Contact a Family Wales
Contact a Family is recruiting a Trustee and Chair for our National Council for Wales
What is Contact a Family?
Contact a Family is a UK wide charity providing advice, information and support to families with disabled children regardless of the disability or condition of the child. This information and support is given through a network of offices and cluster teams that are spread across the UK.
We work with parent groups and parent forums and link families into local and national networks of support. We run a UK telephone helpline service, and have a wide range of information products and materials.
We campaign and lobby National and local governments in Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland on any issue affecting families with disabled children.
Our Wales office base is in Cardiff with half of our UK Helpline based in Glasgow. Contact a Family’s registered office is at 209-211, City Road, London EC1V 1JN.
The organisation is managed by a Board of Trustees, of whom over a third are parents of a disabled child or are disabled adults themselves.
Trustee and Chair of Contact a Family’s National Council for Wales
Contact a Family is now seeking to recruit a Trustee who would also be Chair of our Nation Council in Wales.
The Board of Trustees of Contact a Family has established National Councils who guide and support Contact a Family’s work in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to extend our networks, expertise and geographic coverage and to assist with the development of the evidence base for our work.
Each National Council is chaired by a Trustee of Contact a Family who lives in the Nation for which the Council is responsible in this case Wales. The appointed person will be expected to take part in regular Trustee meetings and also attend and chair the Wales Nation Council meetings which are held in Cardiff.
If you are interested in finding out more about this position and would like to access further information then please visit the Homepage on our website at http://www.cafamily.org.uk/what-we-do/our-vacancies/
Closing date for return of the Expression of Interest form and CV is 9 am on 8 March 2013.
Interviews for the position will be held in Cardiff on the 21 March 2013.
Please return the form and cv to;
Pat Johnson,
HR Recruitment Officer,
Contact a Family Cymru,
33-35 Cathedral Road,
Cardiff,
CF11 9HB.
Trustee and Chair of Wales Contact a Family’s National Council.
This pack contains information about Contact a Family and role descriptions for the posts of Chair of the Wales Contact a Family Nation Council and the UK Trustee position.
February 2013.
A message from Paul Streets Chair of Contact a Family.
Dear Applicant
Thank you for your interest in the position of Trustee and Chair of the Wales Contact a Family National Council.
We are the leading UK charity working with families of all disabled children, regardless of the disability or health condition of the child. Founded in 1979, we provide advice, information and support on all aspects of raising a disabled child and we bring families together so they can support each other. We also campaign for families with disabled children to lead the lives they choose.
Contact a Family is well managed and financially stable with excellent links to parents and families, and other key stakeholders. By 2014 we aim to make even more of an impact and reach greater numbers of families throughout the UK with our wide range of online, telephone and face to face services. These services provide vital information, support and advice for families with disabled children. We also have strong programmes aimed at ensuring that front line professionals have the right skills to support these families. We will build on our ground breaking work to ensure that parents of disabled children take part in key decisions about how statutory services are planned. Our influence on public policy across the four nations is also substantial, and represents one of the key ways in which we can make a difference for all families with disabled children.
Over the last two years we have undergone a period of significant change, including the strengthening of our services and the modernisation of our infrastructure. The biggest change has been the growth in our ambition for what we can achieve with and for families with disabled children.
We have a network of 13 offices across the UK, a committed Board, a strong, professional and passionate team of staff and volunteers who work directly with families.
We are now looking to appoint a Trustee who will also be Chair of our Wales Nation Council to lead Contact a Family Wales and into and through the next exciting stage of its growth. We are seeking an effective communicator and an experienced leader to direct the Wales National Council and offer vital strategic support and advice in the formulation of our new five year strategic plan.
This is a truly exceptional opportunity to make a significant impact for families of all disabled children throughout the UK. I very much hope that you are excited by what Contact a Family has achieved and its future plans and that you will pursue an application for this key influential appointment.
Yours faithfully
Paul Streets
Chair of Contact a Family
Background
Across the UK, a child is diagnosed with a severe disability every 25 minutes. Although some children need hospital care, 98% of disabled children live at home with a parent or other family member who may not have expected to be in this position, but who has quickly had to become an expert.
Contact a Family is the only UK-wide charity providing advice, information and support to the families of all disabled children - no matter what their disability or health condition. We also enable families to get in contact with other families, both on a local and national basis. Last year we reached at least 341,000 families. We also seek to influence public policy across the four nations of the UK to improve the lives of all families with disabled children.
Contact a Family’s strategic vision is that all families with disabled children are empowered to live the lives they choose to live, and achieve their full potential, for themselves, for the communities they live in and for society.
Contact a Family’s core purpose is to remove the barriers imposed by society which prevent families with disabled children achieving their full potential, and to empower these families to live the lives they want to lead.
Contact a Family’s core values are based on the principle of mutual support between families caring for disabled children. We are driven by the needs and interests of families with disabled children and work in partnership with them, whether this is around influencing public policy, or developing our own services.
Direction of travel 2009-2013
Trustees and the Senior Management Team have identified four overarching aims that we will work towards during 2009-2013 to bring about real change for the families we support (and Contact a Family in the process). We are calling this our “direction of travel”.
