Trustees Week- Meet Sam Davys
The 1st – 5th November 2021 is Trustees Week!
Trustees’ week is an annual event to showcase the great work trustees do and how the dedication they give to charities truly makes a difference. We’d like to take this week to thank all of our Trustees for playing a vital role, volunteering their time, and working together to make important decisions about the work we do here at Rochdale and District Mind.
If reading our stories this week has inspired you to become a Trustee, take a look at this page. We’re always looking at expanding the skills within our Board.
Meet one of our new Trustees Sam Davys…
Hello! I’m Sam, born in Oldham, but now live in Middleton. I am the Early Careers Manager at TalkTalk, which is based in Salford, Greater Manchester.
I love my job, every day is different, really varied, and mainly consists of supporting people to start, or develop in their career by taking on new qualifications through the apprenticeship scheme, providing opportunities within TalkTalk for local students who are studying at university or college, and creating placements for young people to get their first step on the corporate ladder.
My career hasn’t always been in this field though. I started out finishing my A-levels at Oldham Sixth Form, and moving to Liverpool to study a degree in Dance! They were the best few years of my life but I had no idea what I wanted to do once I left. I became a Zumba instructor during my time at uni and wanted to set up my own classes for students, so got involved in the student union and set up my own society. It was through my work there, that I was approached in my final year of uni that I should consider running in the annual elections to become a Vice President for Activities, which is a full time paid position, where you are elected by the student body to represent their views and lobby the university to create a better experience for students. This was so far from what I thought I would want to do, or be good at! But I just went for it and was lucky enough to be elected. I also went on to re-run the following year to be President, and it was in this year I was a governor of the university, a trustee of the student union, set the strategy for the organisation, and was put on a qualification in Coaching and Mentoring.
Those 2 years gave me so much exposure and learnings, and really put me on a path where I knew I wanted to help people and develop them. I loved working with people and the qualification helped guide me into a career in learning and development. The university kindly put me on a HR qualification as I was leaving, to support me in getting my foot in the door, and I secured my first role in L&D. Over the next few years I did similar jobs in a number of different industries, retail, law, health and safety, and all roles consisted of delivering various training courses, working with teams to develop them to be better, inducting new colleagues into business and setting up mentoring programmes.
I am really passionate about helping people, whether that be in or out of work. Over the pandemic when our worlds dramatically changed, and seeing how communities came together to support each other, I was inspired to do something new, in a voluntary capacity and give back in some way, but at the same time find a way to continue to develop myself. I came across the position of a trustee at Rochdale Mind, and thought it completely aligned with what I was looking for. Mental Health affects so many of us, and a lot of people close to me. I thought if I could contribute in some way to a fantastic organisation who helps improve people’s lives which is something I’m passionate about, and at the same time continue to learn and develop my skills then it was a no brainer. I was officially appointed as a trustee in October 2021 so I am early into my tenure but already I’ve been blown away by the work the charity does, the team and all the volunteers who work tirelessly to support people. I feel proud to be part of it and hope I can add value in the future.
Sam
Posted on: 2nd November 2021
