Who's the new kid on the block?
Mark Peers 2015 Quiz Profile
Let's face it. Mark is a strange choice as a NOTDEC UK Trustee. OK, he and his wife Esther have sponsored Benjamin since 2006, and doubtless he's very kind to cats. But he hasn't been to NOTDEC Uganda — or anywhere else in the country — and he's certainly the only Trustee who isn't an empty nester. Quite the opposite: he can enjoy family time for real amidst a whole houseful of kids of his own and has absolutely no need to borrow a cartload more that someone else has mislaid. With people so often choosing folk like themselves, we can only wonder what (on earth) NOTDEC UK Trustees were thinking when they invited Mark to join them!
Mark himself puts it down to his natural charisma and charm, and the fact that he once starred in a ice-cream advert on TV – though it was in Egypt in 1983. He forbears to mention his sound judgement and knowledge of men and matters, alluding but occasionally to other speeches by Toad in the course of the evening. More important, he suggests are his annoying ability to ask lots of questions to suss out what makes things “tick”, and his penchant for communicating with Christian men — "networking" within his community.
The truth is that Mark was invited to join the NOTDEC UK Trustees specifically because he's not like the rest of the bunch. He's neither a wrinkly nor anywhere near shrivelling. He's never been known to bang-on about the lack of real hymns, and lists interests including “running, the great outdoors and being active”. And he's certainly not on the waiting list for the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. On the contrary, he was actually born in the Far East and spent 7 years of his childhood overseas including two years in Cairo.
If NOTDEC UK is to have a long term future, we need to extend our reach beyond wills and legacies. We need to learn how to communicate with the Facebook and Instagram generations. And we need to present things in a way that makes sense to today's world — to people who have seen something of life and want to make a difference but have never been to Uganda; people with less money than sense; people who simply don't have the time to trawl through charity accounts to check them out.
For NOTDEC UK then, Mark is Gen Y incarnate: the community-minded Millennial made flesh, who thinks like his peers and speaks their language – incessantly. So whilst Mark has no specific functional responsibilities within NOTDEC UK, his job is to make sure that what we at NOTDEC UK say and do makes sense — and will continue to make sense — to real people "out there" who are much younger than most NOTDEC UK Trustees.
And, just to make sure that this vision of “the other” doesn’t unsettle the remaining NOTDEC UK Trustees, Mark comes clad in archetypically traditional Christian service – sidesman, prayer ministry, CYFA leader, Treasurer, Church Warden, and latterly Men’s stuff leader. Despite the ice-cream commercial, there’s no cosplay – indeed nothing “seriously weird” that might frighten the horses.
But have no doubt, Mark is about succession.
The future starts here.
Watch this space.