Our Chair of Trustees and Founder
Yvonne Gilchrist-Mason OBE is a Norfolk born business woman with 20+ years experience in the marine industry. She is the Chief Executive Officer of both Future Marine Services and SafeSTS Limited. Throughout her business career, she has been nominated for and won numerous regional and national business awards.
Having sold her former company in 2005, Yvonne decided to set up The Mason Trust with the mission of giving back to local young people and inspiring them fulfil their potential. She was awarded an OBE in 2020 in recognition of the charity’s dedication to that work.
As a registered charity, the Mason Trust has a board of trustees chaired by Yvonne, and a project delivery team based at The Mason Trust office in Diss. You can find out more about the Trust members on our team page.
Major Achievements to date
The funding of over 6,000 young people throughout the region with 800+ going to over 48 countries throughout the world whilst many others were supported through equipment and fees for learning and training. We celebrated a decade of enabling these personal improvement and horizon-broadening experiences in 2018.
When we have a funding programme open, applications can be made directly through this website and are reviewed at scheduled meetings by all the trustees. Details of the status of the programme and application instructions can be found on our funding page.
We have facilitated numerous contextual learning sessions and careers talks by industry professionals in schools to bring to life career paths that might sometimes seem inaccessible. We concluded a series of 12 all-day practical workshops in High Schools focussing on the Offshore Wind sector in 2019, our ‘Renew Your Future’ programme supported by the Sheringham Shoal and Dudgeon Offshore community funds.
We've also organised large scale careers events like our Fit For Your Future events at the Norfolk Show ground concluding in 2014. Bespoke support of high-profile local authority and government initiatives such as the online promotion of Kickstart opportunities in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire for the DWP this year and last.
Latest projects
For details of projects and initiates we're involved in right now, visit our About page.
