Chair and Trustees - Being Alongside (The Association for Pastoral Care in Mental Health)

Who we are

Being Alongside was founded 40 years ago to help promote a holistic approach to supporting those experiencing mental health difficulties.

The charity has a Christian foundation, operating non-denominationally and working with local groups which directly support individuals by ‘being alongside’ them through challenging times.

The role

​Do you want to join us on the journey of improving the care offered to those with mental health difficulties?

We are looking for a new Chair and up to three new Trustees to help us on our mission to improve spiritual and pastoral care in the mental health field.

Our primary activity is to encourage and support local projects, specifically drop-in café style initiatives and befriending schemes, including through the provision of seed corn funding for new projects.

We are a small charity with around 100 registered supporters, and one part time administrator. Expenditure has exceeded income for the last few years, but the trustees have adopted an ambitious approach to using our historic reserves to support new projects which deliver our charitable objects in communities across the country.

We are looking for a Chair (or individuals interested in being a Co-Chair) and Trustees to help navigate the next stage of the charity’s journey, including taking decisions on future fundraising strategy.

We are particularly keen to attract trustees with accounting/finance, governance or fundraising experience, and hope to appoint new office holders from May 2025 for an initial period of three years.

Trustee meetings are held once a quarter, for two hours, usually in central London. While online attendance is possible, we encourage trustees to attend in person for at least two meetings per year. Trustees are also encouraged to attend occasional events organised by the charity.

While both of these roles are voluntary, expenses will be fully reimbursed.