Volunteer Trustee - Legal

What will you be doing?

The Drop In on the Isle of Portland is a youth service, not a youth club.  We are recognised across the region as highly effective and the ones to learn from.  Porland is a fascinating place: we have two prisons, it is scarred by quarrying of Portland stone for use in building important buildings worldwide, it has been an important naval defence location, it is impressive for migratory bird species, we have a hidden beach and over 50% of the butterflies found in the UK.  Some of our neighbourhoods are also within the 5% most deprived places for children and many of our young people can’t afford the bus fare off the island. We are looking for a Trustee to join our small, high impact Trustee team of five. We are already professionals in youth mental health, day to day finance and trust/foundation fundraising.  We are also recognised regionally for our robust safeguarding.  Thanks to review and advice from University of Sussex and our involvement in shaping the new Dorset Youth CRM and evaluation tool we are becoming robust in this area too.  Overall, we need additional new energy in family law, financial planning/modelling and accountancy, social media and wider comms, fundraising from corporates and legacy sources, youth employability and co-ordination of local volunteers. We anticipate each candidate to be able to lead the team in one of these areas. In addition to the mix of skills we are looking for, it is important to us that you have lived experience of the issues we support our young people with - perhaps currently, as a young person, a family member or close friend.  This is crucial because our young people, their families and wider stakeholders trust that we genuinely understand the need and the impact we must create together.  Our young people drive our business planning, hold the Trustee Board to account and nominate a spokesperson to attend board meetings to feedback and challenge us.  We would love to receive applications from some young adults, people of all backgrounds and identities and candidates interesting in the role of Chair too. It is not vital that to be a local as board meetings are held mostly online, but it would be highly beneficial if you are able to visit in person every few months.  

What are we looking for?

We would like candidates to at least be an advocate of young people's rights.  It is not necessary to have experience in representing young people in criminal proceedings. We would love to receive applications from some young adults, people of all backgrounds and identities and candidates interesting in the role of Chair.  Perhaps in addition to your skill, you fit one of more of the above. Board meetings are held mostly online, but it would be highly beneficial if you are able to visit in person every few months.

What difference will you make?

Leadership by our current board is passionate and dedicated to our cause.  Leadership by our young people is both by two young alumni participating as volunteer youth workers, and all 225 of our young people are invited to shape our work and strategic direction, so you will be interviewed by two of our young people alongside us.  Trustee in our charity is an active role, helping ensure we can continue our drive for excellence and success as recently recognised by the award of a large Lottery grant to span over 5 years.  As a trustee, you will have a real opportunity to be part of the strategic progression of our charity. The roles described are so important to us - not only do we need committed people to keep us on track financially, keep us visible, well-resourced and connected but even more significantly, we are looking for people who are in touch with youth issues and able to help us formulate our vision for the future. Our vision for engaging a Trustee with family law experience is that we will stay up to date with the rights of vulnerable young people, advocate for them when they behave in risky ways and support us in our drive to help our young people avoid exploitation. A recent trustee was a family lawyer and she drove our recent project called Push Up which was about finding young men at risk of County Lines and bringing them in to a new activity of body building and coaching combined with local male role models from gyms and the police.