Trustee - Towcester Foodbank

Trustees play a vital role in ensuring Towcester Foodbank meets its core purpose by overseeing the management and administration of the charity and ensuring that the foodbank has a clear strategy in line with our vision and goals.

What will you be doing?

Are you interested in preventing Food Poverty? 

Would you like the opportunity to become more involved?We are looking for enthusiastic and talented people to join us as Trustees! 

We are a small and friendly food bank, operating within the town centre. Towcester Foodbank was established in 2012 by Churches Together in Towcester and is a registered charity allied to the Trussell Trust network. We provide critical food support to our guests, broadly drawn from the South Northamptonshire area, including emergency food parcels and other basic necessities. Working in partnership with a range of relevant organisations such as consumer advice agencies, we  offer information, support and signposting on other issues, including finance, to enable individuals to overcome some of their immediate difficulties. 

In the last year, we helped 354 individuals with over 3,000 food parcels as well as helping them find information which enabled them to improve their financial situation by over £200,000.  Across the UK the Trussell network, in partnership with a range of agencies, supported over 650,000 individuals to receive 3.1 million emergency food parcels.  We are proud to have played our role in this.

Trustee Responsibilities (shared across the Board)

• Governance: Ensure compliance with the charity’s governing documents and legislation.
• Strategic Planning: Contribute to the development and implementation of strategic plans.
• Financial Oversight: Manage resources responsibly, ensuring assets are used effectively to support our mission.
• Volunteer Management: Perform various management tasks to support the overall management of the volunteers. Identify and support opportunities for volunteer onboarding, development and training. Implement strategies to motivate volunteers and ensure their ongoing satisfaction and retention
• Communication: Serve as the primary point of contact for volunteers, providing timely and effective communication.
• Problem-Solving: Address and resolve scheduling conflicts and other related queries that arise with volunteer shifts.
• Leadership: Attend at least one session per month to stay connected with our volunteers and beneficiaries and provide leadership.

What are we looking for?

Who are you?

• You are an enthusiastic and creative team player, who shares the Foodbank’s values and mission for the prevention and relief of poverty within the South Northamptonshire district.  
• You have excellent team skills alongside plenty of initiative and you enjoy leading others within a range of specific project areas. 
• You have excellent communication and organisational skills, are happy to be hands- on and can delegate effectively.  
• You enjoy working with people from all backgrounds. Ideally you will be confident with some word processing and presentation software and have an ability to use Social media effectively.
• You may have some experience of charity or Trustee roles, but this is not essential.

How will you contribute?

Towcester Foodbank is managed by local people who form a board of eight trustees.  Each trustee brings a mix of skills and experiences to the team.  Trustee meetings are held monthly, and all trustees share responsibility for strategic decisions and actions.  Some roles are allocated specifically but there is flexibility to vary job roles to suit an individual’s skill mix. Trustees are operational as well as strategic and participate actively in the Foodbank sessions twice a month, where there is an expectation that they will contribute where they are most needed.

There are three vacancies currently, and we are particularly keen to recruit individuals who can offer excellent PR and/or Social Media management skills and/or individuals with excellent record keeping and secretarial skills. 

We value diversity and encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds and experiences. Your unique perspective and ideas will help us make more informed decisions and better serve our community.

What difference will you make?

By supporting the governance of the food bank, you are part of a team providing a vital holistic support function in your local community, ensuring a dignified experience to anyone visiting or anyone who comes into contact with Towcester Foodbank.