Chair of Trustees
About Mary Frances Trust
Mary Frances Trust (MFT) is a charity that works alongside people experiencing any kind of emotional or mental health issues, supporting them for as long as needed to restore and maintain their wellbeing. We provide a range of community-based services, co-produced with people who have lived experience, and work closely with partners across health, local authority and the voluntary sector.
We are a charitable company limited by guarantee with a Board of Trustees responsible for our overall governance, strategy and compliance.
The Role
We are seeking a Chair of Trustees to lead our Board as we enter the next phase of our development.
The Chair will:
Person Specification
In addition to the skills and experience required of all MFT Trustees, the Chair will bring:
Previous experience as a Chair or Vice Chair (in a charity, public, or non-profit setting) is desirable, but we also welcome applications from candidates who can demonstrate strong governance and leadership experience and the ability to step into this role.
Time Commitment
The Chair is expected to commit around 1–2 days per month, in addition to the standard trustee duties. This includes:
Eligibility
You must be eligible to serve as a charity trustee and company director under UK law and be willing to complete the necessary eligibility and declaration checks.
Equal Opportunities Statement
We acknowledge the unique contribution that all host organisations employees and patients can bring to our organisation in terms of their culture, race, gender, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status, nationality, age, religion or belief and any physical disability or history of mental health or additional problems. All appointments and promotions are based on merit and no job applicant or employee will be treated unfairly or discriminated against. All staff have equal access to staff development. Any member of staff who breaches this policy may be subject of grievance and/or disciplinary procedures. This post if subject to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check at an enhanced level. Please note past drug and/or alcohol or criminality history will not necessarily discount you from undertaking this role.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
We believe in a fair, equal, diverse and inclusive society. As an organisation, we believe we are stronger and richer when we bring together different experiences and perspectives to better serve our clients and local community. We are committed to creating a workforce that is diverse, inclusive of all, representative of the community we serve, promotes positivity, and instils a can-do attitude in everyone, no matter their background or characteristics at every level of our organisation from our staff and volunteers, all the way to our Trustees and Patrons. We strongly encourage applications from members of every community and actively seek to hire people with lived experience of mental health issues.
Safer Recruitment
We are committed to following Safer Recruitment practices to ensure the safeguarding of the whole community we serve, from members of the public and clients using our services, to our staff, volunteers, partners, and external facilitators. A criminal record does not automatically exclude you from applying for the position. MFT will assess each application on a case-by-case basis. This post is Exempt from the Protection of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974). All successful candidates will be required to undertake Enhanced or Standard Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks as well as reference checks. These will be a condition of any offer of employment being made. All candidates must disclose both ‘spent’ and ‘unspent’ cautions and convictions on application – other than ‘protected’ cautions and convictions which have qualified for filtering. Disclosure should be included in a separate covering letter on application, marked ‘Confidential’. Guidance on Filtering: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dbs-filtering-guidance
How to apply
Please send:
– Your CV
– A covering letter outlining your interest in the role and how you meet the person specification
To: Kerry Winteridge at kerry@maryfrancestrust.org.uk
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview in June 2026. We anticipate that the new Chair will be appointed by the Board in July 2026, with a handover period before the current Chair steps down in September 2026.
For an informal, confidential conversation about the role, please contact Sam Greenhouse, current Chair of Trustees at: sam@maryfrancestrust.org.uk