How 'human' recruitment helped strengthen a small charity

For more than 20 years, the charity YourStory has supported disadvantaged young people across London who are facing significant challenges in their lives. Working closely with schools and local partners, the organisation provides mentoring and group programmes for young people living with long-term health conditions, struggling at school, or at risk of offending.

Like many small charities, YourStory operates with a small staff team and relies on strong governance and specialist support to help the organisation run effectively. Through Reach, the charity has been able to recruit trustees and skills-based volunteers who bring new expertise, confidence and connections to the organisation - helping it continue to support more than a hundred young people each year.

Duncan McIntosh, Chief Operations Officer at YourStory, explains:

“Most of the disadvantaged young people we work with are referred through schools. Some are living with long-term health conditions that affect their schooling or relationships at home or they feel their condition is misunderstood by teacher. Others may be at risk of offending due to peer influence for example. Our mentors work with them one-to-one or in small groups, helping them build confidence, strengthen relationships and stay engaged with education.

“Because we’re a small organisation, the right trustees and volunteers with the appropriate skills make a huge difference to our ability to run the charity well and keep delivering those services. That’s why Reach has been so helpful for us.

“I was first introduced to Reach more than eight years ago when I moved into the third sector after a career in industry. I actually started out as a volunteer and that’s how I came across Reach. I then used it successfully to recruit volunteers for another organisation, so when I joined Your Story it was the first place I went when we needed trustees or specialist support.

Making recruitment straightforward and more human

“We’ve mainly used Reach to recruit trustees and volunteers with technical skills - particularly for our website. The Reach platform makes it very straightforward to advertise roles, but what I also find really useful is being able to look through people’s profiles and reach out to them directly. You can see their background, their skills and often a photo, and that helps you build a picture of the person and think about how they might fit with the organisation.

“For a small charity like ours, that makes recruitment feel much more human. You’re not just posting an advert and hoping for the best, you can see the people who are interested in volunteering their skills and start conversations with them.

“Through Reach we’ve recruited several trustees over the years and they’ve brought valuable expertise and perspectives to the board. One of our trustees introduced us to a civil service fast-track programme, which enabled a graduate to work with us for six months. That kind of connection can open up opportunities that a small charity might not otherwise access.

“Another great example is a website volunteer we recruited last year. His technical knowledge has been exceptional. He’s helped improve the whole website and resolve issues we were having with hacking attempts, which has made a real difference to the stability and professionalism of our online presence.

“Trustees have also played an active role in shaping the organisation. Around the time of COVID we were developing our strategy, and the trustees we had recruited through Reach committed a huge amount of time to help us work through that. They joined additional meetings, took actions away and really supported the organisation through that period.

“What I appreciate about Reach is that the process feels mutual. It’s not just the organisation telling volunteers what it needs, and it’s not volunteers dictating what they want to do. It’s about finding the point where both sides can work together and create something valuable.

“For a charity like YourStory, that kind of support is incredibly important. Without Reach I’m honestly not sure where I would go to find trustees and skills-based volunteers in the same way. It has become a platform we return to whenever we need to strengthen the organisation.”