Volunteer Treasurer

What will you be doing?

TS Adventure Sea Cadets is a charity, that gives young people a broad spectrum of experiences aligned to nautical themes. This provides them with the skills and confidence they need to thrive into adulthood and beyond. Cadets learn a wide variety of skills on and off the water, many culminating in officially-recognised qualifications as well as building the confidence, self-discipline and teamwork skills to help prepare them for future employment. Cadet ages range from 10 to 18 and come from a broad and diverse set of backgrounds within Bristol. The Sea Cadets have operated in Bristol Harbour since 1965 and recently renewed a Community Asset Transfer lease with Bristol City Council for a term of 15 years with an option to extend to 35 years once planning and finance for redevelopment are in place. To this end the Board has been progressing a change of charitable status from unincorporated charity to CIO. As a result we are implementing strong new financial processes to comply fully with our new status. This necessarily involves introducing new controls and systems and the Board recently chose to migrate from old manual processes to using QuickBooks accounting and GoCardless Direct Debiting to more easily manage the Cadet subscription base. Unfortunately our Treasurer has abruptly retired in the midst of this transition due to ill-health hence leaving the Treasurer's post vacant. The Board has agreed both a long-term plan for strategic redevelopment of the site, but since this may take many years to come to fruition, there is also a tactical refurbishment plan to upgrade the premises on an incremental basis over several years. Full redevelopment will require raising in excess of £2 million. Other challenges that the Board are focused on include indirect consequences of the introduction of the Clean Air Zone in Bristol. This has led to a reduction in available volunteers and instructors along with the need to raise funds to replace our non-compliant minibus. Energy bills also now represent circa 40% of our income and there are other unexpected further charges likely to be levied on the charity causing further financial pain. As a result the Board are focused on investigating other revenue generating activities from our premises that fortuitously our CAT lease allows for.

What are we looking for?

Appropriate professional financial qualification Knowledge and experience of current finance practice relevant to voluntary and community organisations Knowledge of bookkeeping and financial management Good financial analysis skills Ability to communicate clearly in order to provide clarity to the Board about financial matters. Our accounts are in QuickBooks, so some experience in this would be good.

What difference will you make?

As a valued member of the Board, you will support and help shape the future direction of the charity as already described. Specifically the Treasurer will help complete the transition in our charity status and help bed-in the new financial tools along with implementing strong financial controls and processes. The role of Treasurer has become critical as a result of the various financial shocks that the charity has faced. A clear financial forecast will need to be developed and fund-raising targets set. The Treasurer will support the Chair and fellow trustees in overseeing, collating and reporting financial matters including keeping efficient up to date accounts and monthly reporting of income and expenditure. Through the delivery of monthly financial management reports the Treasurer will compare the charity’s performance against the agreed forecast and advise of any significant discrepancies.   Overseeing a well run and efficient finance function will be key to the success of securing large grants from third parties and to ensure that you and the other trustees can deliver on their vision and future goals.   In return the you can expect us to support you to understand your role, how to do it and the difference you make to the Sea Cadet Corps. We will also provide you with an induction, ongoing support and training to undertake your volunteer role and provide regular updates about any developments in the charity that are relevant to you. We will value your contributions and provide you with potential opportunities to grow/progress.