From June 2020 Cassia will join our board of trustees. She takes over from Alice as our young representative on the board. Cassia will ensure young people affected by endometriosis are heard, and that strategic decisions taken by the organisation reflect the interests and needs of younger people. We are very excited to have Cassia on board and wish her a very warm welcome. As part of Volunteers' Week we wanted to provide an opportunity for you to get to know her and so put a couple of questions to her.
Hi Cassia, welcome to the board of trustees. Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Hi there! I’m Cassia, and I’m a new trustee here at Endometriosis UK. I’m a student, currently completing my Master’s at London School of Economics in Global Politics. I’ve done a little bit of lots of things in my working life so far. Among other things, I was a reception teacher for a year, briefly worked at the UN in Geneva, and most recently was at Girlguiding HQ in their Governance team, working with their trustees. When I’m not working or studying, I’m often found cooking for my friends, looking after my houseplants or re-reading an Austen novel (I think Northanger Abbey is underrated!).
What are your motivations for volunteering as a trustee with Endometriosis UK?
Working with trustees at Girlguiding HQ initially inspired me to become a trustee myself. I think trustees are really important for any charity to make sure that they are doing the best work they possibly can be. I have endometriosis myself and it’s had a huge impact on my life, particularly my studies at school and university. I want to do whatever I can to help out other people with endo in the same position. The challenges in education are definitely different to those at work, and I think having someone with recent experience of that on the board is really important to make sure we remember that.
Is there anything particular you hope to achieve during your time as a trustee?
One of the major recent achievements of Endometriosis UK has been getting compulsory menstrual wellbeing education on the curriculum in England, and I would love to see this extended across the whole of the UK! I think it’s so, so important that girls and young people don’t see excruciating periods as something they just have to put up with, which was definitely the message I got when I was at school. Plus teaching menstrual wellbeing to everyone at school will help raise awareness not just of endometriosis, but a whole number of menstrual conditions that affect people’s lives.
Thank you Cassia, we look forward to working with you and all you can bring to the organisation.
