Volunteer Trustee

What will you be doing?

For Us Too is all about ensuring disabled children and their families have the same opportunities in life as others. We were set up in 2010 by a group of local parents and carers, with the aim of  improving the lives of disabled children, young people and their families across East Kent. This area, in the generally well-off south east of England, includes some very deprived neighbourhoods, especially in Thanet and Swale. Since being set up, we have operated in a climate of austerity and uncertainty which has seen many small charities close and services reduce – at a tough time when the need for family support has increased. We are here to represent the views and experiences of parents and carers, to fight for support, and to enable families to make things better. We're looking for Trustees especially with marketing, fundraising and/or secretarial skills.  We help families to have fun through our supportive family days out, drop-in groups and stay-and-play session in the summer, but we’re also here for information and learning. We can offer training and support sessions as well as direct know-how and signposting to other services through our Family Support Officers. Our Family Support Officers help with questions about education, EHCPs (Education Health and Care Plans), access to therapies, access to disability social workers and social services, disability-specific charities and events, help with forms and more.  Do you know what a weighted blanket is and what it’s for? Has someone told you your child would love music therapy, but you don’t know what it is or where to get it? Have you been worried by something a doctor or teacher has told you, and even more worried by what Google says about it? We can help you make sense of it all.

What are we looking for?

Ideally you'll be Kent-based. You might have lived experience of disability or be the parent or carer of a young person or child with a disability.  For Us Too relies on public giving and public funding. We receive grants from Kent County Council that help towards the cost of our staff and services such as offering play and stay activities for children and days out for families. These grants help with staff costs, trustee, staff and parent/carer training and workshops and promotion of our services. We particularly need trustees with fundraising experience. We're also looking for a trustee with experience in publicity or marketing to build the profile of the charity.

What difference will you make?

You'll be helping set the charity's direction. Look at our financial position and update policies. Support the Head of Charity with strategy and scrutiny. We hold monthly meetings - Manager’s report on the charities’ activities Get involved – attend events, work on funding, take minutes and plan events - HAVE FUN Our impact Our parents, in their own words, describe how For Us Too has helped them: ‘It's just felt like a safety net. It felt like somebody was putting a duvet around me and was just going ‘there, there, you're fine’. And I did break down a lot on online...so yeah, it was just having that support and being heard and, I didn't have to say anything if I didn't want to.’ Emma ‘You know she was amazing. I just felt like at the time I was absolutely going through hell. I had the school on my back because H wasn't attending. It had been a year and a half. And I felt like someone was on my side. ‘They are with you for the information that you didn't even know that you needed, and they get that through funding, and so without that we would just be feeling in the dark.’  ‘Just to know exactly what support and what the school should be doing, and legally wise how to support him was through the charity, because I wouldn't have known specifically what to.’