To remove the barriers faced by families with disabled children we will:
a) establish issues affecting families with disabled children as a mainstream concern for society
b) enable families with disabled children to overcome the barriers they face
To strengthen Contact a Family to achieve the above we will:
c) become a recognised a force for change in ALL spheres which have an impact on the lives of families with disabled children
d) be a modern, well run organization which enables us to achieve the best with and for families with disabled children
Contact a Family is currently developing its new strategy to take us beyond 2013, but trustees have agreed that our direction of travel is still right and will drive the development of our new strategic objectives.
Recent achievements
· In recent months we have secured significant funding to continue and grow our key services. Our turnover has increased by over £1 million in the past 18 months
· Through our helpline we support over 10,000 people a year. Results from the Contact a Family Helpline Evaluation survey for 2010/ gave a satisfaction rating of 98%.
· Our average satisfaction ratings for many of the services we provide range between 98% and 100%.
· Our website and social media ranked 46 out of 300 in a recent “Charity Web Check” run by Third Sector magazine – higher than charities which are household names such as the NSPCC, Comic Relief and Amnesty International.
· Contact a Family is a key player and driver of a range of campaigning alliances across the UK both within the children’s disability field and within related areas of public policy such as poverty and family relationship breakdown. We have regular access to government ministers across the UK and other influential decision makers.
· We have had significant success in achieving media profile and this year alone have appeared on BBC Breakfast TV, Radio 4, Radio 5 and other major news outlets.
How are we funded?
Most of our money comes from statutory grants, the Big Lottery Fund or charitable trusts. Following the adoption of a new fundraising strategy, we have begun actively developing unrestricted funding, particularly from corporate and major donors, although this work is at a very early stage.
How big a charity is Contact a Family?
Contact a Family is a small to medium sized charity. Our annual turnover for 2011/ 2012 was £5.1 million. We employ 130 staff. We also have a significant number of committed volunteers.
For more information about Contact a Family, please go to www.cafamily.org.uk
Wales National Council.
The Wales National Council meets four times a year usually at our office base in Cardiff. The Council has been running for 10 years.
The Council is made up of people from a range of backgrounds, including parents, professionals operating in relevant associated fields and people who bring particular expertise to the organisation for example academic study and the law.
The chair of the National Council will work closely with the Manager for Wales Keith Bowen and together they will plan and manage the work of the Council.
The National Council does not manage the work of the organisation but advises supports and helps guide the work that we do. The Council meetings look at areas such as policy development in Wales, branding and fundraising and other strategic issues that affect our work.
The Chair who will also be a Trustee will report back on the work of the Board of Trustees to each National Council meeting.
Board of Trustees.
Contact a Family’s Board consists of 15 trustees, at least a third of whom are parents with disabled children. Existing trustees bring a broad range of skills gleaned from the voluntary, public and private sectors. The Board meets four times a year. There are two full day meetings and two half day meetings.
As well as the main Board there are four sub-committees, each of which reports into the Board. They each meet four times a year during the evening. One of these is the Executive Committee which meets between Board meetings to enable decisions to be taken which cannot wait for the next full Board meeting under its delegated authority.
The Services and Public Affairs Committee provides detailed scrutiny of the work of Contact a Family, including our services and our activities aimed at influencing public policy development.
The Business Affairs Committee provides detailed scrutiny of the financial and infrastructure issues within Contact a Family.
The Nominations and Governance Committee is self explanatory and meets on a more flexible basis
Time commitment
It is envisioned that the total combined time commitment required from the Chair/ Trustee will be the equivalent of approximately 15 days per annum. This will include attendance at Board and Committee meetings, four meetings with the National Council, teleconferences/meeting with the manager and attendance at key Contact a Family events.
Terms and Conditions
The Trustee position and Chair of Wales Nation Council posts are unpaid, however Contact a Family will reimburse out of pocket expenses.
More information about Contact a Family.
If you would like to find out more about the services and work of Contact a Family then please visit our website at www.cafamily.org.uk
10
Contact a Family October 2013
Chair of the Wales National Council.
Role Specification
Overall purpose:
· To provide leadership and direction to the Wales National Council, enabling them to fulfil their role and responsibilities for supporting the work of Contact a Family in Wales.
· Working with the Wales Manager and the organisations Trustees, to help implement Contact a Family’s strategic plan.
Main Duties and responsibilities:
· With the Wales manager lead on the planning, setting and chairing of National Council’s meetings. This will involve liaising with the manager to draft agendas and supporting papers for National Council meetings and ensure that the business is covered efficiently and effectively at those meetings.
· Leading the members of the National Council in the development of the strategic plans for the Charity in Wales.
· Providing non managerial advice and support to the manager and staff team.
· Ensuring that the approved values and mission of the organisation are upheld in all of the decisions of the Council.
· Ensuring that all Council members are given a fair opportunity to
express their views before important decisions are made in an impartial manner.
· Ensuring that the performance of the Council is reviewed on an annual basis.
· Along with the manager and other National Council members representing Contact a Family at different functions and meetings that will occur in Wales.
· Helping to establish a strong network of contacts that will bring value to the work of Contact a Family in Wales.
Contact a Family.
Trustee role description