Chair of the Board of Trustees - Volunteer

Settle Stories is recruiting a new Chair of the Board of Trustees, as several long-serving trustees reach the natural end of their terms after years of outstanding service. What difference will you make? A world where every voice, empowered by story, helps build our shared future. Settle Stories is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation based in the Yorkshire Dales. Since 2010, we have used the power of story to educate, to empower, and to endure. We have reached over 200,000 people across 44 countries and 6 continents.

We pioneered hybrid live-streaming for storytelling events in 2019, a year before the pandemic made it necessary. In 2025, funded by the British Council, we collaborated with Msitu Wa Ndoto to broadcast live performances from Africa's oldest burial site, a 76,000-year-old cave in Kenya, connecting artists from the UK and Kenya to audiences worldwide. We are now looking to expand this work, broadcasting from unusual and culturally significant places across the globe.

In schools, our Stories for Schools platform brings the nation's finest storytellers into classrooms through filmed content aligned to the national curriculum. The Storyful Way, our mindfulness-integrated storytelling methodology, is validated by Sheffield Hallam University for its outcomes in emotional well-being and resilience. Judges for our annual Children’s Story Competition have included Sir Michael Morpurgo, Joanne Harris MBE, and Anne Fine.

Closer to home, Settle itself sits at the heart of everything we do. For 15 years we have preserved the stories of the Yorkshire Dales through oral history projects, heritage archives, and the world’s first Listening Gallery, housed in a phone box, keeping local voices alive for future generations. We have a strong and committed Board, and several trustees have stayed well beyond their original terms. That is a testament to the organisation. In line with good practice, the time has come to bring in fresh voices.

The current Chair has served two distinguished terms, steering Settle Stories through the pandemic and into its strongest ever position. The organisation is well placed for Arts Council England’s next NPO round and the opportunities ahead.

The Chair of the Board must:

• Have experience with and acceptance of the legal duties, responsibilities, and liabilities of trusteeship.
• Be confident to work digitally using Zoom/GMeet and shared docs.
• Have strong networks and the willingness to build and share them.
• Exercise good, independent judgment.
• Have the ability to think creatively.
• Have a willingness to speak their mind.
• Have the ability to work effectively as a member of a team.
• Adhere to Nolan’s seven principles of public life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership.

Applications are particularly welcomed from women, those from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and Person of Colour) backgrounds, and from those based in Yorkshire and the North.

The Chair role requires a committed individual who has a passion for story and literacy, the skills and time to lead a medium-sized Board effectively and efficiently within the legal and best practice guidance set out by the Charity Commission, and the skills and time to provide regular support (remotely and in person) to the CEO and staff team at Settle Stories. An understanding of the issues facing small, ambitious charities, and specifically cultural/arts council-funded charities is also essential.