Volunteer Opportunity to join the Board of Trustees

What will you be doing?

We need people who can help direct the Centre of Sign-Sight-Sound(COS) towards achieving its mission and ensure that the organisation is effectively managed.  Trustees would need to be able to make a commitment to COS and devote the necessary time, have strategic vision, independent judgements, an ability to think creatively and willingness to speak their mind, to be there to advise and oversee the work of the staff in meeting the charity’s objectives and ensuring that that the charity resources are being used effectively. COS is the regional organisation that supports all Deaf, deafened, hard of hearing and Deafblind people across Wales as well as their family, friends, carers, colleagues and the services and organisations that support them. We do this both by providing a variety of services ourselves and working with other organisations to promote, develop and enhance the provision of appropriate accessible services and resources available to people with a hearing loss. We are a diverse team of 11 people with a passion to support the people we work with, but need a strong Board who can guide an organisation that is on the rise.  

What are we looking for?

Whilst staff have expertise in their area of responsibility we need that to be reflected in the Board so are looking for members with backgrounds in:

Performance Management Human Resources Employment Law Finance and Accounting Fundraising Policy and Advocacy Safeguarding  

  You will be prepared to devote at least 12 half days per year to the role and are expected to attend Board Meetings, which are currently held quarterly in our Colwyn Bay office and our AGM which is held in November. Trustee positions are unpaid, but the COS can reimburse travel and subsistence costs to enable full participation in our business and activities.   We would expect all trustees to have a good understanding of sensory loss, and will offer induction training that encompasses Communication and Deaf Awareness Training. We need people who will roll their sleeves up and get involved.  A Board of Trustees who know what the team are doing, are enthused about our vision and who can advise in the planning stages of services, bids and tenders. A person who is dedicated not only to the Organisation, but to the staff and customers we support.  The team regularly donate time to fundraising, whether that be some Signed Singing at Christmas or a sponsored walk; or to team building events such as decorating the office, and we would like to see the Board support them whenever they can by joining in and taking part. We are particularly keen to achieve a diverse Board of Trustees and we welcome applications from all sections of the community.  

What difference will you make?

Over the last 24 years we have worked supporting the 1 in 6 members of our regional community who live with a hearing loss.  This ranges from Profoundly Deaf British Sign Language Users to people with a mild Hearing Loss who are looking for skills to enable them to lead a more independent life as their hearing gradually deteriorates. For our customers we are often the first port of call when they need information or advice, simply because we will provide that to them in an accessible manner, whether that be in BSL via a video call or in Plainer written or spoken English/Welsh.  In 2020/21 we carried out 231 home visits to isolated people who needed equipment and aids to support them to remain independent, attended 728 appointments to provide Communication Support, and carried out 3325 Information, Advice and Advocacy interventions. As a Volunteer Board member you would steer the organisation to ensure we are able to continue to provide these much needed services to a section of society who is often left behind.  A section of society who miss out on all of that anecdotal information that we pick up overhearing other people's conversations, snippets we hear on the radio as we drive to work, conversation with neighbours we bump into on the street, or that chats parents have at the school gates waiting to pickup their children or grandchildren.