About the opportunity
Committed trustees are vital to the work of Caring Together charity and we look forward to welcoming new trustees onto the board as we continue to grow and develop our services.
We are particularly interested in hearing from potential trustees who may have worked in the health and social care sector, although your experience and knowledge may have come from any role that has had an operational focus whether managerial or clinical. For example, service commissioning, service delivery or strategic development.
In simple terms, we are looking for potential trustees who have a background of making things work for people. Equally you may have lived experience relevant to our cause, which we view as equally valuable.
As a trustee you will:
- Be an ambassador for Caring Together and for our work.
- Help shape the strategic direction of Caring Together, ensuring we are meeting our charitable objectives.
- Make sure that Caring Together has policies in place which comply with current legislation, and promote good practice.
- Make sure the needs of carers are always at the centre of decisions taken by Caring Together.
We establish steering groups to support our senior leadership team in key areas of the business. We are specifically looking to recruit trustees who are willing to be members of our quality and service delivery committee which has a key governance role across the operational activity of the organisation.
About the charity
We are an independent charity that reaches around 50,000 carers annually, employs 150 members of staff and is supported by around 50 volunteers. Our income comes from a variety of sources including contracts with the public sector, homecare, grants and fundraising. In 2021/22 our income was just over £4m.
A carer is anyone who cares, unpaid, for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction cannot live independently without their support. Anyone can be a carer – a 15-year-old girl looking after a parent with alcohol dependency; a 40-year-old man caring for his partner who has terminal cancer, or an 80-year-old woman looking after her husband who has dementia.
“Being a carer is really hard.” That’s what we’re told by those we support. Being a carer often results in poor physical and mental health, needing to give up work and causes young carers to do less well at school. Currently there are estimated to be 178,000 carers living in our region, 5,000 of those under the age of 18. This number is set to rise to 264,000 by 2030, meaning that three out of five of us will be a carer at some point in our lives.
Our focus is on reaching more carers, of any age, through the following activities:
- Providing breaks from caring, including the provision of regulated homecare currently rated ‘good’ by CQC.
- Supporting carers to plan ahead.
- Responding to emergency situations.
- Training and equipping carers with skills and knowledge to help them in their caring role.
- Information and advice on understanding rights, entitlements and support.
- Someone to talk to.
- Using carer voice to raise awareness and influence the work of other organisations to reach and support carers.
- Bringing carers together to build peer support and friendships to empower carers, reduce isolation and extend their network.
As a trustee you will need to:
- be committed to developing your knowledge and understanding of how Caring Together is run.
- be committed to supporting and promoting Caring Together’s vision and values.
- understand and firmly believe in the work we do.
- demonstrate strong leadership skills.
- be an active member of the board, committing the time and thought needed.
Our board of trustees meets five to six times a year and is supported by a finance and audit committee and a quality and service delivery committee who meet quarterly.
Find out more
Click here to download our Board of Trustee recruitment pack [PDF, 331kB]
If you are interested in becoming a new trustee, or would like to find out more, please send an email to Lizzie Hindler, Office and customer services manager, at [email protected]
Please include your contact details, and either your CV or a brief summary of your knowledge and experience.
Once we receive this, we will make contact with you to arrange a convenient time for you to have an informal discussion with one of our existing trustees.
Reasonable adjustments
Applicants with disabilities are entitled to reasonable adjustments to enable them to take part in the application or interview process.
If you require reasonable adjustments to be made, please contact [email protected] or call 01480 275289 to discuss your needs.
