Chair of Trustees- perinatal support - Volunteer

Elayos is seeking a strategic, compassionate, and visionary Chair to guide our next phase of impact as we continue our existing work supporting vulnerable or isolated women and birthing people in Birmingham and begin to explore opportunities to address the need in Cornwall.

Impact of Your Leadership

• Bridging Two Worlds: Birmingham to Cornwall. Your first major impact will be helping us explore the feasibility of a geographical and cultural expansion into Cornwall. Maternal health inequalities don’t look the same in an urban metropolis as they do in a rural coastal county, but the vulnerability is just as real. By guiding our board through this expansion, you will be the catalyst that brings community Doula support, infant feeding expertise, and essential supplies to families in the South West who are currently falling through the gaps.
• Architecting New Paths of Care: We are currently exploring a move into specialised housing and end‑of‑life support—areas of profound sensitivity and need. As Chair, you will provide the strategic green light for these initiatives. Your ability to scrutinise risk and align these goals with our mission means that, in years to come, a mother facing housing instability or an individual journeying the end of life will have a safe, compassionate place to turn because you helped us build the framework to support them.
• Strengthening the Foundation: A small charity is only as strong as its governance. By bringing your confidence in policies and procedures, you liberate our CEO, staff and volunteers to do what they do best and provide hands‑on holistic care. You will create a culture of safety, not just for our clients, but for our staff and volunteers. Your leadership ensures that Elayos remains financially resilient and ethically sound, guaranteeing that we don’t just help people today, but are still here to help them ten years from now.
• Championing Equity: By leading our commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (EDI), you will ensure that Elayos is an organisation that truly listens. Your impact will be seen in a board that is more representative of the communities we serve. You will ensure that advocacy isn’t just a buzzword, but a lived reality for every person who enters our care.

What are we looking for?

We are particularly interested in hearing from individuals who have previous charity experience and an understanding of how a charity board runs. We are also looking for someone with a passion for maternity services, parenting in the early years and with a heart for the communities and needs we work with, which includes homelessness, domestic violence, trafficking, teenage pregnancies, refugees, asylum seekers, BAME, learning difficulties and mental health.

Person Specification

• A commitment to ensure that everyone has compassionate support during their pregnancies and births, no matter their circumstances
• A willingness to devote the necessary time and effort
• Strategic vision
• Good, independent judgement
• Compassionate and empathetic
• An ability to think creatively
• A willingness to speak their mind
• An understanding and acceptance of the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of trusteeship
• An ability to work effectively as a member of a team

What will you be doing?

As a trustee at Elayos, you will join us at a pivotal moment. Having established a successful model of doula‑led support for pregnancy and early parenthood in Birmingham, our board is now looking toward an ambitious new strategic period. We are currently in the early stages of exploring geographic expansion into Cornwall and evaluating how we might diversify our services to provide a more holistic continuum of care. We are looking for a trustee who can help the board rigorously assess and, if viable, lead the delivery of new initiatives, such as specialist housing support for vulnerable parents and a potential branch of end‑of‑life doula work, linking birth and death connections and acknowledging the isolation that can be present in both. We are also passionate about sourcing a trustee who can maintain, strengthen and grow our existing work in Birmingham, ensuring that the strong reputation that we have built among clients and professionals continues. Our current board is a dedicated group with strong roots in maternal health. However, as we look to scale, we face the exciting challenge of evolving from a local operation into a multi‑regional charity. You will play a leading role in helping the board move from vision to feasibility, ensuring that any expansion into the housing sector or new care models is governed by robust risk management and strategic clarity.