The pandemic has meant that our work has never been more vital. We must ensure that all young people can get the mental health support they need, when they need it, no matter what.
We have a clear purpose and strategy to continue to grow significantly in our reach and impact, scaling this further into the future. To support this growth, we are looking to add new skills and experiences to our Board by appointing four Trustees to complement the current Board of eight Trustees.
We are recruiting for a permanent Chair, a Lead Safeguarding trustee and two other trustees.
Position: Part-time (eight to 12 days a year). The position is unpaid yet reasonable expenses such as travel, overnight accommodation and childcare for meetings are provided.
Term: Trustees will be appointed to the Board for three years, but can step down after two years. Trustees can seek reappointment after three years, but cannot stay in the role for more than nine years in a row.
Location: From 2022 we aim for Board meetings to be half face-to-face and half virtual. Where in person, Board meetings are held at the YoungMinds office in London, SE1 2ND.
Being a YoungMinds Trustee
Our Trustees are a group of volunteers working together to steer the charity to meet the needs of young people. They empower the CEO and Senior Leadership Team to take responsibility for the day-to-day running of the charity, but are the final decision-makers with ultimate responsibility for the charity’s success or failure.
Trustees oversee everything a charity does, from setting its strategy to being responsible for its work and finances. Made up of a blend of experts across the charity sector, finance, business and children and young people’s mental health, our Board provides a guiding hand to ensure we’re fulfilling our objectives.
About the role
The safety of the young people we work with, and of our staff and volunteers, is of critical importance. While safeguarding is a key governance priority for all Trustees, the Board appoints a Lead Safeguarding Trustee to oversee our safeguarding work and support our staff.
This role sits on our People and Governance Committee and supports the Board to fulfil their statutory duties on safeguarding as well as ensuring all have a clear understanding of what this means in terms of YoungMinds’ practice in keeping people safe. The responsibility of this role sits in addition to wider trustee responsibilities and therefore we are seeking someone able to commit to an anticipated eight to 12 days a year to support this.
For full details of the role, including the skills and experience we are looking for, please take a look at the role pack. We hope this will give you a clear insight into what we are looking for and inspire you to apply.
Who we are
We’re the UK’s leading charity fighting for children and young people’s mental health.
One of our values is: “We celebrate what makes you you – whoever you are, we welcome you and encourage you to be true to yourself.” We are committed to reaching as diverse a group of applicants as we can and would particularly welcome applications from people from communities that are under-represented in our sector, including those from black and minoritised communities and disabled people.
How to apply
The application has two parts to it.
Firstly, a set of questions to give us a sense of your interest and what you could bring to the organisation as a Trustee.
Secondly, we ask you to send alongside this an updated CV. We will then use these to do the final shortlisting for those to invite to interview.
To apply, please:
- Send an updated CV.
- Complete and send the Self-Identification form and the Reference and Personal Information form.
- Answer the set of questions below (either by written statement, audio recording, video recording or PowerPoint presentation – whatever works best for you).
- Tell us a bit about yourself and one thing that makes you want to take on this role with YoungMinds right now.
- Please outline your safeguarding experience and transferable expertise and how you would see yourself contributing these to YoungMinds as Lead Safeguarding Trustee.
- Can you share something that you have learnt through your professional experience that has led to a change in the way safeguarding risks are managed?
- What would be your approach to building and maintaining a productive and strong relationship with the Designated Safeguarding Officer and the SLT lead for safeguarding?
- From your own experience, what makes for effective team working and how would you hope to support the Board of Trustees and enable them to be really impactful?
Please don’t feel you need to spend hours or write an essay – this is just to get a sense of you and what’d you’d bring to the role. As an indication, your total response to these questions should be about two sides of a word document, a slide per question, or a four- to five-minute video or audio clip.
Please send your response to the questions, your CV and completed Self-Identification and Personal Information and Reference forms by email to recruitment@youngminds.org.uk by 9am on Monday, 4 October.
Please clearly state the title of the role you are applying for in the subject of the email.
What happens next?
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview with a panel made up of trustees, relevant staff and member of our Youth Panel anticipated to be held 18-20 October 2021.
Candidates will also meet with all our Youth Panellists to inform the final decision on 16 November 2021. It is envisaged that all interviews will be virtual.
Due to the nature of the work we do, before starting with YoungMinds, the following checks are carried out:
- Reference check: All job offers are conditional on the receipt of satisfactory references
- We ask our Trustees to complete an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service Check. A previous conviction will not necessarily prevent you from joining YoungMinds. Youngminds is committed to treating all applicants fairly.
- Identity check: We are also obliged to confirm your identity and obtain proof of your right to work in the UK.
Induction for the successful applicant will take place from November onwards and new trustees would be invited to a board meeting on 3 February 2022, 4pm to 8pm, when they will be formally appointed.
If you have any queries about the role or how to apply, please get in touch by emailing recruitment@youngminds.org.uk
