Board Director (Trustee)
SWANSEA YMCA
YMCA Swansea (Swansea YMCA Ltd)
Full-time
Listed 1 month ago
JOB DESCRIPTION POST TITLE: Board Director (Trustee) LOCATION: YMCA Swansea (Swansea YMCA Ltd) RESPONSIBLE TO: Chair of the board HOURS: As required SALARY: Voluntary 1.1 INTRODUCTION YMCA Swansea was established in 1886 and became a company limited by guarantee in 2013. It operates as a social business and is a registered charity. It is governed by a Board of Volunteer Directors (Trustees) and employs a skilled and dedicated team to deliver services and support in Swansea and in communities across Wales. Vision: ‘An inclusive movement transforming communities, so that young people can belong, contribute and thrive’. The YMCA core business services are: - Family & Youth Work - Training & Education - Health & Wellbeing - Support & Advice - Housing YMCA Swansea has an established track record of supporting vulnerable and at-risk young people often with Protected Characteristics who may not easily access mainstream YMCA Swansea is charity. Registered Charity No: 1154553 Company No: 8634510 provision. We support young people through a range of youth work approaches, with the main ones being one-to-one case management, group work, youth clubs, online, trips and activities, residentials and outreach interventions. An enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check for regulated activity (formerly a CRB) may be required for this role. Our key projects include: Y-Hub - is delivered across two key strands of youth work approaches: A Drop-in Youth Club, which runs on a Friday evening and an Outreach/Street-Work provision that is delivered different nights of the week to meet the needs of young people and the community. Our foundation, our aim and our drive is to create communities where young people truly belong, contribute and thrive. In just a few months of delivering this provision, we have witnessed what an invaluable service, Y-Hub is in achieving this. Y- Hub is genuinely a life-changing and at times a life-saving project. The Street-based aspect of the project involves responding to areas of risk, where young people are vulnerable to exploitation and more. Outreach has filled a desperate need within the town centre of Swansea, where Youth Workers have provided quality preventative and intervention youth work support for young people. Our Street-based provision focuses on building effective relationships with young people based on trust and respect and building up a rapport, where they may then want to access other centre-based provision. GoodVibes - is an inclusive LGBTQ+ Youth group, that supports young people between the ages of 11-25. It runs every Tuesday evening where it provides a safe space that reduces feelings of loneliness and isolation. Young people can build peer friendships within a community so that they belong, contribute, and thrive. It is a group where young people can be surrounded by likeminded individuals in an environment that promotes respecting other people’s choices, citizenship, and cultural identity. It provides young people with the confidence to explore their own identity around people that really understand and care. GoodVibes operates on the foundation of strong values of inclusivity and diversity. Young people can come to GoodVibes without fear of judgment, harassment, bullying or discrimination and social pre-conceived norms. They can be 100% themselves and have a safe space to explore their identity. It is a group where young people can come and introduce themselves, their names, preferred names, pronouns, and favourite things. And what they receive from each other, and youth workers is acceptance, without questions. Young Carers - Runs every Wednesday evening between 18:00 – 20:00 during school terms. This is an opportunity for Young Carers aged 8-18, to have a break from their caring role, meet other Young Carers and participate in different activities to support their physical, social, and emotional wellbeing in a safe and friendly environment. Young Carers club is about providing fun and interactive activities for young people, that may not get many opportunities outside of this provision. to be around their friends building peer networks and gaining new experiences. We provide free transport to and from the sessions for Young Carers who may not be able to access the sessions due to transport being a barrier. www.ymcaswansea.org.uk. Y-Talent – Our music and performing arts project offers free access to music lessons across a number of instruments and platforms to allow 1:1 creative expression sessions for ages 8-24. YMCA Swansea (Swansea YMCA Ltd) is a registered charity (1154553) and limited company (8634510). As an organisation YMCA Swansea is currently governed by our Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 1st August 2013. We have been resident in our grade 2 listed building on Kingsway in the centre of Swansea since 1912 and have played a significant part in the lives of many people in the city. We are a dynamic, open organisation and our approach is to adapt our services to the needs of Young People. YMCA Swansea is a member of the YMCA Federation of England & Wales (registered charity 212810) and collectively we seek to campaign on a national level on important issues that matter to young people. This membership agreement is reviewed periodically. Given the federated structure of the global YMCA movement, YMCA England & Wales is a member of YMCA Europe, which in turn is a member of the YMCA World Council. 