New Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust public governor proud to represent Crawley

In her role, in which she was appointed in the summer of 2021, Amber holds the NHS’ board of directors to account and ensures that decisions are made in the best interests of her community.

Amber, alongside 27 other governors from across Sussex, also provides feedback from local people to the board to improve local NHS services.

Although she admitted she was still relatively new to her role, Amber wanted to increase awareness of the SCFT and encouraged the people of Crawley to join online.

She said: "I am so proud though to be able to represent the people of Crawley. It’s a real honour and sometimes still a little surreal!

"I'm still relatively new in my role, but one of my immediate aims is to increase awareness about membership to the Trust and let the people of Crawley know that they too can get involved by joining the Trust as a member.

"Members can help to make a difference and they decide how involved they want to be. It is a way that local people can show their support for their local NHS.

"We are so lucky to have such a wonderful service available to us and all of our local NHS services really deserve our support.

"As your local Crawley Governor I encourage as many people to join the Trust as a member online by visiting https://bit.ly/2pGSS0h."

Amber also stressed the importance of signing up for the Trust, saying that it was imperative that the community had its’ say on local NHS services.

She added: "It's so important that people get involved and have their say, the NHS belongs to all of us, and we should all be able to have our say and play a part in it.

"I'm hoping people won't need too much encouragement to join, once they know about membership.

"I think my biggest challenge is letting people know that they can get involved – the Trust really wants to hear from local people, with both good and bad feedback, and how we can make things better."

The position at the SCFT was brought to Amber’s attention after her husband saw an advert at the start of the year.

She said: "My husband saw the advert in the local press back in January and he thought the role was right up my street and encouraged me to apply.

"When I got the call from the chair of the Trust to say I had been elected I think the first thing I said was, 'What? You must be joking!?'

"I was so shocked I honestly didn't think I would get voted in.

"I wrote an open and honest election statement that basically said I was a local woman who isn't afraid to speak out and stand up for those that maybe don't have a voice. I really didn't think it would be enough!

"Compared to all the other candidates, my experience in this field was very limited.”

Before she landed her role at the SCFT, Amber had been furloughed from her job at Virgin for 18 months.

Amber said, initially, it was ‘devastating’ to put on furlough. But Amber wouldn’t be defeated by the setback, and used her time productively both at home and professionally.

She added: "It [furlough] has been both a positive and negative experience; at first it was quite devastating. However, I'm not one to dwell on the negatives.

"I find the positives in every situation, so I filled my time last summer by bringing up a puppy, Bella, something my husband and I had wanted to do for many years but never had the time to commit to as we usually travel so much.

"But Covid-19 and the first lockdown gave us the time and opportunity to finally take the step to get our puppy.

"We got Bella the day after I went on furlough in March 2020. So, a new puppy and the beautiful weather we had last year took up most of my time.

"I often joke that if we did not have Bella, I may not have gotten dressed last year! Bella has had a really positive impact on my health and wellbeing.

"And then, in the last six months I've been learning about my new governor role, meeting lots of other governors and the board of directors of SCFT virtually, attending council of governors meetings, attending training courses, conferences and trying to do my very best to carry out my new governor duties to the best of my ability."

More information about membership of SCFT is available online at www.sussexcommunity.nhs.uk/member.