We’re looking for two separate volunteer roles – a Trustee and a Treasurer.
Trustees are ultimately responsible for the overall running of our charity, ensuring that the best interests of the community we serve are always at the heart of our decisions. At Mary Frances Trust (MFT), that means ensuring that everything we do, and the way in which we do it, is geared towards supporting those who are experiencing mental health issues, working with them to enable them to improve their confidence and self-esteem and live fulfilling lives.
Due to the sad loss of one of our Trustees and our Treasurer standing down at the end of his term of office, Mary Frances Trust is looking to recruit two new volunteer Trustees: a Treasurer and a Trustee to join our Board. Through this recruitment, we are seeking to maintain and strengthen the skills and experience of our Board to enable us to deliver on our charitable objects and our strategy.
“Being a volunteer Trustee at Mary Frances Trust has been such a great experience for me. It is a role that makes me feel that I am giving back to society using my professional experience; supporting those with mental health issues within our local community. It is also a role that is not massively time consuming so I can make it work around my day job”. Steve, a current Trustee
Role titles: 1 x Trustee and 1 x Treasurer
Location: Surrey Downs
Time Commitment: We ask Trustees to commit to a term of 3 years, with the option of extension. There are 6 Board meetings per year, lasting 2-2.5 hours which Trustees are expected to attend and which will involve preparation by way of reading of papers etc. These meetings currently alternate between afternoon and evening start times (it may be possible to request time off for volunteering from your employer). There is also an Annual General Meeting (AGM) and working groups and sub committees. New Trustees are expected to visit site and attend meetings as part of their induction programme.
The Treasurer duties may take on average up to half a day a month in addition to the time required for the Trustee part of the role.
The role is unpaid, although reasonable expenses will be reimbursed.
Closing Date for Applications: midnight on 23 February 2025.
Interview Date: February/early March 2025.
Our Trustees are ultimately responsible for the overall running of MFT ensuring that this is in the best interests of its beneficiaries.
Trustees are members of the MFT Board of Trustees (the Board). A member of the Board has responsibilities under both under UK Charity Law and UK Company Law as Directors.
The Board sets the overall strategic direction and policy, and controls the work of MFT to ensure that it is in line with MFT’s values, its Memorandum of Articles and Association (governing document) as well as UK Charity and Company Law and regulation. The Board is also responsible for enabling MFT to meet its aims within resource constraints, ensuring the funds are properly accounted for, supporting staff in securing funding and appointing senior staff as needed. The Board oversees the operation of MFT through the delegation of authority to the Chief Executive and other senior staff.
Trustees act as a group rather than as individuals. The Board works closely with staff and MFT’s Advisory Group to ensure that work is carried out in the best interests of the people who use its services.
For a full role description for our Trustees’ roles, please download our MFT Trustee Role Description and Code of Conduct.
In addition to all the Trustee’s duties listed above, the Treasurer’s role also involves:
We are seeking people who can demonstrate:
All of our Trustees need to be able to absorb and understand information from written reports, finance spreadsheets and verbal updates. They will have high level listening and questioning skills; be able to put across their point of view and take into account other perspectives to make collective decisions in the best interest of the charity and those it serves.
For our Treasurer, we are particularly looking for someone with financial management experience and/or qualifications, and an understanding of charity governance and financial regulatory requirements. You will have strong analytical and evaluation skills and the ability to explain financial information to non-financial Trustees, as well as leadership and strategic planning capabilities.
To ensure that the Board has the right skills and experience to be able to support the charity most effectively, we are particularly keen to recruit Trustees with knowledge or experience in one or more of the following:
An understanding of, or connections with, NHS, local government and statutory bodies and, of property leasing, would also be helpful.
We recognise that these skills can be developed through a range of different experiences and it is not necessary to have previous experience as a Trustee to apply.
We are committed to creating an organisation 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.
We strongly encourage applications from members of every community and actively seek to hire people with lived experience of mental health issues. We would also particularly welcome applications from people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities.
We acknowledge the unique contribution that all MFT employees and clients can bring to our organisation in terms of their culture, race, gender, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital status, nationality, age, religion or belief, physical disability, history of mental health or other characteristics.
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.
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.
This post is – ‘Exempt’ from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974).
All successful candidates will be required to undertake Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks as well as reference checks. These will be a condition of any offer of volunteering post 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’.
Please note that, in all roles, a criminal record is not an automatic exclusion and will be judged on a case-by-case basis.
For more information, please read the Government’s Guidance on Filtering.
Mary Frances Trust (M FT) is a mental health and emotional wellbeing charity, supporting people living in Surrey Downs (Banstead, Elmbridge, Epsom & Ewell and Mole Valley) since 1994.
We offer a variety of face-to-face and online services, available to adults (aged 16+) living in Surrey who would like to restore and/or maintain their mental and emotional wellbeing (no diagnosis needed).
All our services are free of charge. To see all of our services, please visit the How We Help section of our website.
We believe anyone experiencing any kind of mental or emotional health issues should feel confident to ask for help, receive appropriate support for as long as they need, and be inspired to develop the skills that will help them to restore and maintain their own wellbeing over the long term so they can lead a fulfilling life.
Our mission is to:
Inspiring
We believe that everyone can lead a fulfilling life and achieve their goals and full potential. We encourage people to recognise and use their own strengths and resources. We inspire people to develop the skills that will empower them to become experts at managing their own mental wellbeing. To accompany people on this journey, we offer personal, tailored support to help them regain a sense of hope and control.
Inclusive
The people we support aren’t passive recipient of our services and are not being “done to”. Through our commitment to Co-Production, we involve people with mental health lived experience in every aspect of our organisation, including the design, delivery, monitoring, review and evaluation of our services.
We believe in the power of connection. We encourage the people we support to fully participate in their local communities. As an organisation, we also strive to be part of and reflect the diverse population we serve.
Agile
We live in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment, so we’re always ready to adapt and innovate to meet the evolving needs of the local communities we serve. We are an integral part of a wider mental health system and are dedicated to providing easy access first-class mental health support by working in partnership and collaboration.
Respectful
We work hard to establish mutual honest and trustworthy relationships. We actively listen and treat people we support with the same kindness and respect as we do our staff and volunteers. We strive to be an organisation where people feel safe and that they belong.
To get a good grasp of all things Mary Frances Trust, you can:
Facebook: @maryfrancestrust
X: @MaryFrancesTrst
Instagram: @maryfrancestrust
LinkedIn: Mary Frances Trust
YouTube: @MaryFrancesTrust
You must be at least 18 years old and not be disqualified from acting as a Trustee. Further guidance on Trustee eligibility is available from the Charity Commission. Previous Trustee experience is not required.
All Trustees will receive an induction. Training and development will be available as required.
If you’re interested in being involved with a great charity making a real difference to people’s lives, please send your CV and a supporting statement to Sam Greenhouse, our Chair of Trustees, at sam@maryfrancestrust.org.uk
Video applications are also welcomed.
If you are encountering any difficulties applying for the position, please email Emma, our Administration and Communications Assistant, at: emmal@maryfrancestrust.org.uk.
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