1.2 THE ROLE Bringing a wide experience of professional skills and life experience, our board members both share our vision of empowering Young People to achieve their potential and in working towards a fairer society. The board meets formally approximately 12 times a year. We deliver services to a wide variety of people, with many different life experiences and it is our long-term ideal that as many of those voices are represented as possible upon the board. This is a voluntary role and is governed by both our own articles of association and statute. Functions of the Board include: • To have control of the Charity and its property and funds. • To have responsibility for overall governance and strategic direction • To develop the aims, objectives and organisational goals in accordance with the legal and regulatory framework of the sector and in line with the organisation's governing document, continually striving for best practice in governance. • To uphold the fiduciary duty invested in the position, undertaking such duties in a way that adds to public confidence and trust. www.ymcaswansea.org.uk. • Interviewing, appointing and monitoring the work and activities of senior paid staff. The Trustee Board members are required to sign a Code of Conduct Declaration and Register of Interest. 1.3 THE STATUTORY DUTIES OF A BOARD MEMBER To ensure that the organisation complies with its governing document, charity law, company law and any other relevant legislation or regulations To ensure that the organisation pursues its objects as defined in its governing document To ensure the organisation uses its resources exclusively in pursuance of its objects: the organisation must not spend money on activities which are not included in its own objects, no matter how worthwhile or charitable those activities are To contribute actively to the Board of Trustees’ role in giving firm strategic direction to the organisation, setting overall policy, defining goals and setting targets and evaluations performance against agreed targets To safeguard the good name and values of the organisation To ensure the financial stability of the organisation To protect and manage the property of the organisation and to ensure the proper investment of funds To appoint appropriate staff and monitor their performance Other duties In addition to the above statutory duties, each Board Member should use any specific skills, knowledge or experience (competencies and attributes) they have to help the Board reach sound decisions. This may involve: • Scrutinising Board papers • Leading discussions • Focusing on key issues www.ymcaswansea.org.uk. • Providing guidance on new initiatives • Other issues in which the Board has special expertise 1.4 YOU Your contribution is your passion, your transferable skills and your professional expertise to ensure the ongoing sustainability of YMCA Swansea. Together we will work towards ensuring that the Young People of Swansea can be the best that they can be. The board currently meets monthly and you will commit to attend at least 50% of the meetings in each calendar year (be that in person or online). You will be IT literate and with an understanding of the legal duties of the role. In order to carry out the responsibilities of a Board Member you should: • Be committed to the purpose, objects and values of the organisation • Be constructive about other Board Member’s opinions in discussions • Be able to act reasonable and responsibly when undertaking duties and performing tasks • Be able to maintain confidentiality on sensitive and confidential information • Be supportive of the values of the organisation • Understand the importance and purpose of meetings and be committed to preparing for them adequately and attending them regularly • Be able to analyse information and when necessary challenge constructively • Be able to make collective decisions and stand by them • Be able to respect boundaries between executive and governance function. This role is not remunerated and only out of pocket expenses are payable to Board Members as agreed in advance by the Chair. Board Members are formally elected at the Annual General Meeting and we would expect them to serve a term of no less than three years. www.ymcaswansea.org.uk. It is an aim of the organisation, and the YMCA movement as whole, that the board of directors should be as representative as possible of the people who use our services. For more details, or to express an interest in joining us as a Director, please contact Richard Williams, Chief Executive Officer via rwilliams@ymcaswansea.org.uk or 07719 518141. For more details of our work, please visit our website www.ymcaswansea.org.uk www.ymcaswansea.org.uk.