New chair playing the generation game
WITH A family member supported by Norwood, James Goodman has had a lifetime connection to the children and families charity.
Now the 26-year-old is the new chair of Young Norwood, which as well as a training ground for future Norwood leaders, raises around £500,000 annually for the cause.
Mr Goodman, a private banker at Barclays, said “YN appealed to me because I wanted to join a committee that was directly involved in fundraising for Norwood. But it is also involved in working with the next generation of donors and sharing the fantastic work Norwood does in the community.
“I want to help to get the next generation more engaged with the charity and ensure its reach with young people continues to grow.
“Young professionals now have very different circumstances to when YN started, with changes in technology and work affecting every part of their lives.
“So it’s important our offering reflects that. While our formal events have been very successful, we want to offer a wide range of social occasions going forward.”
Celebrating its silver anniversary this year, YN was founded by David Ereira, who went on to become chair of the adult organisation.
It has grown to a supporter base of 3,000 people aged between 21 and 35. There is a YN representative on every committee within Norwood — and a member on Norwood’s board of trustees.
A key element is mentoring and developing young lay leaders in all aspects of communal and charitable work.
This encompasses organising and promoting fundraising events, networking, volunteering and increasing awareness of the charity and its aims.
On the events front, YN’s property awards dinner alone raised more than £170,000 this year.
Mr Goodman succeeds co-chairs Sarah Arwas and Ashley Sweetland, who want YN “to continue to grow our platform and welcome future leaders to get involved as much as they can. Norwood has attracted so many younger supporters because the charity makes a profound difference to people’s lives, providing services other charities are not. It has been an incredible privilege to be involved in YN’s leadership.”
We want to offer a wide range of social occasions’