Thank you to our outgoing OUSET Trustees!
As we bid farewell to our outgoing Trustees from the OUSET Board, we’d like to extend our deepest gratitude for their dedication, remarkable service and unwavering commitment to the Trust over their two-year terms.
The Open University Students Educational Trust (OUSET) is the OU Student Association's affiliated grant-giving Trust. Its mission is to provide a safety net for current OU Students who might otherwise struggle to continue to fund their studies due to financial hardship.
Our Trustees have studiously reviewed individual cases for support on behalf of OUSET. Working collaboratively and with great consideration, they have decided what assistance or award to grant for each individual case. Under the astute leadership of the outgoing Chair, Sarah Jones, they’ve made significant strides to improve the Trust's governance and raise awareness of our services. They have left the Trust in a more stable position – ensuring its ability to grow and, by doing so, helping more OU students in need.
On top of the above-mentioned duties, the Trustees have overseen the employment of the Trust's first staff member, ushering in active promotion and fundraising for the Trust for the first time in its history. Sarah has worked hard to support the new role of Senior Fundraiser, helping to improve awareness through a dedicated website for the Trust, as well as a quarterly newsletter of the Trust's latest news and activities.
Sarah has overseen projects to obtain student beneficiary testimonials for our website to inspire others to apply for assistance, as well as the installation of a CRM system to better manage our relationships. This work has also resulted in (for the first time) a series of fundraising and community events for OUSET, such as the Step Up for OUSET campaign (in collaboration with the OU Fit Community) and the OUSET Three Yorkshire Peaks Challenge.
The Trustees have also made fantastic progress in becoming an CIO (charitable incorporated organisation), which is close to being completed. This work will protect the Trust and future Trustees by offering limited liability protection. It will also mean we can extend our board from eight to 12 trustee positions, helping us to be more diverse and to help more students. Trustees have also been fundamental in the development of a risk register for the Trust, again strengthening the Trust to weather future hardships, so it may continue to offer support to OU students and remain robust. They have also matured the Trust's accounts through utilising smart banking via fixed-term deposits.
Lastly, Sarah began work developing OUSET’s strategy (ahead of handing over to the new board), ensuring that the Trust is in the best possible position to achieve its mission and help as many students as possible. This was a wonderful way to end her term, and pass over the reigns to the new Trustees, who will work to complete this strategy development over the coming months.
To all our outgoing Trustees, thank you!
Welcome to our new Trustees!
At this time, we’d also like to welcome our new Trustees to the OUSET Board, and wish them all the best for their two-year terms. There are big shoes to fill, but we’re sure you’re going to do a fantastic job and continue to improve the Trust's position, helping more OU students in need to complete their studies and achieve their dreams.
The OUSET Board of Trustees for 2024–26:
- Margaret Greenaway (Chair)
- Michael Bryan
- Julia McDougall
- Beth Metcalf
- Sharon O’Kelly
- Louise Robinson
- Danielle Smith
- Mark Walker
You can discover more about OUSET (and donate to the work of the Trust) below:
Discover more about OUSET and its work
Donate to the work of OUSET