Value vs. Value

“How much do you get paid?” my colleague asked.

“Sorry?” I replied.

“How much – you know, for being a trustee – do you get paid?” they responded. 

This was a lunchtime conversation over lunch, initiated by me briefly checking my phone, which had just pinged with a Rekindle email. That’s the thing. Unless someone has been a trustee, they’re unlikely to understand the role. It deliberately does not receive any remuneration – it’s supposed to be a relationship borne of a desire to do good deeds. And that is what all the trustees at Rekindle do – good deeds. 

If you know a teacher – and that’s my day job – you know someone who will ask questions. Teachers, you see, need to understand things from many different angles. We need to understand the possible interpretations behind this poem because, although Abdi is always staring out of the window, he will catch you unawares about whether or not the poet deliberately used iambic pentameter. We need to know whether Queen Elizabeth I ever saw plays at Shakespeare’s Globe theatre as, although Jenny refuses to use capital letters, she needs to have a clear timeline in her head. (Monarchs wouldn’t actually go to the Globe, the plays would travel to court and precise records of what play was performed and when were not always kept. That OK, Jenny?) 

So, when I raise a hand in a meeting for someone to explain the financial expediency behind a certain decision, I’m mostly met with understanding – I’m just trying to get my head around the issue. 

My day job means I have an understanding of the needs of the young people Rekindle caters for. Currently, a week does not pass us by without some news story about how unhappy, how stressed, how anxious our young people are. Rekindle encourages new ways to think about learning. My personal history – I was a busy-minded kid many moons ago – means that I enjoyed a supplementary school that approached learning in a fresh way and I love my link with an organisation that is paying this mindset forward.

Although there isn’t a direct bank transfer involved in being a Rekindle trustee – there is something more precious: finding out about the youngsters’ growing confidence; helping to organise future learning visits and seeing funders understand the importance of the work Rekindle does.