Hundred for the Homeless

1. Who are you and what did you do before you joined us at Crawley Open House as a trustee? 

James Abdool, married to Nickee for almost 30 years with 2 sons, Neal and Joe. I’ve been involved with a number of charities in the past 35 years stemming from my Father who was involved in charity work in and around Crawley for as long as I can remember. 

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​2. How will you help our clients with the job experience in your current position? 

Not sure this is the role of a Trustee but my work as Chair is to help steer the strategy at COH to ensure we always meet the needs of our clients. 

 

3. Are you originally from Crawley? How did you hear about COH? 

I was born in Crawley and have lived all of my life here with the exception of my university years. I heard about COH from my Father who had supported the charity personally and through the church before I got involved. He was very fond of Charlie. 

 

4. Why choose to be a trustee at COH? 

I was voluntold by my Father after he met with Charlie at his church. He told me to go along and meet her but had told her he would send me to become a Trustee. That was over 10 years ago! 

 

5. What were some of your expectations before joining COH? 

I had none but knew I wanted to give back to the local community with the skills I had with management and marketing. I thought I could help raise funds and manage the finances. I think I’ve done that and a bit more. 

 

6. What are some of the goals you would like to achieve at COH? 

I’ve achieved most of the goals I had planned and would like to ensure the continued financial stability and growth of the charity in new, sustainable and secure ways. Building our property portfolio is my key objective for the future.

 

7. Like at any job, being a trustee at COH can become stressful sometimes, so what do you do for fun?  

Golf, travel and family time is my way of winding down. That said, the work life integration I achieve affords me the luxury of working with charities, for which I get different pleasures.