Volunteer Director / Trustee to join a Housing Association / Charity

What will you be doing?

About the Role We are looking for a voluntary Director / Trustee with social housing experience to provide the necessary oversight to ensure St Basils effectively carries out its duties as a landlord. Our new Board member will need to have a good understanding of the strategic challenges facing the social housing sector, including the ongoing regulatory reforms. Our new Director / Trustee will sit on our Service Delivery & Development Committee which oversees both the housing elements of our services and the also support / delivery we provide to our young people. Although the role is voluntary, reasonable expenses will be paid for costs incurred in your role as a Director / Trustee.   Time Commitment You will need to be able to attend the majority of Board and Committee meetings, one of which is held each quarter (8 meetings total per year). Each meeting will last around 2 hours and will normally be held late afternoon/early evening (usually 4pm – 6pm). Board meetings are held in person at St Basils’ Head Office in Birmingham, and Committee meetings are held virtually via Microsoft Teams. The dates for meetings are set by calendar year, towards the end of the previous year – so 2025 meeting dates will be published in December 2024. Meeting papers will be circulated via an online portal a week in advance of the meeting to allow you sufficient time to prepare. A Board away day is held each year, usually October, and every other year this includes an overnight stay. This will be fully paid for by St Basils. We encourage Board members to visit our accommodation services to help them to really understand St Basils and to ultimately support our good governance and strategic decision making. We would like all Board members to make 2 visits a year if possible.

What are we looking for?

You will have the relevant experience in the housing sector to enable you to oversee our social housing function. You will demonstrate sound judgement and be able to challenge constructively, although you do not need to have Board experience. You will be work within the principles of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion and understand the needs of the diverse young people we serve. You will be passionate about ending youth homelessness and share our mission, vision and principles.

What difference will you make?

We are a registered provider of social housing, a charity and a company limited by guarantee, meaning our Board members are both Directors and Trustees. To navigate our challenging regulatory landscape we need to be tightly governed, and at the heart of this is a Board with the right knowledge, experience and diversity, all whilst working towards our vision to end youth homelessness. As a member of St Basils’ Board, you will be a guardian of St Basils’ charitable purpose. You will be responsible for holding the Senior Leadership Team to account through constructive challenge and for ensuring St Basils’ strategic priorities are met. You will form part of St Basils’ good governance function which involves having an oversight of key business areas, such as safeguarding, risk, finance, health and safety, EDI and business development.  Our Board is made up of 14 members, 2 of which are designated for young people who have lived experience of homelessness and / or St Basils’ services. St Basils has adopted the RACE Equality Code of Governance to show its commitment to eliminating the racial disparities that exist within senior leadership teams and Boards. Our Board members are fully committed to the principles of EDI and are advocates for race equality, using their strategic voice to instigate real change.