Appointment of Chair of Trustees

Charity Mentors Oxfordshire

Appointment of

Chair of Trustees

This role offers an exciting opportunity to lead a young charity which has demonstrated its value to the community and has an outstanding reputation for quality mentoring to Oxfordshire’s charities, voluntary organisations and community enterprises.

Charity Mentors Oxfordshire, Registered Charity No. 1164429

Appointment of Chair of Trustees

About Charity Mentors Oxfordshire

Charity MentorsOxfordshire has its origins in a mentoring service (“the service”) launched in 2013 and operated by a steering group under the auspices of the Oxfordshire Community Foundation (registered charity no. 1151621), with the service’s first projects beginning in the same year. The catalyst for the initiative was the co-founders’ experience of, and reflection on, two prevailing factors: firstly, the burden of responsibility carried by voluntary sector managers in often precarious conditions; secondly, the level of good will that exists towards voluntary sector services amongst senior leaders in the commercial and public sectors.

By mid-2015, the service had been involved with 40 mentoring projects and had been contacted by approximately 60 organisations. In addition, the service had produced its Template for a Service, detailing comprehensively its model for establishing, delivering and evaluating its services. That document is available to other mentoring organisations throughout the UK.

These positive developments justified the decision to form a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) through which to carry out the service. Charity Mentors Oxfordshire was registered as an independent charity on 16 November 2015.

Our mission is to provide leaders of the Oxfordshire not-for-profit sector with high quality mentoring and support for strategic decision-making.

To deliver this mission CM adopted a strategy in 2016 which the following 4 components

  • Strive for continuous improvement in service quality and impact.
  • Increase the number of mentoring projects.
  • Investigate the possibility of offering facilitation for individual charities’ strategy workshops and/or other service extensions supporting strategic thinking and decision-making by Oxfordshire not-for-profits.
  • Achieve closer collaboration with Oxfordshire’s support organisations.

The Charity addresses its objects by bringing together the expertise, skill, good will and resources of experienced business leaders to support charities, voluntary organisations and community enterprises in Oxfordshire in defining and achieving their strategic goals. This support currently takes the form of pro bono short-term mentoring.

By 30 June 2017 the service and the Charity had worked with over 100 Oxfordshire charity leaders and had 17 mentors, all of whom have had experience of running and growing a business in the private or public sector. When charity leaders ask for support in working through an issue relating to the long-term direction of their organisation, the Charity matches them with one of these mentors. The mentor works with the charity leader for 4 to 5 months, helping them to clarify what their options are, explore the best way forward and plan for the future.

Charity Mentors Oxfordshire, Registered Charity No. 1164429

Appointment of Chair of Trustees (continued)

Appointment of Chair - process

The Board of Trustees of Charity Mentors Oxfordshire is seeking to appoint its secondChair to succeed the current, founding Chair of Trustees upon her retirement.

Applications should be made in writing, including a cv, name and contact details of two independent referees (not to be approached by the Charity without the applicant’s permission), and a statement explaining why you are interested in this role and what you would be able to bring to it. Interviews are scheduled to take place on the afternoon of 13 March 2018, so please do try to keep this date available.

The successful candidate will be appointed as a Trustee and Chair Elect in April 2018 to enable a period of orientation and handover before taking over as the new Chair of Trustees by November 2018.

What the mentored organisations think:

Here are some quotes[1] from organisations which have used the mentoring service:

Charity Mentors Oxfordshire, Registered Charity No. 1164429

Appointment of Chair of Trustees (continued)

Governance

The Charity’s Board currently comprises seven Trustees.The Charity is administered by the Board of Trustees, which must have a minimum of five and a maximum of eight members, at least two of whom must themselves be mentors. The Board meets approximately quarterly, its meetings normally being followed by a meeting of the Charity’s mentors for an exchange of information and to provide training and feedback. In addition, an annual strategy day is held. The Co-ordinator is responsible to the Trustees for overseeing the Charity’s operations.

The Board of Trustees is responsible for the overall governance and strategic direction of the charity, developing the organisation’s aims, objectives and goals in accordance with the governing document, legal and regulatory guidelines.

Further information about governance is given in the Charity’s report and financial statements for the period ended 31 March 2017, available on our website.

Role description for the Chair of Trustees

The Chair’s role is to:

  • oversee the whole project, leading on strategy development and implementation and the regular review of risk;
  • understand the supply (of mentors) to, and demand (for mentoring) from, the not-for-profit sector in Oxfordshire);
  • harness the skills and experience of Board members, encouraging them to engage fully in realising the Charity’s vision;
  • set the policy framework and culture, in conjunction with the Board;
  • provide outfacing PR, as ambassador or advocate where necessary on her/his own initiative and at the request of the Coordinator, acting as spokesperson and figurehead as needed;
  • support the Coordinator, conducting an annual appraisal and remuneration review;
  • oversee and appraise every two years the performance of the Trustees and the Board;
  • plan and prepare, in conjunction with the Coordinator, and chair quarterly Board meetings;
  • support the Coordinator in managing the relationship with mentors (including their recruitment), funders and other stakeholders;
  • build an effective and complementary Board, initiating change and planning succession in Board appointments, subject to Board approval;
  • lead on fundraising;
  • provide financial oversight (supported by the Treasurer).

