Volunteer with us

Citizens Advice Lewisham is a member of the national Citizens Advice (CitA) organisation.  We deliver free, impartial and confidential advice to those who live, work or study in the London borough of Lewisham.

We are currently seeking a trustee with a fundraising background to join our dynamic charity board. This person will have a lot of relationships in the trust and foundation sector and will be able to share valuable insights into trends in the sector with the board. This trustee is not expected to write any fundraising bids.

We are a highly engaged board who is passionate about ensuring our charity makes a big difference to Lewisham residents, especially to the most vulnerable people. We work in a collegiate way, respecting the diverse viewpoints board members bring to the table and hold ourselves to high professional standards.

Fundraising Expert Trustee duties and responsibilities

Each individual member of the Trustee Board has a responsibility to contribute to the discharging of the board’s duties. They do this by:

• Governing the charity in the best interest of the clients and in line with the governing documents
• Actively contributing to setting policy and strategic direction, defining goals, setting targets and evaluating performance and ensuring effective oversight of the charity’s activities. This includes visiting Citizens Advice Lewisham to get to know the team and being aware of the service in action.
• Taking responsibility for their own learning and development
• Monitoring whether the service complies with its governing document and how well the advice needs of the local community are being met
• Supporting the development of Citizens Advice Lewisham through agreed projects and managing risk
• Maintaining confidentiality about any sensitive or confidential information received

The Fundraising trustee will contribute unique insights about developments in the trust and foundations. The Fundraising Expert Trustee is not expected to write any fundraising bids.

General Trustee skills and qualities

• Ability to meet time commitment
• Commitment to clients and ensuring the impact of Citizens Advice Lewisham in the local community.
• Ability to fulfil governance role, specifically to manage risks, ensure oversight and strategic development of the charity.
• Effective communication skills and willingness to participate actively in discussion
• Willingness to gain knowledge of local needs and resources
• Commitment to the aims, principles and policies of the Lewisham CAB service, including those relating to equal opportunities, independence, and research and campaigns
• Ability to understand and accept their responsibilities and liabilities as Trustees and employers
• Willingness and ability to learn and to develop
• Ability to think creatively and strategically, and exercise good, independent judgement
• Ability to build productive respectful relationships with other Trustees, staff and volunteers
• Willingness to actively participate in discussions concerning needs of the charity’s beneficiaries, staff and the Trustee board
• Willingness to act in the best interest of the charity
• Sound, independent judgement and ability to think creatively
• Working effectively as a team member and demonstrating a willingness to learn and develop

Time Commitment and availability to attend required meetings

• Quarterly evening Trustee Board meetings (each 2½ hours plus prep)
• One annual Trustee Board awayday (weekend – 5 hours plus prep)
• Liaison with Chair, CEO and colleague Trustees by phone, e-mail or Skype (occasional)
• Day-time visits to our offices to understand our work and engage with staff/volunteers (occasional)
• Two annual stakeholder events (one evening event, one mid-week all-day event)
• Join a subcommittee (up to 4 meetings a year)
• Where required, leading independently on key projects.
• Additional meetings and day time visits to the Citizens Advice Office as needed

 Diversity

We seek candidate Trustees from all backgrounds so that our board represents the diversity of our community.  We welcome applications from all candidates regardless of ethnicity, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation or religion.

As services are delivered in a small geographic area applicants should ideally live, work or study in, or near, Lewisham or have some local knowledge of the area.

How to apply

Do you have the enthusiasm and skills to shape the future of advice services for communities across Lewisham?

Citizens Advice Lewisham is a member of the national Citizens Advice (CitA) organisation. We deliver free, impartial and confidential advice to those who live, work or study in the London borough of Lewisham. We provide advice to some of the most vulnerable groups in our area, and help to gain access to justice, prevent homelessness, tackle discrimination, resolve debt problems, and maximise incomes. We campaign to bring about improvements for local people, from tackling illegal money lending to compiling evidence on domestic violence.

We are currently seeking a Chair to join our dynamic charity board as our current chair is coming towards the end of her term. We are a highly engaged board, passionate about ensuring our charity makes a big difference to Lewisham residents, especially to the most vulnerable people. We are looking for a person with a radical commitment to the people we serve, with political astuteness in dealing with key stakeholders, the sense of possibility and strategic thinking to growing and securing our charity’s long term impact. We are looking for someone wise who makes decisions knowing our day to day pressures, separating the important from the ‘noise’. You are good at inspiring people as well as holding people to account and have the skills to ensure good governance of the charity whilst making the most of the skills of a diverse trustee board. You will set the policy and strategic direction, targets and evaluate the performance of the organisation with the board. Along with the CEO, you will represent the local Citizens Advice in relationships with funders or potential funders, local events and in the community. You will ideally have experience in board governance.

We’re keen to make sure we hear the voice of the whole community in Lewisham, so welcome applications from people from all walks of life regardless of ethnicity, disability, age, gender, sexual orientation or religion.

The time commitment is up to half a day (ad hoc) per week working with the organisation on Chair matters in addition to quarterly governance committee meetings.

To find out more information about this exciting opportunity, please get in touch with our retained consultant at TPP Recruitment: Brigitte Stundner at executive@tpp.co.uk.

How to apply