with her which was a very interesting experience.

“I’d really encourage anyone who was thinking of applying to have a go and I’d be happy to speak to anyone about my experience so far. On a personal level, it builds your confidence and gives you an opportunity to get involved with something new outside of your day job. Sometimes in other organisations it can feel like having staff representatives is just something they do to tick a box, but at the Trust, it feels very genuine and like my opinion truly matters.”