Mike Cranston is, as he jokingly puts it, “285 days away from turning 80.”
But spend even a short amount of time with him and it quickly becomes clear that retirement has never really suited him.
Warm, thoughtful and endlessly conversational, Mike has a way of turning almost any discussion into a story about people. Sometimes those stories are funny. Sometimes deeply moving. Often both at once. One thing, however, remains consistent throughout every conversation: people have always mattered most to him.
This year marks 20 years since Mike first became involved with YMCA following his retirement in 2005. What began as an opportunity to support a charity using his professional experience, quickly became something far more personal.
Several organisations approached him after retirement because of his extensive leadership and financial background. But it was a conversation with the then Bishop of Southampton, Paul Butler, that changed the course of things.
“Other organisations wanted the accountant,” Mike recalls. “Paul told me YMCA needed me as a person.”
That distinction stayed with him.
Soon after, Mike became involved with YMCA Southampton during a significant period of change that would eventually lead to the merger with YMCA Fairthorne Group. While he brought decades of business, governance and financial expertise into the organisation, it was the people he encountered that truly rooted him within YMCA.
One of the moments he still remembers most vividly happened shortly after the merger, during a celebration event held on a boat on the Solent. Sitting among Fairthorne youth workers and activities teams, he listened as they spoke passionately about the young people they supported and the work they were part of.
“They spoke as though there was nowhere else they would rather be,” he says. “I remember thinking – I want to be with these people.”
That feeling never left him.
Over the years, Mike made a conscious effort to spend time within services, not simply to understand the organisation from a governance perspective, but to understand the people behind the work. He visited teams, listened to staff, spoke with children and young people and took time to hear the stories that often sit beyond meetings and reports.
“That’s the real world,” he says. “You only truly understand what’s happening when you listen to people.” And it is those moments that he remembers most distinctly.
He laughs while telling the story of a little boy at Whale Island Nursery who convinced him that helicopters were about to take off, only for Mike to discover the child himself was pretending to be the helicopter, running around with a pole spinning above his head. He smiles while remembering making makeshift drumsticks from branches for children on the Isle of Wight. Even now, there is still a genuine warmth in the way he speaks about those experiences.
But beneath the humour sits something much deeper: a profound respect for the people carrying the work every single day.
Whether speaking about youth workers, nursery teams, volunteers or support staff, Mike consistently returns to the same belief – that organisations like YMCA Fairthorne Group are ultimately built by people who continue showing up, even through the difficult moments, because they genuinely care.
Leadership, in his eyes, has never been about status.
One story he often reflects on is about a maintenance worker from his corporate career who greeted him one morning with “Morning Sir.” Mike immediately stopped them and simply asked him to please call him “Mike.”
The interaction stayed significant because it reflected something he has believed throughout his life: that a person’s value should never be measured by their title or position.
As Mike explains it, the world may have viewed their jobs differently, but that did not make either of them more important than the other. In fact, he openly admits that had he been responsible for the maintenance role, the building would likely never have been maintained to the same standard.
It is a perspective that has shaped the way Mike approaches people, leadership and service alike.
Born in 1947 into a working-class family in post-war England, Mike grew up in social housing and often felt that others were somehow “more important” than he was. Looking back now, he believes those experiences gave him a deeper understanding of what it feels like to struggle quietly.
“When I look at young people,” he reflects, “I still see the child who didn’t feel good enough.”
Perhaps that is why the work of YMCA has always felt so personal to him.
There are some moments in life that stay with you forever. For Mike, one of those moments happened quietly beside the Wish Tree at the Young Carers Festival. Young carers attending the festival had been invited to write down their hopes, thoughts and wishes. Some were playful. Some heartfelt. Some deeply personal. But one message stopped him in his tracks.
“I wish I had something worth wishing for.”
Even now, he remembers exactly how it made him feel.
The message immediately drew Mike to thoughts of his own children and grandchildren, and the deep instinct so many people carry to protect, encourage and provide for the people they love. But alongside that came the heartbreak of knowing there are young people growing up without the support, stability or belief needed to help them see their own worth.
It reinforced something he has carried throughout much of his life; that everyone should have a fair chance to discover who they are and what they can become.
That belief was never theoretical. It was something he saw reflected time and again throughout his years with YMCA Fairthorne Group – in the young people navigating challenges far beyond their years, in the quiet resilience shown by children and families, and in the staff and volunteers who continued to create spaces of care, encouragement and belonging for those who needed it most.
It is also why one phrase has stayed with Mike throughout much of his life: “Be hard on the problem, soft on the people.”
Pressure, he believes, should never remove compassion. Responsibility should never remove humanity.
Now stepping into a new chapter as an Ambassador for YMCA Fairthorne Group, it is clear this is less an ending, and more a continuation of everything that first drew him to the charity all those years ago.
While his formal trustee responsibilities may be coming to an end, his connection to the charity, its people and its purpose very much remains. He still speaks passionately about the work, the stories, the laughter, the challenges and, most importantly, the people who continue showing up every day to support children, young people and communities across the region.
For Mike, the role was never simply about governance or oversight. It was about stewardship. About recognising the trust placed in those who help guide organisations that sit at the heart of people’s lives.
“Being a trustee is a privilege, not a right,” he reflects.
Not because leadership places somebody above others, but because being trusted with people’s stories, challenges and futures is something that should always be approached with humility, care and responsibility.
And perhaps that is the thread that runs most consistently throughout Mike’s story.
A life shaped by service. A deep respect for people. And a belief that small moments of kindness, encouragement and human connection can leave a lasting impact far beyond what we sometimes realise.
Those who know Mike would likely say he leaves behind far more than professional expertise or years of governance experience.
He leaves behind warmth. Humility. Perspective. And a reminder that the heart of organisations like YMCA Fairthorne Group has always been, and will always remain, its people.
If you feel like volunteering might be for you, or you have something to give to your community, we’d love to hear from you. Find out more at ymca-fg.org/volunteers
