Are you interested in joining our Board? Can your skills and experience support us in furthering our aims and objectives?

We want Scotland to be the best place for refugees to thrive, challenge injustice, achieve their ambitions and empower their communities, no matter where they have come from or how they arrived. Are you interested in joining our Board to help achieve this ambition as we approach our 40th year?

Scottish Refugee Council is Scotland’s national refugee charity working with people from the refugee and asylum-seeking communities to offer support and advice to individuals and families, promote community integration, stand up for refugee rights and campaign for a fairer and more humane asylum system. We coordinate the annual Refugee Festival, which takes place in June and work in close partnership with organisations across the voluntary, statutory and private sectors. We are committed to strengthening refugee voice and influence and aim for our Board, staff and volunteers to reflect the communities we work with.

As a number of Board members reach the end of their current term this year, we are specifically aiming to recruit board members with any or all of the following skills and experience:

• Finance, accounting and risk management to join our Finance and Audit committee,
• Service delivery in the refugee or related sector such as advice, housing etc.
• Fundraising

Your skills and experience may be gained through the workplace or through voluntary work. Commitment to the rights and welfare of refugees and a willingness to work collaboratively, bringing your experience to the role, are what matter most. All new Board Members will attend an induction and be offered training and mentoring support.

The Board meets four times a year in Glasgow and we support virtual as well as in-person attendance. You will also attend an annual Strategy Away Day and our AGM in October. You will be expected where possible to take part in one of the three sub-committees (Finance and Audit, Staffing, Strategy and Development) and encouraged to attend community and campaign events when you can. This role is unpaid but travel and out of pocket expenses will be reimbursed.

Your commitment

• The board meets 4 times a year, including a strategy day held annually.
• Our Annual General Meeting
• Members are required where possible to take part in one of the three sub-committees (Finance and Audit, People, Strategy and Development) that support the Board. The committee meet 3-4 times per year.
• Governance and other related training will be offered
• Our headquarters are in Glasgow but meetings can be joined virtually and suitable IT support can be provided.
• This role is unpaid however, travel and other reasonable expenses will be fully reimbursed.

Scottish Refugee Council is Scotland’s national refugee charity. We provide support and advice to individuals and families, promote community integration, stand up for refugee rights and campaign for a fairer and more humane asylum system.

We are seeking a Chair to lead our board of directors when the current Chair’s term ends in March 2025. This is an exciting opportunity to shape and influence the development of the organisation as it enters its 40th year.

Currently in the second year of our five-year strategic plan, we are consolidating after a period of rapid growth. Our recently launched Refugee Support Service is an ambitious, Scotland-wide response to the changing context for Scotland’s refugees and wider dispersal of people in the asylum system. We are strengthening our presence across the country to support statutory and voluntary sector partners to address refugees’ needs and protect their rights, while widening access to direct support and advice through our helpline and digital solutions. Continuing to advocate for refugee rights and asylum reform, we are rising to the challenge of ensuring our long-term sustainability by restructuring to deliver the Refugee Support Service and diversifying our funding base.

Of equal importance is ensuring all our work fully involves, and is driven by, people with lived experience of refugee protection. With strong representation at board level and among our committed and creative staff and volunteers, we have a good foundation on which to build.

Your commitment

As Chair of Scottish Refugee Council, you will play a crucial role in shaping the strategic direction of the charity, ensuring the highest standards of charity governance and effective oversight of its operations and advocacy. Drawing on your substantial non-executive experience, ideally as Chair, you will ensure a cohesive and well-functioning board where diverse views are encouraged to improve consensus decision-making.

You will work closely with board colleagues through sub-committees and quarterly board meetings and provide support and constructive challenge to the Chief Executive, Sabir Zazai, and his senior team. With a track record of identifying and mitigating risk, you will protect and promote the charity’s excellent reputation, and represent us at external events and with key stakeholders.

The role currently takes on average one day a week, with busier periods around quarterly meetings. It is an opportunity to make a real difference, helping refugees to navigate challenges and connect, contribute and thrive in their community.

To note, there is the potential for this role to be that of Co-Chair, along with an existing Scottish Refugee Council Board member and this can be discussed further should a Co-Chair option be of interest.