Siobhan Benita's story...

Siobhan Benita is Head of the Board Secretariat at the Department of Health and trustee of the Civil Service Benevolent Fund.

She says: "I’m a trustee of a charity I feel very strongly about. So that fact that I can help the charity to consider how best it might go forward and how best it can use the funding that it has, is important to me.

"Working alongside other trustees and learning from their experience has been fantastic for me. There is a sense that together we’re building something that benefits so many people. It’s not a huge commitment of our time either; we attend about four or five board meetings a year and a few informal meetings, so you can achieve a lot whilst giving a relatively small amount time.

"Volunteer trustees make an important contribution to the work of the charity but equally it’s been wonderful to learn about the huge number of volunteers that support the charity’s work in other ways. I’ve met some amazing people. People who have busy jobs and family lives, but give up their time to help make a difference to the lives of others. It’s very rewarding to work alongside people who are so committed and want to make a positive difference to others.”