Volunteer Chair for a counselling charity

What will you be doing?

Our charity works with those in Nottinghamshire who are seeking help with any relationship problems they may have, through a series of counselling sessions.  We have a strong board offering a good range of skills, and it works closely with our Director of Operations.  We are a cohesive, dynamic and forward looking board, which guides the organisation's operations so that we offer a professional, effective and financially viable service as widely as possible throughout Nottinghamshire. The current Chair is reaching the end of her tenure, so we are looking for a new person to come in who probably has some experience of being a board member in whatever organisation, and can use that experience to maintain the cohesiveness and effectiveness of the current board.  As Chair, you will lead board meetings, work closely and in full consultation with board members, ensure decisions are reached in a timely manner and manage our operational lead.  We have a board meeting in the early evening every two months for a quick review of activities, before moving on to planning future activities, agreeing budgets and progressing the business plan.  We have recently introduced development days, when we can discuss specified topics in greater detail and with greater freedom, which usually occur between board meeting dates.   We are looking for a Chair who will bring experience, thought, expertise and skills to work alongside our existing board of trustees, and who will show commitment and will develop a real interest in our work, our people and the services we offer.  It is imperative for us to have a board which reflects a range of backgrounds and identities and most importantly represents the people we exist to support, as we believe that such increased diversity will improve our creativity and decision making.  So we particularly welcome applications from people from minority backgrounds, and we are very happy to discuss the needs of neurodiverse and disabled candidates and will make adjustments to ensure candidates can participate fully.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for someone who has experience of operating at a management level, in whatever sector that may be.  You should be used to managing meetings and showing leadership in a democratic and sensitive way.  You will need to be able to commit to bi-monthly meetings, held in the early evening, and any interim meetings that may be needed.  Added up, the time commitment is probably no more than 3-4 days a month.  We are not looking for any specific areas of skills expertise in our new Chair, but should you have a financial background, that would be very welcome.

What difference will you make?

We have a dynamic and forward looking board, which plans at a strategic level so that our charity helps as many people as possible who need our counselling expertise.  As Chair, you will be part of that board, showing leadership and good management of meetings, allowing individual members to express their thoughts in discussions, and leading democratically and transparently.  You will develop a good working relationship with our Director of Operations, allowing him to operate autonomously but maintaining an overview of operations, and ensuring he follows the board's strategic objectives.  As Chair you will not work alone, but always in conjunction with the board and with their support, but as leader you will have a huge impact on the effectiveness of the board and on ensuring the trustees' skills are used to the best advantage.