About the Chair of Trustee Role
Role Overview
The Chair of Trustees ensures effective governance and strategic direction for Rebuilding Lives UK. They provide leadership to the board, oversee decision-making, and act as a key ambassador for the charity. The Chair supports the Chief Executive while ensuring accountability and compliance with regulatory requirements. A key responsibility of the Chair is to ensure that all trustees are actively engaged in their roles, fulfilling their responsibilities, and participating in training.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead the board to ensure strong governance, accountability, and strategic leadership.
- Ensure that all trustees actively fulfill their roles, contribute to decision-making, and engage with the charity’s work.
- Provide mentorship and oversight to the Chief Executive.
- Hold trustees accountable for attending training and participating in board activities.
- Ensure that safeguarding measures are implemented across the charity.
- Oversee board meetings, ensuring productive discussions and informed decision-making.
- Represent the charity externally and strengthen partnerships with key stakeholders.
- Support financial oversight, ensuring sustainability and compliance.
- Be actively involved in the charity’s operations where possible, offering support beyond governance.
- The Chair plays a key role in providing strategic direction and supporting the CEO through regular mentoring and guidance. While the board collectively oversees the charity’s performance, the Chair works closely with the CEO to ensure they are supported in their role, offering insights and fostering a collaborative relationship between the CEO and trustees.
Who We Are Looking For
Essential Skills & Experience:
- Experience in chairing boards or senior governance roles.
- Strong strategic leadership and decision-making abilities.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).
- Minimum of 10 hours per month dedicated to board duties.
What You’ll Gain from This Role
Becoming a trustee with Rebuilding Lives UK is more than just a governance role—it’s an opportunity to be part of a team dedicated to creating real, lasting change. As a trustee, you will:
- Play a vital role in supporting survivors and helping them rebuild their lives.
- Be part of a passionate and driven team working towards a shared mission.
- Gain valuable leadership, governance, and strategic experience.
- Develop transferable skills in decision-making, safeguarding, and advocacy.
- Expand your professional network and engage with like-minded individuals.
- Have access to training and development opportunities to strengthen your expertise.
Mandatory Training Requirement
All trustees, including the Chair, are required to complete trustee governance and safeguarding training within the first three months of their appointment. Additional training will follow as needed.
Terms of Appointment
The Chair serves an initial one-year term, with the option for renewal up to a maximum of three years.
Voluntary Role
All voluntary roles are subject to satisfactory references and an enhanced DBS check.
This is an unpaid remote position (UK Based); however, reasonable expenses will be reimbursed.
Time Commitment:
- 10 hours per month, including:
- Monthly board meetings (held via Zoom).
- Providing strategic leadership and guidance to the CEO.
- Annual half-day strategy session and leadership planning.
- Regular check-ins with trustees to ensure engagement and accountability.
Registered Charity 
6 - 10
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
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Actively Interviewing
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2025 is a pivotal time for our small, family centred Charity as we move into our 22nd year. This year our Board will be defining our new mission and preparing for implementation. We're seeking new trustees to join us to contribute to our new mission and define the Charity's direction as we conclude our first mission in late 2025.
The Muscle Help Foundation (MHF) is a small multi-award winning, family-centred charity, delivering both in-person and virtual interventions and experiences in the UK - these moments-in-time are called Muscle Dreams, designed specifically for children & young people (8-28yrs) with the muscle wasting disease, Muscular Dystrophy (MD).
MHF’s impact is felt by beneficiaries and their families across the UK – from improved confidence, greater self-esteem, and an increased sense of hopefulness to a powerful shared identity that connects families, giving a platform to share knowledge, memories and establish lasting friendships.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
We are looking for Trustees who have a passion to take the charity forward, to grow impact, to leave a personal legacy and to feel the sense of personal fulfilment from the time they volunteer.
AS A TRUSTEE, YOU WILL
- Have an opportunity to help improve the lives of children, young people and their families
- Contribute to the governance of our small, well respected, national charity
- Have strategic responsibility for a specific skill area
- Act as an advocate/champion in promoting the charity's work across your network
- Receive induction, support and training
- Bring your lived experience, in using and further developing your skills for the benefit of others
- Be a part of the team that will help the charity achieve its overarching 657 Muscle Dream mission
REQUIREMENTS + KEY CRITERIA
Commitment to the charity’s values, bags of enthusiasm, an understanding and passion for our work, great comms skills and a real desire to want to make a difference to the lives of our vulnerable community. You may have experience of living with muscular dystrophy, other disabilities or life limiting conditions, but this is not essential.
MAIN BOARD MEETINGS + EXPENSES
Trustee Board meetings take place virtually. They are usually 2hrs. Over and above this time commitment, trustees on average, depending on their role, may give additional time in being directly involved in occasional ad projects – MHF Trustees ‘own’ a ‘bucket’, in other words, an area of responsibility like HR, Fundraising, Safeguarding, Marketing, Finance, Digital, Risk or Campaign Management that allows an individual to bring their skills, experience and talents to the charity. Reasonable expenses will be covered.
WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR – PERSON SPECIFICATION
- Absolute belief in the cause
- Desire to learn the trustee role, previous governance expertise is an advantage
- Excellent communicators with great listening, responding and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to both empower and challenge supportively.
- Strong commitment to equality, and an understanding of disability and how for example this may impact on the quality of life and life choices for disabled people and their families.
- Commitment and time to dedicate to the role and responsibilities of being a Trustee.
- Commitment to the charity’s vision, mission and values.
- Strong desire to make a difference to the lives of our vulnerable beneficiary community.
- Understanding of the context/environment in which the charity works - it is estimated that some 96% of MHF's beneficiaries are those with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), the most severe variant of muscular dystrophy - it is life limiting.
- Understanding the importance of ensuring public confidence and trust in the charity.
- Collaborative working (part of a team), using sound independent judgement and collective decision making.
- The capacity to grasp issues outside ones personal experience.
- The ability to think creatively both in terms of high level strategy and development.
- Commitment to equality and diversity with other trustees, staff, beneficiaries and other stakeholders.
WHAT DIFFERENCE WILL YOU MAKE?
To provide strategic leadership in line with our values and goals. Trustees will use their knowledge, skills, passion and experience to ensure that the charity achieves its objectives – as a Trustee, you will represent the interests of all stakeholders and act as an ambassador.
AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY TO BRING YOUR UNIQUE SELF
As an MHF Trustee, this is an exciting opportunity to bring your unique skill set to help the strategic progression of the charity in reaching its overarching goal to deliver 657 Muscle Dream interventions, that's one experience for every muscle in the human body, cherished moments-in-time that truly changes lives and give hope, and beyond as we reach this goal.
IN RETURN FOR YOUR COMMITMENT
- You will have an opportunity to help improve the lives of children, young people and their families
- Be part of a team all supporting the charity and rowing in the same direction
- Contribute to the governance of a national charity, that's worked tirelessly over the past 20 years
- Have your voice heard and listened to
- Attend events, meet beneficiaries & families and directly witness the impact of the charity’s work
- Have strategic responsibility for a skill area such as: HR, Fundraising, Corporate Partnerships etc
- Network with other like-minded individuals with common values
- Receive induction, support and training
- And much more…
INCLUSION - PROUD OF OUR BOARD DIVERSITY
Our greatest strength as a board and as an charity is in our community's diversity. We are particularly interested in hearing from applicants with diverse skills and experiences that reflect the diversity of our beneficiaries and welcome applications from first time Trustees.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.