To celebrate Trustees Week we are focusing on our former Chair and Board Member Maeve Beggs and her ‘Jack and Jill and me’ story from out 2023 Annual Report
To celebrate Trustees Week we are focussing on our former Chair and Board Member Maeve Beggs and her ‘Jack and Jill and me’ story from out 2023 Annual Report
Originally from Co. Kildare, Maeve Beggs has been a member of The Jack and Jill Board since 2015 and became Chair in 2020.
A graduate of DCU, Maeve went on to have a successful career as an Entrepreneur, Company Director and Professional Manager.
I was first introduced to Jonathan Irwin by Peter Murray, a former Jack and Jill Board member. I immediately struck up a great rapport with Jonathan and was so impressed with his can-do attitude and determination to make a difference in the lives of others.
Family is very important to me personally – I am Mum to four amazing children, and I was genuinely excited to become involved with an organisation that is so intrinsically focused on supporting and empowering families.
Initially, I set about learning as much as I could about the charity and met with all members of the team at that time, to get a real understanding of Jack and Jill and how it all works. I feel that, to understand where you can lend value, you need to fully immerse yourself to see where best an individual’s skillset can be leveraged.
A common problem for finding Board members for charities is that you need people who, not only have the time to commit, but also the necessary experience or skills to really enhance the valuable work being carried out by the team on the ground. When I joined the Board, I completed a Post Graduate Masters in Corporate Governance accredited by UCD with The Institute of Public Administration. This was an area of expertise I felt I could bring to the charity.
We set about developing a strategy to streamline our governance framework. In 2017 we produced our first Annual Report, and I am so proud of each of the publications since. We have celebrated many highlights since then, including being awarded Best Governance Improvement Award in 2019 at Carmichael Ireland’s Good Governance Awards. When Jack and Jill’s 2021 Annual Report also won at the Carmichael Awards, that was a huge highlight for me personally and for the team, and we are determined to maintain and exceed this standard of excellence as we strive ahead.
Jack and Jill is fortunate to have a very dedicated Board of Directors who so graciously volunteer their time as trustees of this wonderful charity. We are fully committed to ethical and transparent fundraising and are signed up to the Charities Regulator Governance Code. We are also fully in compliance with the Charities Institute Ireland Triple Lock Standard.
It is a real privilege to work with such a dynamic group of professionals who bring such talent and commitment to the table. I think we could really see that during the Covid pandemic – there was such a dogged commitment to keep the show on the road to support the families under the care of Jack and Jill. Aside from adhering to and oversight of good governance practices; as a group our Board genuinely cares about the families we support, fulfilling this role on a voluntary basis and giving up so much of their personal time to support the mission.
I am very proud of the work everyone at The Jack and Jill Children’s Foundation does, from Board members to nurses, and from fundraisers to communications, retail and the finance and office teams; everyone plays an integral role in delivering the best service we possibly can for the families in our care. The spark that was ignited during my first meeting with Jonathan has not diminished and I am honoured to continue his legacy by working with my fellow Board members to deliver Jack and Jill’s vision, mission and objectives.”
