Trustee – Fundraising - Volunteer

We're building our board and need a fundraising trustee to help us think strategically about income. If you know how charities grow their funding and want to support SEND families in Wigan, we'd love to hear from you.

The forum does genuinely important work, and we want to make sure it's sustainable well into the future. At the moment, our funding picture is relatively simple, which creates vulnerability. Your involvement will help us change that. With your guidance, the board will be better placed to make strategic decisions about income, assess opportunities with confidence, and support staff to develop funding streams that strengthen the organisation over time. You'll help us move from reacting to our funding situation to actively shaping it. The more financially resilient we are, the more we can do for the SEND families across Wigan who rely on us.

We want someone who is motivated by the work we do – who understands why a well‑run parent carer forum matters to the families it serves, and who wants to help make it more sustainable. You need to be genuinely invested in the cause, not just the fundraising craft. In terms of experience, we're looking for someone with a track record in fundraising or income generation in the voluntary sector. You'll understand how charities build diverse income streams and how to assess what's realistic for an organisation at our stage. Experience of trust and foundation fundraising is particularly relevant – that's where we see the most immediate opportunity – but broader income generation experience is also valuable.

What we need most from you at board level is strategic thinking. This isn't a delivery role; we have staff for that. We want someone who can help the board ask the right questions – Are we targeting the right funders? Is our case for support compelling? Are we managing funder relationships well? Are we investing appropriately in our fundraising capacity? You'll be most useful to us if you're able to hold that bigger picture view and advise accordingly. You'll also need to be a good communicator and a collaborative colleague. Fundraising trustees sometimes find themselves bridging the gap between what staff are doing operationally and what the board needs to understand at a governance level – that requires tact, clarity and a genuine interest in how the organisation works.

Knowledge of the Wigan area or the SEND funding landscape would be a real advantage, though it's not essential. What matters more is that you know the charity funding sector and can help us navigate it wisely. We would particularly welcome applications from parent carers – people with lived experience of navigating the SEND system with their child or young person. It isn't a requirement, but it matters to us that our board reflects the community we serve, and that perspective is genuinely valued around our table. No previous trustee experience is needed. We'll provide a full induction and ongoing support. You'll be joining a board that's actively investing in its governance, which means your expertise will land in good soil.

Wigan Parent Carer Forum has a small board of trustees and employs a dedicated staff team who deliver our work day to day. We are currently in an active period of trustee recruitment, working to build a board with the breadth of skills we need – and income generation is an area where we know we need more expertise. Our core funding comes through the Department for Education, via the Parent Carer Forum national programme. That funding has supported us well, but relying on a single income stream carries risk, and the board wants to take a more strategic approach to building financial resilience over time. This is about making the most of a well‑established organisation that is doing good work and setting it up for the long term.

As our fundraising trustee, you'll help the board think clearly about our funding landscape and what's realistic for an organisation like ours. You'll advise on income diversification, whether that's trusts and foundations, local grants, partnerships or other routes and support staff in developing their capacity in this area. This is a strategic and advisory role, not a delivery role; we have staff who lead on the work, and we want a trustee who can help us govern it well. Beyond your fundraising specialism, you'll contribute fully as a trustee by joining board meetings, engaging in strategic decisions, and helping shape the direction of the forum. This is an exciting moment to get involved. We're strengthening our governance and building a board that can take the forum into its next chapter with confidence.