Our new membership strategy

We are a membership organisation called a Foundation Trust. This means people above the age of 10 can sign up to become members and help shape the way we do things at GOSH.

Members are people who sign up to Foundation Trust and can inform the decision making across the Trust through their elected Council of Governors. This happens because as a Foundation Trust, we work by answering to the voices of our members so that we can deliver better patient, public and staff engagement. This helps us to make sure we can represent the views of everyone to make GOSH a better place.

Our members include patients and their families and carers, the general public and staff. They are involved in all sorts of activities, such as taking part in online surveys and joining discussions on how hospital services could be developed.

The new strategy will run from 2022 until 2025 with the following new key themes and the following aims:

• Knowledge: How we use the information our members provide us with so that we can equip them with the knowledge they need to be strong ambassadors for GOSH.
• Inclusivity: Ensuring our membership is truly reflective of the different families, communities, and staff we serve, in particular our young people. 
• Sustainability: Tying into the Trust’s wider sustainability agenda and taking meaningful steps so we can make sure that we are protecting the environment for generations to come.

The underpinning element to be highlighted across all three themes is the need for digital innovation and connectivity which in recent times has proven to be a necessity considering the global pandemic.

The updated membership strategy will seek to address ways to increase the recruitment and retention of members, ensuring we are not just attracting people to become members but also keeping our current members engaged. Most importantly, it aims to show our members that their contributions towards the development of the Trust are valued.

We aim for this new strategy to complement our wider Trust strategy ensuring there is a consistent and cohesive alignment of strategic efforts and there will be an intentional drive to display how the membership activities are being implemented plus their outcomes and learnings (‘Show and Tell’ approach).

• Read our full strategy and activity plan here.
• Find out more about our membership and how you can get involved.

If you are 10 years old or even older and live in England or Wales, that means you can sign up to become one of our members! Since 2012, we have recruited more than 9,000 members, around 1,000 of whom are young people and you can join us too.

• Sign up to become a member.