Volunteer Trustee with Finance experience needed to join the Board of our Community Museum and Gardens

What will you be doing?

Norton Priory Museum Trust Limited is the independent charitable trust which operates Norton Priory Museum and Gardens in Runcorn, Cheshire.  Norton Priory has a history reaching back 900 years, first as a St Augustinian monastic complex, and later as a landed estate and home to the Brooke family.  The site has strong links with the local community, which were strengthened by the community archaeological excavations which took place between 1971 and 1987. We are seeking new Trustees to help Norton Priory Museum and Gardens to widen its appeal and to reach new, more diverse audiences. Norton Priory has a proven track record as a visitor attraction and as a venue for education, visual and performing arts, including music, horticulture and ecology, mindfulness and meditation.  The museum and its grounds are a popular wedding venue and we are developing our offering as a place for corporate meetings and conferences. We have particular needs for skills and experience in financial management, HR, modern communication and grant application. The Board recognises that there is a need to improve its own diversity and reach to better reflect the communities that we serve. Norton Priory has recently been approved as A National Portfolio Organisation by The Arts Council in recognition of the potential of the Trust to extend the range of activities offered and to attract new audiences and visitors.

What are we looking for?

Our specific skills and expertise requirement is for a Finance professional who can assist the CEO in matters of financial control, funding, budgeting, investment and tax. We are looking for individuals who are interested in the adding value to the wide range of uses that can be made of the historic site covering such areas as visual and performance arts, wellness and mindfulness, visitor attractions, events and ecological and horticultural studies to name but a few.  The Board are hoping to attract individuals who can bring a new perspective to the running of the charity because of their background and personal experience and can add significantly to the diversity of its membership.

What difference will you make?

We are looking for Trustees whose experience, background and skills compliment those of the current Board, the members of which recognise the need to widen their own diversity, and who can support the staff both with their specific expertise and help to make contacts into parts of  the local and regional communities we do not currently reach effectively.