Chair-designate for Arthros

What will you be doing?

Originally set up as a charity in 1990, Arthros recently relaunched to continue to support people living with arthritis, with an accessible online grants programme to help fund items, activities and services that are not currently available through the NHS, which helps people in Reading and Wokingham live more independently with arthritis.

A Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee, Arthros spent £51k in 2024/25, and has a substantial Balance Sheet to continue its grants programme.

The role of Chair-designate
Our Acting Chair is looking to stand down but not before a new Chair is found. We are looking for someone to take over the leadership role over an introductory period of approx. three months, during which you will come to understand our organisation and we will help induct you into the role of Chair.

Our trustees are the people who make all decisions for our charity. Our Board includes people with experience and skills in assisting those living with a variety of chronic and disabling types of arthritis, and we’d expect you to have strong empathy with that. 

Although prior experience of charity trusteeship would be highly welcome, it's not a pre-requisite: we are looking for someone with a broad grasp of committee work and leadership. If you have understanding of the role of the Chair in effective (corporate or charity) governance, and the abilities and skills to effectively manage meetings, we’d like to talk with you.

Full induction to our organisation will be provided, plus specialist support as a new trustee including access to external training. 

If you can think strategically and plan long-term, you have the primary skills needed by all our trustees; you’ll also need to be able to work collectively with other Board members. 

We are a charity not a business, but we apply business principles to governing our organisation. We are looking for people from a variety of backgrounds to join our charity. We want to expand the diversity of our Board, in all meanings of the word, and strongly welcome applications from people from less-represented groups. 

We ask for about ten hours of your time per month as Chair-designate, rising to fifteen hours per month when appointed as Chair, which includes all meetings, rota for grant application discussions, etc. 

What are we looking for?

Here is some of what we would expect from our trustees; we appreciate you may want to develop more in some of these areas. We know that you may also need training and support from other trustees and from external organisations, and that that will be forthcoming, as necessary, to build on any area.

• Clear commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, valuing differences to make better decisions and deliver better outcomes
• Understanding of the needs of people living with arthritis is desirable; empathy, with the impact on wellbeing of those living with a variety of chronic and disabling types of arthritis, is essential 
• Experience of committee work and leadership is expected, with an understanding of the role of the Chair in effective (charity or corporate) governance, with abilities and skills to effectively manage meetings
• While experience and understanding of charity law and governance is useful, we strongly welcome people without extensive charity trustee experience in order to increase the diversity of our Board; training in areas of charity governance and law is provided
• Strategic vision; good, independent judgement; ability to think creatively, tempered by pragmatism and reality
• Ability to cooperatively lead the team of trustees, bringing impartiality and objectivity to decision-making, with the ability to bring people together to build consensus 
• Skills and ability to listen, even to dissenting views
• Willingness to speak your mind and to challenge other trustees with good intent; able to make unpopular recommendations to the Board, if necessary 
• Skills to analyse proposals, examine their strategic consequences and make concise recommendations
• Secure personal access to digital communication and able to competently use those resources
• Commitment to the organisation; willingness and ability to devote the necessary time & effort
• Having appropriate personal and professional contacts & networks, with willingness to draw on those as needed
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability and willingness to advocate for and champion Arthros across different groups, including NHS and Public Sector agencies 
• Experience of volunteer management and support would be welcome

What difference will you make?

What do YOU get as Chair of our organisation?   

• An opportunity to exercise your strategic leadership skills, possibly in a different environment or context 
• An opportunity to help govern an organisation supporting people living with arthritis
• A chance to expand and implement your understanding of our work
• A chance to augment your experience of charities 
• A boost to your career and CV, if needed 
• Satisfaction of helping an organisation that supports people living with arthritis, thus giving something back to the community 

What do we get?   

• Your strategic skills, knowledge, understanding or experience
• Your abilities to influence plans for our charity’s current programme and future 
• Enhancement to our overall governance and the Board of trustees; improvement in our charity governance and operational growth   
• Your participation in our collective decision-making, contributing to all areas of our charity work   
• Your enthusiasm   

What do our beneficiaries get?   

• The ability to continue our support for people living with arthritis
• A forward-looking and agile organisation, with a well-informed and well-managed Board of trustees  

Anything else...

We ask for about ten hours of your time per month as Chair-designate, rising to fifteen hours per month when appointed as Chair, which includes all meetings, rota for grant application discussions, etc.