Trustee of COATS Crowthorne, with a focus on strategic oversight of facilities & building management

Become a trustee of COATS Crowthorne, helping enhance the lives of older people.

About us:

COATS was set up in 1966 to support older people living in and around the area of Crowthorne in Berkshire. We own and run The COATS Centre, totally refurbished in 2019/20; we employ staff to run the Centre, together with many volunteers, who also help in the well-equipped kitchen and with the charity-owned minibus, as well as in our charity shop, which helps fund the organisation.

We’re an incorporated charity, with an annual turnover now of £380k.

About us

COATS on Facebook

Charity Commission information about us

About the role:

Trustees are the people who make the top-level decisions for our charity. Our Board includes people with understanding of the needs of older people, and we’d expect new trustees to have strong empathy with our service users.

We’re looking for some strategic expertise in facilities management, for a new trustee to bring your skills and understanding to aid us to continue to properly run our buildings.

You don’t necessarily need prior experience of charity trusteeship, as full induction to our organisation will be provided, plus specialist support as a new trustee including access to external training.

If you can think strategically and plan long-term, you have the primary skills needed by our trustees; you’ll also need to be able to work collectively with other Board members.

We are a charity not a business, but we apply business principles to governing our organisation. We want to expand the diversity of our board, in all meanings of the word, and strongly welcome applications from people from less-represented groups.

Our Board meets face-to-face quarterly in Crowthorne, with monthly online Zoom meetings between as necessary. Many of your trustee duties can be carried out online.

We ask for up to ten hours per month; this includes all meetings, correspondence, communication, etc.

What do you get as a volunteer trustee with our organisation?

A chance to use your facilities management skills and experience, possibly in a different context
Development of new skills and expansion of your experience of charities
Development of your understanding of older people and our support for social inclusion
An opportunity to volunteer alongside other committed trustees
The personal reward of giving back to the community
Boost to your career or CV, if needed

What do we get?

Your skills and ideas coupled to our strategic vision
Your cooperative communication skills
Continued well-managed facilities, linked to our Board’s priorities
Enhancement to our overall governance and to our Board of trustees
Your participation in our collective decision-making, contributing to all areas of our charity work
Your enthusiasm

What do our beneficiaries get?

The ability to continue and grow our support for local older people
A well-governed charity, sustainable for the future
A forward-looking and agile organisation, with a well-informed Board of trustees

How to apply

This appointment is being managed for us by inVOLve Community Services, a charity-support organisation, who offer a no-obligation discussion by phone or video. A detailed Role Description and Skills Specification can be made available to you upon request.

Trustee appointments are subject to satisfactory references and to satisfactory completion of an Enhanced DBS check.

Your CV, or similar, plus a supporting statement will be read by our trustees; an informal discussion followed by interview can be offered as soon as mutually convenient.

I need to know more

Contact Mike Allen intrusted@involve.community for more information and arrange to have a no-obligation initial informal discussion (Teams or Zoom) before you submit your documents to the COATS’ Chair.

Volunteering opportunities with Wokingham Volunteer Centre

COATS Crowthorne -Trustee with a focus on strategic oversight of facilities & building management

COATS Crowthorne -Trustee with a focus on strategic oversight of facilities & building management

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