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This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Are you the new Chair-designate for Reading Community Learning Centre?
Do you have enthusiasm, skills and time to cooperatively govern and lead our charity that supports women learners?
You could be the Chair-designate of Reading Community Learning Centre, a charity serving the needs of local refugee, asylum-seeking and migrant women. We stand proudly for equality and women’s rights, and are looking for a woman Chair-designate to take on the role of leading our Board, supported by our outgoing Chair for a handover period of up to 6 months.
About us:
Set up in 2007, we are a Charitable Company that helps often-marginalised women to achieve their individual potential, through helping them improve their English, building confidence, making friends, volunteering locally, gaining qualifications or securing a job.
In 2025 we supported over 595 women from 41 different countries of origin, through our charitable spending of £244k.
About the role:
We’re looking for a woman to volunteer to lead our Board of Trustees, to work with other trustees and our CEO to shape our future supporting and empowering women. Women from global-majority/minority-ethnic communities are especially encouraged to apply.
If you can think and lead strategically, help us plan long-term, you have the primary skills needed by our Chair. Support from our employees is always available, as they will be dealing with the day-to-day running of the organisation.
Experience of committee or similar work, an understanding of cooperative leadership and a strong focus to shape the forward-looking Board, are what we are looking for. You don’t necessarily need prior experience of charity trusteeship, as induction will be provided, plus specialist guidance as a new trustee, including access to external training.
This is a high-profile appointment, with strong commitment to the future of Reading Community Learning Centre an essential quality, and having a good understanding of the value for the women we help. Trustees make the top-level decisions for our charity: our Board includes women with understanding, skills and experience of our support, and we require new trustees to have empathy with our cause.
We are a charity not a business, but we apply business principles to governing our organisation. We encourage women from all backgrounds to apply, particularly Black, Asian and global-majority women, and those who have previous experience of engaging and working collaboratively with our beneficiaries.
The Board meets online every six weeks, and we ask you for up to sixteen hours per month; this includes all meetings, correspondence, communication, etc. Our Chair does need to be able to visit the Centre regularly, so should have access to Reading.
How to apply:
This high-profile appointment is being managed for us by inVOLve Community Services, a charity-support organisation, who offer an informal no-obligation discussion by video. A detailed Role Description and Skills Specification can be made available to you by request before that discussion.
Trustee appointments are subject to satisfactory references to satisfactory completion of an Enhanced DBS check.
Your CV and supporting statement will be read by our current Chair and trustees; an informal discussion followed by a more-formal interview can be offered as soon as mutually convenient.
I need to know more:
Contact Mike Allen via Apply Now, below, for more information and arrange to have a no-obligation initial informal discussion (Teams or Zoom), explanation about this important role and any assistance or advice you may need to apply.
Are you a member of the Methodist Church in Britain (MCB) seeking to use your skills, expertise and gifts in a new way?
Could you make a significant contribution to an important and hard-working body in the Methodist Church?
We are seeking new members to join our Audit & Risk Assurance Committee, which plays a vital role in supporting good governance within the Church. The Committee reports to the Connexional Council, which is the trustee body of the MCB.
About You
We are keen to recruit a member with operational experience of the church – this could be a minister or a lay person with significant experience of the day to day workings at church, circuit or district level. We are also looking for a member who has IT experience and can assist the committee with issues relating to AI, Cyber Security and Digital.
Working collaboratively with other members of the committee, you will bring your professional skills and experience to bear across the committee’s responsibilities. Not only will you have an understanding of the Church, you will also bring a ‘critical friend’ mindset to scrutinising the accounts and governance framework of the Connexional Council. As the Church continues to develop its mission, maintaining effective governance is a vital task.
Expressions of interest are invited from lay and ordained members of the MCB to complement the skills and background of other members of the Committee.
If you would like to speak to someone about this role then please contact HR Team.
Expressions of interest from people from ethnic minorities are especially welcome. All applications will be assessed on merit.
Closing date: 28 February 2026
Shortlisting date: 10 March 2026
Interview date: 24 March 2026 (in London)
The calling of the Methodist Church is to respond to the gospel of God's love in Christ and to live out its discipleship in worship and mission.
Leeds Mind promotes positive mental health and wellbeing, and provides help and support to anyone who needs it in and around Leeds. We offer many services, including: counselling, peer support, social prescribing, employment support, suicide bereavement support, creative wellbeing activities, mental health training and more. The aim of our work is to help people build on their strengths, overcome obstacles, and become more in control of their lives. We have faith and optimism in our clients and so the services we deliver are built around their needs. We support the people of Leeds to discover their own resources to ‘recover’ from periods of poor mental health, and to live life independently with their mental health condition.
Leeds Mind appoints external co-opted members to its relevant committees in order to strengthen the breadth of experience and skills available. It recognises the very valuable contribution that co-opted members make to the success of Leeds Mind and wants co-opted members to feel that the job they do is rewarding and satisfying.
Co-opted members are expected to contribute their professional, specialist, generalist and management skills to Leeds Mind’s committees in a non-executive role.
This role provides strategic insight, challenge, and support to the Quality and Performance Committee, with a specific focus on race equity and broader EDIB issues. The role will help ensure the charity’s services and internal practices are aligned with the NHS Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) and tailored to meet the unique needs of the communities we serve.
As a minimum, co-opted members are expected to prepare for and attend all meetings of the relevant committee. Committee meetings are held quarterly and are up to two hours in duration.
Additionally, it would be beneficial, for the co-opted member to attend Leeds Mind’s Race Equity Steering Group on a bi-monthly basis where possible to enhance understanding of developing strategic and operational work.
Key tasks & responsibilities
• Strategic Oversight & Advice
- Advise on the integration of race equity and EDI principles into the charity’s quality assurance and performance frameworks.
- Support alignment with the PCREF while adapting approaches to reflect the charity’s values, mission, and community needs.
• Service Equity
- Provide scrutiny and guidance on how services are designed, delivered, and evaluated to ensure equitable access, experience, and outcomes for racialised and marginalised communities.
- Champion culturally responsive and trauma-informed care models.
• Workforce Equity
- Advise on HR practices, workforce development, and organisational culture to promote race equity and inclusion.
- Support the charity in developing inclusive recruitment, retention, and progression strategies.
• Data & Impact
- Support the committee in interpreting and using data to monitor disparities, drive improvement, and measure impact.
- Promote the use of lived experience and qualitative insights alongside quantitative metrics.
• Governance & Accountability
- Contribute to the committee’s assurance role by challenging assumptions, identifying risks, and promoting transparency in equity-related performance.
- Ensure the charity remains accountable to the communities it serves, particularly those most affected by mental health inequalities.
- Attend committee meetings, induction, training and other events, as required
- Get to know Leeds Mind through discussion with the Chair, CEO, Trustees, staff, volunteers and service users, reading relevant papers and participating in events
- Comply with all governance policies and procedures
- Represent and act in the best interests of Leeds Mind at all times
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
