Veronika Neyer | Our Trustees

Veronika's values and experience

What skills and experience do you bring to your Lead Safeguarding role?

As a consultant and previously working in different children and youth charities I am passionate about developing organisations so that their culture, policies and practices contribute to keeping everyone safe, happy and well.

I am a strategic thinker and enjoy looking at the bigger picture. I also have experience in risk and project management, ethics and youth engagement and will bring my full self and skills to YoungMinds.

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're optimistic.'

I am very much a ‘the glass is half full’ person and often see the positive in people and situations. It’s not that difficult things haven’t happened in my life or are not going to happen in the future, it’s just that I tend to focus on making things better, step by step. I do this in my own life and also apply it to the work I do as I have seen this work for me and many others.

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

I switch off by doing yoga, being in nature and spending time with family and friends.

We celebrate what makes you, you. What three words describe you best?

Optimistic
Calm
Yogini

Meet more of our Trustees

Find out more about our Trustees and their role at YoungMinds

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.