Trustee Vacancies

Trustee - Role Description

Time Commitment: approximately 7-15 hours per month (6 board meetings, 2 development days and ad-hoc meetings as required per year)

The role of our Trustees is to ensure that the Balsam Centre is fulfilling its mission to help people lead healthy, happy lives, supporting our Executive Team and other Board colleagues as much as holding them to account. The Balsam Centre is proud to have an excellent reputation for the quality of our work, which is based on clear values and a special way of doing things. Our Trustees are stewards of our mission, reputation, quality, values and operating model.

We now have vacancies for Trustees to lead on:

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Finance, clinical services, strengthening the voice of the community in our work, and bringing the experience of people who use our services to the Board.

Core Responsibilities

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For the finance role, to bring an understanding of the transformational nature of money to the work of the Board, helping the Board to understand the bridge that finance provides between our vision and the daily activity of the charity.

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For the clinical role, to bring understanding and experience of care delivery and the governance that goes with it.

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For the community role, to engage deeply in the local community and to be able to articulate pressures, challenges and opportunities for the charity to help local people.

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For the experience of people who use our services role, to have used the Balsam Centre personally or to have a close friend or family member who has made use of the services of the charity.

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Provide leadership, insights, support, and accountability opportunities to our executive team in fulfilling our mission.

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Ensure that all statutory responsibilities, such as timely submission of annual accounts, are fulfilled.

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Ensure that the Balsam Centre is effectively pursuing its charitable objectives appropriate to our resources and ambitions to remain viable, both in-year and over a three-to-five-year period.

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Provide mentoring and career development advice to our executive team and offer professional advice on specific issues as necessary.

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Ensure that the Balsam Centre remains culturally healthy, and that we are compliant good practice, relevant legislation or regulations, protecting and enhancing our reputation through good governance and personal conduct alike.

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Contribute to important Board discussions and wider Board dynamic, appreciating that the Balsam Centre is a multidisciplinary organisation full of people with different experiences and insights.

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Assist the Board and executive team in horizon scanning, anticipating and fielding risks as much as opportunities, bringing the outside world in and always relating back to our purpose- to serve the people in our community.

Person Specification

You should have significant experience in the area of the role you are applying for. This does not mean that you need to have been a Trustee previously or be from any particular background. The most important qualification is that you care deeply about the people of Wincanton and surrounding towns and villages. You may have experience in an entrepreneurial, social enterprise, commercial, corporate, philanthropic or public sector environment. Or you may be someone who has a burning desire to make the world a better place. We will be looking to you to push the boundaries of how we use our resources to turn our vision into reality.

Level of seniority is less important than ethos, energy and commitment to changing lives, but it is likely that you will have worked at a senior level in one context or another.

For the finance and clinical roles you will hold a professional qualification.

Aside from professional competencies, we are looking for values-driven people with high levels of emotional intelligence, who can lend not only their individual skills but help encourage those around them. Prior experience of sitting on a charity Board is not essential and we encourage first-timers as much as experienced Trustees, though it will be essential to demonstrate your understanding of the role of a charity Board Member and where governance responsibilities lie.

Most importantly, we are looking for Trustees who share and want to be actively engaged in our mission to help everyone lead a healthy, happy life.

You may well be someone who already knows and values the work of the Balsam Centre. If you are not already familiar with our work, we offer an orientation day in which you will see our ethos in action.

​To apply, please send a letter or email to Mark Payne, Clerk to the Board of Trustees, describing why you would like to join the Board and what you would bring. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to spend half a day with us learning about our work, before being interviewed by a panel of trustees. Appointment is subject to a DBS check. 

Michael Bainbridge, Chair of Trustees, is available for an informal discussion about the role of our Trustees