Trustee

If you're looking for a chance to be part of close-knit board and executive team, where you can play an active role in grant allocation and help shape the charity’s strategic direction, then come join the Board of the National Benevolent Charity.

Location: Meetings held in Gloucestershire, Bristol, Swindon or Wiltshire

Time commitment: The equivalent of up to a day a month

Applications close at 9 a.m. Monday 21st October

Who we are.

The National Benevolent Charity is a grantmaker. We make grants to individuals experiencing poverty and to organisations aiming to relieve poverty.

We are one of only a handful of benevolent charities to which people experiencing poverty can apply directly from anywhere in the UK. Our applicants include refugees, women escaping domestic abuse, people from the travelling community, working families on low incomes, care leavers and pensioners.

Our grants to organisations focused on Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Swindon, and Bristol. Our successful applicants include food banks, housing and homeless shelters, women’s refuges, and money advice organisations.

We ensure our grants are used to help people survive and thrive, live in reasonable comfort, and improve their physical and psychological well-being by providing home essentials, financial, emotional, and practical support, advice, and training.

We collaborate with other funders and referral agencies to offer the widest support possible and aim to be inclusive and equitable in our grant giving. In 2023, we awarded grants to 729  individuals and 42 organisations.

The charity employs three staff members, led by the Chief Executive, Ali Russell. Total income and endowments for the year ending 31 December 2023 were £ 867,742, with expenditures £1,108,271. Assets are just under £24m.

About the role.

To complement the skills and experience of the existing Trustees, we are looking for a new board member with expertise in finance. This board member will be a qualified accountant and hold a senior strategic leadership position as our new Finance and Investment Committee Chair. They will need to attend all Full Board and all Finance Committee meetings.

We are looking for people willing to bring energy, enthusiasm, and commitment to the role, and who will broaden the diversity of thinking on our board and demonstrate the following personal skills and qualities.

• They must be willing and able to understand and accept their responsibilities and liabilities as trustees and act in the best interests of the organisation.
• Be able to think creatively and strategically, exercise good, independent judgement and work effectively as a board member.

• Be an effective communicator who is willing to participate actively in discussions.
• Have a strong personal commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion.
• Have enthusiasm for our vision and mission.
• Be willing to practice our values of collaboration, compassion, and openness.

This board member will Chair the Finance and Investment Committee and will be responsible for ensuring investments and assets are maximised professionally and ethically by:

• Having oversight of the charity’s Investment Managers.
• Ensuring robust and comprehensive investment policies are in place and being implemented.
• Assisting in the presentation of investments to the Board of Trustees.
• Advising on the financial implications of the charity’s strategic plan.
• Oversight of the Management Accounts and Budget setting.

Please click 'Apply via website’ to be redirected to the Peridot Partners website, where you can find full details of the candidate profile and register your interest to apply.

Applications for this role close at 9 a.m. Monday 21st October.