Trustee role - fundraising background - Volunteer in Bedford

What difference will you make? Friends for Life provides a unique befriending service to lonely, socially isolated elderly residents in Bedford’s care homes. We are looking to appoint a trustee with a professional background in charity and third sector fundraising.

What are we looking for? You will have a range of experience across different fundraising sources, and an understanding of some of the challenges and opportunities in the current fundraising landscape for a charity like ours. No previous experience of being a trustee is required, but we are looking for an individual who can demonstrate the skills and behaviours required in a trustee role, such as strategic thinking, developing policies, taking leadership responsibility for areas of work, projects, compliance and oversight, chairing meetings and working closely with other members of the board and staff.

Whilst much of the role can be undertaken remotely, you will need to live within reasonable travelling distance of Bedford to attend face‑to‑face meetings and other events. Our existing trustees come from across Bedfordshire, but also from London (40 minutes from Bedford by train). All trustees are expected to undertake an induction programme when they join. This includes reading our trustee introduction guide, familiarisation with key policies and procedures, taking part in one of our volunteer welcome days, and shadowing one of our befrienders on a visit. If this is your first trustee role, we will also ask you to complete the ICAEW trustee training (or similar) before joining the board.

What will you be doing? Friends for Life has a successful track record in obtaining grant funding from charitable trusts and foundations, including the National Lottery. This has supported significant growth in the scale and reach of our activities over the past few years. As part of our strategic development, we want to diversify our funding sources to build resilience and sustainability. To support this, we are looking to appoint a trustee with a professional background in fundraising who is able to bring their knowledge, skills and experience to the board. They will also work to support and mentor the member of our staff team that leads our fundraising activities.

The Board currently meets on a monthly basis, with a mixture of in‑person and remote (online) meetings. In‑person meetings are held at our offices in Bedford. Meetings are generally held in the evening, from 6 pm to 8 pm. As well as the main board, we also have a number of board committees. These cover specific areas such as quality, finance, communications, people, and governance, and meet around four times a year. Trustees are each expected to serve on two committees. From time to time we hold strategy days for trustees, providing the opportunity for more in‑depth discussion. These are typically held twice a year, usually on a Saturday morning at our Bedford offices.

As a trustee, you will also have many other opportunities to support the work of the charity, for example acting as an ambassador and engaging with stakeholders, working with staff on projects, and meeting volunteers.

Our Commitment to Diversity: We are proud to have trustees from a diverse range of personal and professional backgrounds, and we are particularly keen to encourage applications from individuals from under‑represented groups, and from those with disabilities or other protected characteristics.