Trustees Job Pack

Introduction:

Grief Encounter offers free, specialist bereavement support services to children, young
people and their families, who have experienced the death of someone close, through
support and counselling across England and Wales.

We aim to give every child and young person a voice for their grief and access to help when
they need it most, as we understand children grieve differently to adults. Our experienced
team of qualified bereavement therapists are passionate about providing individually tailored
support, to help work through the grieving process and find ways through what might be
some of their darkest moments.

Additionally, Grief Encounter brings the struggles surrounding childhood grief to the forefront
in schools, colleges and workplaces, through raising awareness, education and specialist
training.

Our Vision: A world where no child grieves alone.

Mission: To help bereaved children, young people and their families find hope and healing.

Our Values are:

Belonging

Through times of grief, we deeply understand the profound influence of community. We
honour heritage, diversity and the important bonds that nurture our sense of self and our
collective contributions to provide hope, healing and fulfilling lives.

Courage

We’re not afraid to face grief head on and tackle difficult conversations openly and honestly
with others. This gives everyone the courage to freely express their emotions and actively
participate in making a difference.

Dedication

We dedicate ourselves to the lives of bereaved children and families. With unwavering
resolve, we champion the needs of every child to shape hopeful futures with care, warmth
and positivity, nurturing the past, present and future lives.

Our Objectives are:

 To relieve some of the emotional distress caused to children and young people by the
death of a parent or significant other

 To improve the long-term emotional and psychological health and well-being of bereaved
children, young people and their families

 To raise awareness of issues for bereaved children and young people and promote the
value of bereavement support

What we are looking for:

Trustees with skills and experience in the following areas which we have identified as gaps
on our Board (you do not need to have held a prior Trustee position):

 Legal and statutory matters

 A strong personal commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion

 Schools/education and/or experience of working in a children’s charity

 Children’s services/mental health services and knowledge of current legislation in this field

 Experience of clinical counselling/or bereavement services

 Knowledge of the new initiatives in the Health Service, such as Integrated Health Boards

Grief Encounter actively promotes equal opportunity for all and encourages applications from
a wide range of candidates. To enable us to deliver our work to the best of our abilities and
to live our values, we particularly welcome applications from diverse backgrounds, with a
particular emphasis for people from Black, Asian minority ethnic backgrounds, women, the
LGBTQ+ community and disabled people, who are significantly under-represented on our
Board. In addition, we particularly encourage applications from those with lived experience of
childhood bereavement.

Role of our Board of Trustees:

The main role of the Board is to determine the charity’s mission and purpose and guard the
charity’s ethos and values.

Trustees are appointed for a four-year term and can serve consecutive terms. Trustees
serving on Grief Encounter’s Board would usually be expected to commit to the role for a
minimum of 10 days per year. Board members also take part in specific committee functions,
although this is dependent on individual Trustee experience and availability.

An Enhanced DBS clearance is required for this post, which will be processed by Grief
Encounter on your behalf. We provide a mandatory induction and on-boarding training
programme.

The role of a Trustee is not accompanied by any financial remuneration, although
reasonable expenses are reimbursed.

Trustee Role Description

Key responsibilities:

 Act as an ambassador for the charity

 Have a collective responsibility to help shape the strategic direction and provide leadership
to ensure that Grief Encounter is an effective and safe organisation

 To ensure they are informed and confident to establish sound, effective open and
supportive relationships with the Corporate Management Team and other staff

 Fulfil all legal duties and responsibilities of a trustee, ensuring good governance and
financial health

 Ensure Grief Encounter operates within its charitable objectives

 Support fundraising

 Promote clinical excellence and research based practice

Person specification:

 Commitment to Grief Encounter’s vision, mission and values

 An understanding of a Trustee Board and the charity sector

 Strategic vision

 Time commitment

 Ability to help build and strengthen collaborative partnerships

 Passionate, strong team player

 Understanding of legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of trusteeship

Application process

To apply, please send your CV and an expression of interest (max. 2 A4 pages), outlining
your interest in the role and how you meet the person specification to our Head of Human
Resources: Louise King: louise.king@griefencounter.org.uk. We welcome applications from
across the U.K. For further information on Grief Encounter, click here. For information on our
current Board members, click here.