Trustees

Job Description

BackgroundCARIS Families is a grassroots charity based in the London Boroughs of Hackney and Camden that supports children and their parents through the experience of family homelessness.Family homelessness doesnt look like the public perception of homelessness.In the UK, local authorities have to put an emergency roof over the head of any family in housing crisis to keep them from the streets. This emergency solution is usually a hostel where the whole family is accommodated in a single room. While these measureskeep families from the streets, living in these hugely overcrowded conditions presents real disadvantages to children, their life chances and the wellbeing of families. This disadvantage can become entrenched by the fact that many families remain in hostelsfor several years waiting for an affordable home, meaning whole childhoods are lived out in these facilities.CARIS Families was founded in 2016 to try to mitigate some of the disadvantage hostel-resident families face during their period of homelessness. Wedo this by running play, learning and welfare services within the hostels and offsite enrichment activities, with the aim of improving families day-to-day experiences, promoting their wellbeing and enhancing their longer-term prospects. While we ran solelyin the London Borough of Camden until 2021, we are starting hostel-based services in the London Borough of Hackney in August 2021. Were excited about this new chapter of our work and the opportunities and challenges ahead as we seek to support families inhostels to recover from the far-reaching impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.CARIS Families is the operating name of charity CARIS Camden, which also started C4WS Homeless Project (now an independent charity in its own right). CARIS Families was known as CARISCamden Families until 2021, when we changed our name to reflect our expansion beyond one London borough.Current contextCARIS Families work has been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It forced the closure of two of the hostels that wed previouslyworked in, meaning we have paused our hostel-based work in Camden for the time being. It also presented the opportunity to expand into Hackney, bringing forward our intention to work beyond just one London borough. We will continue to provide welfare supportfor our formerly homeless service users in Camden who were resettled during the pandemic through 2021, while launching our services in Hackney across four hostels. We intend to return to hostel-based work in Camden in 2022-23, when the council will open newfamily hostels, and will at this point effectively double our reach as we work concurrently across hostels in Hackney and Camden. We currently have a board of five trustees. We need to increase the capacity of the board of trustees so that we can achieve ourgrowth strategy over the next five years and continue to best respond to the needs of homeless families within our boroughs.We have a Director and a staff team of three who deliver our services within the family hostels alongside a team of around 35 volunteers.We have a broad support base, with the significant impact and value of our work recognised by our statutory and not-for-profit partners.RolesWe are looking for new trustees who have the following skills and expertise to support the development of our work:TrusteesExpert by experience: a parent or young adult who has experience of living in a temporary accommodation hostel with their family Childrens Social Worker / teacher with experience of working in a diverse London borough, ideally in Camden or Hackney Housing/ homelessness professional -from the legal, non-profit or statutory sector Fundraising - individuals experienced in bid-writing, securing grants and donations, and building corporate partnerships, and/or individuals with a network of trusts and foundationsrelevant to our work Strategic communications and marketing - an individual with a background in marcomms and experience in building a meaningful presence on social media platforms IT / tech specialist, to support us to better use technology to drive our workforward and increase our impact through use of our data.TreasurerWe are also looking for a talented and passionate financial sector professional to take over from our current treasurer, who is looking to retire. This a strategic financial role overseeing ourlonger-term financial health and our investment performance, and is a vital role for our charity that supports homeless families.With the demographic of the families we support and the locations we work in, we are particularly interested to hear from BAMEindividuals within any of the key areas we are currently recruiting for.Person specificationIn addition to one of the above skills, we require trustees to have: A clear commitment to the mission of CARIS Families, with the passion and energy needed to helprealise it A willingness to meet the minimum time commitment (see below) Integrity Strategic vision Good, independent judgement A willingness to speak their mind, to ask questions and think creatively An ability to work effectively as a member of a team witha sense of shared purpose and collective responsibility, and an ability to take decisions for the good of the charity. An understanding and acceptance of the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of trusteeship (support with this can be provided.)Expectationsof TrusteesWe know that being a Trustee is a time commitment. We ask potential Trustees to consider the role thoughtfully, and the expectations we have of all trustees: To attend all Trustees meetings, which last approximately two hours and take place fourtimes a year. They are currently held over Zoom but may return to face-to-face or hybrid meetings in the future, in either the London Boroughs of Camden or Hackney. To proactively engage in the development of CARIS Families on a three to five-year term, anduse any specific skills, knowledge or experience they have to help the board reach sound decisions. This may involve leading discussions, identifying key issues, providing advice and guidance on new initiatives, and evaluating or offering advice on other areasin which the trustee has particular expertise. To attend at least two sessions of frontline delivery with our staff team a year. To undertake an Enhanced DBS check.Trustee recruitment processPlease attach your CV, addressed to Rebecca Walker, Director of CARISFamilies, outlining why you are interested in becoming a Trustee with us.Youre also welcome to contact Rebecca if you have any questions, or would like an informal conversation about the role prior to the deadline for applications.Long-listed candidates willbe invited to an online interview with our Director and Chair of Trustees. We will then short-list and invite a second round of candidates to attend a trustee meeting with a view to being voted in.