Honorary Treasurer Trustee volunteer

Overview

At Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care, our unique care provides a lifeline of compassion and support to patients, carers, and families facing progressive life-limiting illness. We provide palliative and end of life care support, including bereavement services, within Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. Our patient services are available to adults, as well as patients transitioning into adult services (16 to 25 years). Bereavement support is offered for all ages to families of patients and those around them, as well as throughout the community, in schools and workplaces. We are proud to offer care in the place that best suits the individual’s needs, whether that’s at home, in a care home, in a short stay in our inpatient unit, out in the community, or in our Living Well Centre facilities. As a hospice care charity, we have offered this support, free of charge, for over 40 years.

Our staff team of 340+ includes a wide range of patient-facing disciplines plus operational support based in Watford, Tring, St Albans, Chalfont St Giles and Berkhamsted. The charity is now one of the larger UK hospice charities, reaching a GP population of 797,037 of whom 75% live in Hertfordshire and 25% in Buckinghamshire.

Our mission is to provide the quality hospice care that our community needs, achieved by listening to our community and delivering services that are accessible to all, caring for people from diagnosis with a life-limiting illness, and supporting people in the place that’s best for them. Our values are: Compassionate, Collaborative, Inclusive. Our strategic aims are to SERVE our communities, REACH more local people, and STRENGTHEN our ability to secure resources.

Job title

Trustee and Honorary Treasurer – The Trustee and Honorary Treasurer will serve as a key strategic leader on the charity’s Board, offering expert oversight and independent judgment to support robust financial management and organisational governance. The role is instrumental to ensuring the charity’s financial sustainability amidst a complex operating environment, and requires active collaboration with senior leadership, board committees, and a broad range of stakeholders. Candidates must demonstrate deep commitment to the charity’s mission, and significant experience in financial leadership.

Key Responsibilities

Governance & Strategic Leadership

• Actively participate in Board meetings and relevant Board committee meetings (e.g. Risk & Audit), providing objective advice on strategic direction, performance, and resources.
• Work with the Chair, Chief Executive, and other trustees to ensure the charity maintains the highest standards of governance, complies with all relevant laws and regulations, and delivers on its mission.
• Contribute to the development, scrutiny, and approval of organisational strategies, major projects, and investment decisions, ensuring alignment with long-term goals.
• Champion the charity’s values, diversity and inclusion, and ethical standards at all times.
• Lead the Board’s oversight of all financial matters, including reserves and investment portfolios.
• Oversee robust financial controls, risk management frameworks, and reporting systems.
• Brief and advise the Board on financial compliance and reporting.
• Oversee the preparation and Board approval of annual statutory accounts and budgets, ensuring compliance with relevant accounting standards (e.g. SORP for charities), regulatory requirements, and best practice.
• Liaise with external auditors and oversee the annual audit process, ensuring any key findings are appropriately addressed.

Organisational support

• Act as a sounding board and provide advice to Chief Executive and financial management as regards financial compliance and developments
• Represent the charity with credibility and integrity to a wide range of external stakeholders: major donors, funders, regulatory bodies, sector networks, and the media

Person specification

• Extensive senior financial leadership experience.
• Strong knowledge of accounting standards, audit, risk management, (ideally) charity finance and best practice in governance.
• Exceptional communication, influencing, and stakeholder management skills.
• Strategic thinker, capable of balancing detail with the bigger picture, and exercising sound independent judgment.
• Deep commitment to the mission, vision, and values of the charity, including principles of equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Time Commitment

This appointment requires a commitment to Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care to attend quarterly early evening meetings of the Board of Trustees and serve on at least one Board committee (Risk & Audit), with additional meetings as required. In addition to attending meetings, Trustees will need to read and evaluate papers. All our Trustees are encouraged to actively participate and engage in external events and networking to represent and promote the charity, where requested. Appointments are usually for a term of three years with the possibility of two further 3-year extensions by mutual agreement up to a maximum term of 9 years.

Remuneration

This is a voluntary, unpaid trustee role. Reasonable expenses incurred in the course of duties will be reimbursed in line with the charity’s policy.

Benefits of joining our board of trustees

• Professional recognition
• Networking opportunities with fellow trustees as well as access to forums and communities of likeminded trustees at other organisations
• Training and support to get the best out of the role
• Career development: Diversify your experience and demonstrate leadership, governance expertise, and commitment to public service.

Application process

Please submit a covering letter outlining how your skills and experience would contribute to Rennie Grove Peace Hospice Care in your role as Trustee, together with a recent CV. The supporting statement should demonstrate why you want to join our charity, your suitability for this role and specifically address the key elements of this role specification. If your skills and experience fit, you will be shortlisted and final selection will be via a two-stage formal interview process with the Chair of Trustees, Chief Executive and one or two other Trustees.

On successful appointment, the following will be required:

• Volunteer application form and appropriate references
• Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check
• Online course in data security, information governance and other essential learning
• Legal documentation required to become a charity Trustee

What volunteers need – Disclosure and Barring Service

What we will provide to volunteers

Reimbursement of costs

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