Imogen Arden-Jones | Our Trustees

Imogen's values and experience

What skills and experience do you bring to your Trustee role?

"I joined the first YoungMinds Youth Panel aged 15! Since then, I’ve been using my lived experience to shape YoungMinds (and we have changed a lot in 7 years!). I am really passionate about improving young people’s mental health. I also spent a year studying psychology during my medicine degree, and I am involved with various mental health research projects."

Which of our values do you relate to most, and why do you think it’s an important value for us?

I relate most to 'we celebrate what makes you, you.'

"I really value authenticity. We all have so much to learn from each other! Every person has different experiences, views and ideas- that is what makes connecting with other people so interesting. I want to live in a world where everyone is valued for bringing their ‘whole self’ to the table."

About Imogen

We celebrate what makes you, you. What four words describes you best?

Honest
Driven
Resilient
Empathetic

What do you do to switch off and take care of your mental health?

I try not to take life too seriously! I make time to do absolutely nothing and spend plenty of time connecting with people who bring me up. I also try to move my body regularly - my current movement of choice is lifting heavy weights!

What is a Trustee?

Our Board is made up of 12 amazing volunteers who bring a huge commitment to our cause, some with own and family lived experiences of mental health needs, as well as a wealth and diversity of experiences and skills. They expertly oversee the charity under the leadership of Caroline Hope, our Chair of the Board.

The role of trustees is to share their knowledge, skills and expertise, as well as give up some of their time unpaid as volunteers, to help us achieve our mission: to make sure all young people get the mental health support they need when they need it, no matter what.

They help us to enhance our three main strategic programmes:

Never alone: Helping young people to look after their own mental health.
Someone to turn to: Making sure young people have adults around them who can really help.
Powerful young voices: Building a youth-led movement to make sure mental health support is there for anyone that needs it.

Our Trustees oversee everything we do, from setting our strategy to being responsible for our work and finances, in line with the key duties as set out by the Charity Commission. They empower our CEO and Senior Leadership Team to take responsibility for the day-to-day running of YoungMinds, but they are the final decision-makers with ultimate responsibility for our success or failure. The Board are supported by the Senior Leadership Team, our wider Leadership Group and our Youth Panel; a group of 14 young people directly involved in our governance and strategy.