Trustee Lizzy Stileman tells us why she’s on Board at RE:ACT

RE:ACT’s trustees reflect the charity’s bias for action and tenacity. They are not the sort of people to take life lying down.

While juggling successful careers, personal interests, and home lives, they all find time to drive the charity to achieve the best possible outcomes for communities affected by disaster.

Lizzy Stileman is one of those magnificent seven trustees. After serving 20 years in the British Army’s Royal Logistic Corps there was no way Major Stileman was going to take it easy.

She now combines being an Army Reservist (currently within the National Reserve Headquarters in Woolwich) – with teaching Hostile Environment Awareness Training, working as a mountain leader, and a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award assessor, a remote first aider and volunteering both as a Responder and Board member for RE:ACT!

So how did Lizzy get involved with the charity?

After completing a Master’s degree in Disaster Management (yes, she managed to fit in the studying for that too!), it was suggested she should do some voluntary work if she wanted to get involved in the humanitarian sector.

Soon after, Lizzy joined a team in Chilmark and almost immediately was deployed to Nepal to assist in assessing the damage in a remote village which was destroyed during the 2015 earthquake. This was followed by deployments to Sri Lanka, the British Virgin Islands, Indonesia, and the Bahamas, in response to severe flooding, hurricanes and tsunamis (one of which had her deploying on Christmas Day!)

Lizzy has also done her fair share of COVID19 response work with RE:ACT, operating as a military liaison officer in the first wave and then working in intensive care during the second wave to help turn patients over to give them a better chance of survival. In 2020 she was awarded an MBE for her charity work during the Pandemic.

“Volunteering is one of the most humbling things that you can do. Seeing people at their worst and knowing you can help (albeit in a very small way) and make their life a bit easier is incredible,” said Lizzy, who lives in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire.

When RE:ACT put a request out for a new trustee with a volunteer link, she was encouraged to put her name forward. Soon after this, she was appointed to the Board.

“It’s such a huge privilege to be honest. I believe my role is to represent the volunteers and to reflect what they tell me. I try to make sure I speak to as many responders as possible to get their points of view,” said Lizzy.

“It’s quite a responsibility. When the Board is meeting, I always have in my mind what those people have told me. If there are big changes coming, I think about how our volunteers are going to respond. Fortunately, my fellow trustees are absolutely phenomenal. So inspiring.  They all have amazing strengths,” she adds.

Lizzy says she never fails to be amazed that she is able to play a part in RE:ACT’s future direction.

“We all believe that RE:ACT needs to increase its capacity in order to help where and when we are needed very quickly and more frequently and with the right sort of person. We are truly unique. We are dynamic and lean into the problem and walk towards danger”.

“RE:ACT is very special. We are compassionate, have strong humanitarian principles, but we always ensure we provide value for money. The volunteers are everything to the organisation, the training has tightened up and become more professional. I love being with them and return to Chilmark to assist whenever I can”

Would Lizzy encourage people to join RE:ACT?

“If you are able to help, you have the time and the capacity, and you want to be part of an amazing team, then you should give it a go. It is not easy, it can be emotional, but you can really make a difference.”

If you’d like to sign up as a RE:ACT volunteer, please go to our “join us” page now (https://www.re-act.org.uk/join-us/)