Who we are
InCommon is a charity bringing generations together. We connect groups of young people with their older neighbours in retirement homes to learn and build friendships together. Our activities help to improve wellbeing for participants of all ages and build more connected, inclusive and age-friendly communities.
The role
What we’re looking for:
Shares InCommon’s values – our core values shape everything we do at InCommon and we’re looking for Trustees who resonate with them and wants to help us build them into every aspect of our work and organisation. You can see our values here.
Excitement about intergenerational connection – a shared belief in the value and richness of relationships between people of different ages is central to what we do.
Skills and experience – We value a wide range of skills and experience and welcome a conversation about what you could contribute. We are particularly seeking experience in: community development; health and wellbeing; working with children and young people; safeguarding; lived experience of older age; law; HR; fundraising, and leadership and governance of third sector organisations.
Commitment to anti-prejudice – we’ve made a commitment as an organisation to fight prejudice of all kinds through our work, and to encourage and celebrate diversity in everything we do. We are looking for a group of Trustees who support this mission.
Energy and commitment – we are a small, dynamic charity with an ambitious, evolving strategy. We would love to find people who want to bring their skills to the table in tangible ways and will relish the opportunity of being part of our wider team.
Creativity and boldness – there is a huge opportunity for an intergenerational recovery as we come out of the pandemic and we are looking for Trustees who can think out of the box and challenge InCommon to play a part in the bigger picture.
Collaboration and accountability – in line with our value of making things happen together, we are looking for people who will prioritise good communication, enjoy working with others, and can challenge and provide accountability effectively.
As a trustee your responsibilities will be:
Setting our strategy
The Trustees will be collectively responsible for the strategic direction that InCommon takes towards achieving our charitable objectives. You’ll help us work out how we can have a positive impact in an evolving and growing sector.
You will help us zoom out from the day to day operations and look ahead to the future, while understanding our current context. The Trustees support us to create strategy collaboratively, bringing together the perspectives of paid team, participants and stakeholders.
Ensuring the work of the charity is effective, responsible and legal
The Trustees are collectively responsible for our governance. You will need to understand us as an organisation and a team, and will support us to operate effectively, from reviewing our safeguarding policies to helping set team culture.
It will be your responsibility to be accountable to any outside organisations that fund or regulate the charity – this will include contributing to the preparation of annual reports and accounts.
The Trustees also collaborate to work effectively as a board, from recruiting new Trustees to equipping Trustees with the relevant training and setting practices that enable good governance and decision making.
Overseeing finances and resources
You’ll be responsible for ensuring that InCommon’s charitable resources are used to further InCommon’s purpose as set out in our governing document and objects. For example, you will review our budget and fundraising plans to ensure that InCommon is financially sustainable.
Being an advocate and cheerleader for InCommon
We would love our trustees to feel proud and passionate about the work we do. We will invite you to share in celebrating the joy of intergenerational connection and support our campaigns, fundraising and strategy to influence the wider sector.
Supporting the people who work for InCommon and holding us to account
As a Trustee you delegate day to day operations to our brilliant staff team. To be effective, you’ll build positive working relationships with the whole team and executive leaders, supporting us when things are tough while at the same time holding us to account for delivering the strategy of the organisation effectively.
You can read more about the role of a Trustee on the Charity Commission website.
About the role:
This is a voluntary, unpaid position. All out of pocket expenses will be reimbursed.
We estimate a time commitment of around 8 days per year.
Typically this involves:
– Quarterly Board meetings (preparation and evening meeting)
– An annual vision and strategy day
– An additional role with a quarterly commitment, e.g. being part of our Governance/ Finance Committee or Intergenerational Panel, or supporting the executive committee on fundraising or safeguarding.
How to apply
Our application round is open until Sunday 22nd October.
To apply, please send an email with subject line ‘Trustee Application_{Full Name}’ addressed to our interim Chair, Anthony Wheeler to [email protected] and include:
– Your up-to-date CV
– A covering note containing an expression of interest
We are very happy to have an exploratory conversation before you decide whether you’d like to apply, so please do get in touch.
Supporting document(s)
- incommon-trustee-role-description---october-2023.pdf - Download
