Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys

Background

The RMTGB is a national charity funded by English Freemasonry. It supports disadvantaged children and young people who are in full-time education.

The Trust was formed in the 1980s, bringing together the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls and the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys, which had existed separately for nearly 200 years.

The Trust has set criteria for grant-making. Cases must fall into a specific category before we can help. The main work of the Trust is to assist families that have had some major event in their lives which has caused them what we call ‘distress’ and in each case this must have reduced the family income so that in the terms of the Trust, they are in poverty. We can assist where one or both parents have died, where parents have divorced or where a parent has suffered the onset of a disability.

The Trust also oversees a variety of subsidiary funds. These are smaller,individual amounts of money and each is governed by its own eligibility criteria and its own set of Trustees.The subsidiary funds broaden the scope of the RMTGB’s workand applications must be carefully targeted in order to make the best use of the limited monies available.

The Trust has a number of non-Masonic giving projects. The largest is the Choral Bursary scheme, which was established in 1995and awards bursaries to choristers at 22 cathedrals and other choral foundations. The bursaries enable children to join a choir and attend the choir school when their families are unable to meet the fees. In addition, when funds are available the Trust runsa scheme that considers applications for support from other children’s charities and this is due to re-launch later this year. The Trust also has two smaller schemes, one ofwhich provides a school prizes and one which provides postgraduate bursaries to students studying in a field aligned to the Trust’s work.

The Trust has a staff of 35. About half are concerned with raising funds and with the administration of finance and property. The other half, the Petitions Department, includes the Case Adviser team and the subsidiary funds and research team. We also have a welfare team of four who spend the majority of their working week visiting families in their homes. Each Welfare Adviser has a specialist professional background, for example family therapy and experience of special educational needs, and these skills are a great help to the many families we look after.

Principal responsibilities:

  • Day to day administration of the Trust’s subsidiary funds: dealing with new enquiries, gathering information from applicants, preparing papers for Trustees and delivering their decisions to appropriate timescales.
  • To administer the Non-Masonic Grants projects:the Choral Bursaries, the children’s charities scheme, the School Prizes project and the Non-Masonic Post Graduate Bursaries.
  • To support the Senior Policy Adviser (Subsidiary Funds and Research) with research related to the RMTGB’s grant-making policy.
  • Such other tasks as mightbe required from time to time.

Person specification:

  • Ability to compile and summarise information from a variety of sources and present it in a clear, concise written format.
  • Ability to work on your own initiative, manage competing priorities effectively and meet deadlines.
  • Strong communication skills, verbal and written.
  • A genuine concern for the well being of children and young people and the ability to empathise with those in difficult situations.
  • Good IT skills, especially in Microsoft Office applications.
  • A positive approach to working as part of a team.

Essential qualifications:

  • A degree, or equivalent work experience.
  • Awareness of government policy regarding child poverty and welfare reform.

Desirable skills and experience:

  • Knowledge of the education sector.
  • Knowledge of current state benefits.
  • 1 year’s general office administration experience.
  • A-level English.
  • Research skills.