Meet the Trustees – Jim Leftwich

22 March 2021

Some of you may already know Jim who has been part of Berkshire Youth for 39 years and Chairman for more than 30 years. Jim last lived in Berkshire 48 years ago, last worked in the county 20 years ago and was never a member of a youth club – how’s that for a Berkshire Youth CV?  But that’s another story!

Jim writes: “The seventh of eight children and living in London through the Second World War life wasn’t easy, but as the country rebuilt after the war there were meaningful apprenticeships, jobs and careers and I can look back on a truly rewarding and fulfilling career and a base from which I was more than happy to ’put something back’ as they say.

As you can imagine, those 39 years of commitment to Berkshire Youth has seen enormous changes along the way, from boys clubs to youth clubs, from a County Council to six Unitary Authorities, from national and local government support to fighting for grants from wherever possible. Viewed from that background, I believe the challenges facing young people today are greater than at any time during my long life. The 2007 international financial crash, caused by international bankers, brought on 10 years of UK austerity and the virtual elimination of government services for young people and now today the situation is compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, so profoundly affecting those young people born at the time of the financial crash.

This is why I believe the major task of the Trustees of organisations such as Berkshire Youth is to do everything possible to get government and society at every level to recognise the duty we have to correct this situation and to build opportunity and hope back for this generation of young people.”

We thank Jim from the bottom of our hearts for his unstinting commitment to Berkshire Youth and the young people of Berkshire.