In addition,the Chair is expected to:

•uphold the highest standards of integrity and probity;

•promote the highest standards of corporate governance and ensure compliance with relevant regulations;

•ensure effective implementation of Board decisions;

•provide coherent leadership of the Charity, including representing it and understanding the views of stakeholders (eg mentors, mentees, donors and partnering organisations).

Ideally the successful candidate will have previous board experience either in the commercial or voluntary sectors.

Chair’s qualities, experience, skills and time commitment

Qualities

Candidates are expected to be able to demonstrate the following personal qualities:

  • strong and visible commitment to, and passion for, the Charity and its vision;
  • the ability to command respect from those who she/he leads;
  • strong interpersonal relationship-building skills;
  • being comfortable in an ambassadorial role;
  • tact and diplomacy and to listen and engage effectively;
  • strong networking abilities which can be used to the benefit of the Charity;
  • the ability to foster and promote a collaborative team environment;
  • the ability to commit time to conduct the role well.

Experience and skills

The experience, knowledge and skills the Chair is expected to be able to demonstrate include:

  • a successful track record of achievement throughout her/his career;
  • operating at a strategic leadership level within an organisation;
  • charity governance and working with or as part of a board of trustees;
  • external representation, delivering presentations and managing stakeholders;
  • chairing meetings and events;
  • strong leadership skills, the ability to motivate staff and volunteers and bring people together;
  • a broad understanding of charity finance issues;
  • a good understanding of charity governance issues including the boundaries between non-executive and executive boundaries insofar as they may relate to a charity of the size of Charity Mentors Oxfordshire.

Overall time commitment

In addition to the formal duties, time for correspondence, reading and reviewing papers should be included. Overall an average of 3 days per month should be allowed for.

The term of office for Trustees (including the Chair) is of three years. A term of office can be renewed for a further 3 years but after that the Trustee needs to stand down for at least one year before offering her-/himself for reelection.

Remuneration and expenses

No remuneration is paid but essential expenses are reimbursed.

Appendix

Role description for a Trustee

The UK Government sets out six key duties for a Trustee:
1. ensure your charity is carrying out its purposes for the public benefit;

2. comply with your charity’s governing document and the law;
3. act in your charity’s best interests;
4. manage your charity’s resources responsibly;
5. act with reasonable care and skill;
6. ensure your charity is accountable.

CharityMentors Oxfordshire strives to follow best practice in governance, and any external candidate for the Chair role would be expected to demonstrate understanding of, and ability to comply with, these fundamental duties of a Trustee, which are amplified as follows:

Main Responsibilities

  • to ensure that the charity and its representatives function within the legal and regulatory framework of the sector and in line with the Foundation’s governing document, continually striving for best practice in governance;
  • to uphold the fiduciary duty invested in the position, undertaking such duties in a way continually striving for best practice in governance that adds to public confidence and trust in the Foundation;
  • to determine the overall direction and development of the Foundation through good governance and clear strategic planning.

Charity Mentors Oxfordshire, Registered Charity No. 1164429

Appointment of Chair of Trustees (continued)

Role description for a Trustee (continued)

Main Duties

  • Ensuring the Foundation complies with legislative and regulatory requirements, and acts within the confines of its governing document and in furtherance to the Foundation’s activities contained therein;
  • Acting in the best interest of the charity, beneficiaries and future beneficiaries at all times;
  • Promoting and developing the charity/Foundation in order for it to grow and maintain its relevance to society;
  • maintaining sound financial management of the Charity’s resources, ensuring expenditure in line with the its objects, and any investment activities meet accepted standards and policies;
  • ensuring the safeguarding of all employees and pupils.

Trustee eligibility – UK guidance

You must be at least 16 years old to be a trustee of a charity that is a company or a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO), or at least 18 to be a trustee of any other sort of charity.

You must be properly appointed following the procedures and any restrictions in the charity’s governing document.

You must not act as a trustee if you are disqualified under the Charities Act, including if you:

  • have an unspent conviction for an offence involving dishonesty or deception (such as fraud);
  • are bankrupt or have entered into a formal arrangement (e.g. an individual voluntary arrangement) with a creditor;
  • have been removed as a company director or charity trustee because of wrongdoing.

Charity Mentors Oxfordshire, Registered Charity No. 1164429

[1]Extracted from feedback recorded in the Charity’s 2014 - 2017 Impact Report, which is available by clicking on the link above “The Benefits” box on the Charity’s website