Myriam Djick's story...

Myriam is supporting Trustees' Week and London Student Volunteering Fortnight, (22nd October- 4th November) which aims to give students the opportunity to find out more about volunteering through information and taster events and in turn build relations with the community, gain new skills and make new friendships.

Becoming a trustee is a great way for students to do just this whilst getting valuable experience of how a board works.

If a student decides to be a trustee for their Students’ Union they can make a real difference to other student’s university experience and go some way to re-dressing the lack of representation of young people on trustee boards.

Myriam Djick is a third year Journalism student at Kingston University and is currently an elected student trustee of Kingston University Students’ Union (KUSU).

She says: "I became a trustee because I am thinking of running for an executive position at KUSU next year and this was good preparation. By sitting on the trustee board I can influence and improve KUSU, which is great and gives you a sense of making a real difference for people.

"One of my main duties is making sure that the charity spends it funds in the right way, and during meetings approving new documents. The best part of being a KUSU trustee is being part of a board which has the power to influence and change things for the better.

"I think it’s great that there is some extra attention for trustee’s this week. A lot of people don’t understand what it is we do, and don’t understand how important it is. I think this could really raise awareness and hopefully, when the ballots open again next year for KUSU, a lot of students will put themselves forwards. "