An exciting opportunity has arisen to lead our Board and Charity. We are looking for someone who is dynamic, with capacity to contribute, and willing to share their expertise and ideally to also engage their network to broaden and deepen support for Venture Trust. An affinity with our work, supporting people in their development to overcome life challenges, is essential.

In return, we offer a comprehensive induction programme including charity trustee training, CPD as a trustee and opportunity to be part of a forward thinking, committed and impactful team working to help people transform their lives.

This position is a voluntary role in a national third sector organisation that has important stature in Scotland.

About Us

Tiny Changes is Scotland’s first national young people’s mental health charity. We run projects with young leaders that help young minds feel better. The charity was set up in memory of artist and Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison. Through his music and art Scott made tiny changes that had a big impact on people from all walks of life.

We believe that Scotland’s young people deserve great mental health, and we believe in their insight and innovation to make this possible. We exist to nurture the talent of young people to find solutions that work for them.

Over the next two years we'll support young people to co-design and lead Tiny Changes projects, while learning as much as we can about our impact. Our two goals are to invest £1 million in young people’s mental health and to support 10,000 children and young people.

The Tiny Changes team is growing all the time. We currently have 6 Trustees and we’re now recruiting for new trustees to join our Board. The Tiny Changes Team is made up of 3 employees and 2 consultants, creative partners and volunteer Wavemakers. You can read more about our team over on our blog.

Our Mission and Strategic Pillars

1. Investment in youth-led innovation: Young people’s wisdom, experiences and insights are our greatest assets. We create the conditions for young people to effect positive change in their communities, by listening to their ideas and investing our time and resources into making them a reality.
2. Learning from our impact: We are a young charity, with big ambitions, and we are still learning. We inspire lasting change through a deep understanding of the impact of our work. We gather insights from our successes and our mistakes, always asking young people what we could and should do better. We use these insights to challenge ourselves and others to improve the wellbeing of all young people.
3. Creating and nurturing communities for action: We believe in the power of community, and create and actively build supportive, inclusive and welcoming communities, led by and for young people. The roots of our community come from the music, art and life of Scott Hutchison and the support of the people who knew and were inspired by him, and our message of connection spans beyond this.
4. Investing in our future: As a charity committed to improving mental wellbeing we actively ensure that our team is well trained, supported, and that they have the resources they need to achieve our ambitions. We do this by being strategic in how we generate and administer all of our resources. We seek out opportunities to fundraise with people and organisations whose values are aligned to ours, so that we can maximise our collective ambitions for young people.

Our Values

1. Hopeful - We want to create a new narrative around mental health. Positive stories of support and invaluable lived experience that can give comfort to those who need it most. There is a fine line between the light and the dark and sharing a message of hope can be empowering for our community.
2. Brave - We are willing to take risks in supporting forward-thinking and creative ideas. We are committed, we demand and we are determined to make change. We are not afraid to stand up for our community and fight for real change. We will stand side by side and prove that better is possible.
3. Honest - We don't have all the answers, but we are optimistic, determined and ready to learn. We will be open and transparent with our journey, adapting to our communities needs and celebrating progress over perfection.
4. Kind - We care. We listen. We ask. We encourage and support anyone to raise their voice. We learn from each other, teach each other and forgive each other. Compassion, empathy and understanding are all key to reducing stigma and starting important conversations.

About The Role

At Tiny Changes, we’re preparing to strengthen our Board with new voluntary trustee appointments, one of the trustees will ideally become our Secretary. As part of the Board of trustees, you will be responsible for the overall control and governance of the organisation. This is an exciting leadership opportunity to join a dynamic organisation and make sure the charity maximises its impact.

Trustees are able to serve for a maximum of 3 terms (a term is 3 years). There are currently 4 Trustee Board meetings a year in different locations in Scotland, and conversations in between on emails. There are other options for Trustees to attend Tiny Changes events or projects throughout each year. You can find more information on the Job Description linked below.

About you

Tiny Changes aims to have an effective and efficient board with the appropriate balance of skills, knowledge, qualities and experience that will support the current and future needs of the organisation and wider society. The Tiny Changes board aims to have a mix of people with hard and soft skills as well as specific experience and knowledge to support the charity's vision and strategic objectives.

You don’t have to have any previous experience as a trustee or in governance, what we are looking for is clear motivation and willingness to learn about governance as well as an interest in mental health and young people in Scotland.

We’re looking for Trustees who:

• Share our values
• Are committed to and share our vision and strategic plan
• Have knowledge of and interest in mental health issues affecting children and young people in Scotland
• Bring a different perspective to the work of the trustees and leadership team
• Are qualities driven and self-reflective

We are interested in hearing from people with a range of experience and skills, please read the job description and person specification for more information.

We particularly welcome applications from the following groups who are currently underrepresented on our team:

• Young people under 30
• Young people with experience of mental health issues
• Disabled people
• Neurodiverse people
• People with experience of caring roles
• Care experienced people
• People from minority ethnic communities
• Asylum seekers or refugees
• People who identify as any gender that’s not cisgender
• People who identify as LGBTQIA+
• People from gypsy traveller communities
• People from a wide range of religious and cultural backgrounds

The Ramblers helps everyone, everywhere, enjoy walking and protects the places we all love to walk. We are the only charity dedicated to looking after paths and green spaces, leading walks, opening up new places to explore, and encouraging everyone to get outside and discover how walking boosts your health and your happiness. We aim to speak for all walkers.

This is an exciting time to join one of our sub-committees of the main board of trustees. The Ramblers has developed a refreshed strategic plan that builds on the Ramblers' success and its mission to open the way for everyone to enjoy the simple pleasures of walking. As we look forward, we want to address the stark inequalities that still exist and support those who face the greatest barriers to getting out and going walking.

As an independent committee member of our main board, you will draw on your skills and experience to help deliver the strategy for achieving our mission, ensure that the charity’s resources are managed responsibly, and that we remain compliant with relevant laws and regulations.

There are four sub-committees with responsibility for assisting the board to discharge its duties in specific areas:

• Strategy and Delivery Committee
• Finance, Risk and Audit Committee
• People and Culture Committee
• Nominations and Governance Committee

Independent Committee Members are volunteers who are recruited to join trustees and senior staff on a specific committee and support the work of that committee, advising on matters relating to that committee’s areas of responsibility, contributing specialist knowledge as appropriate.

You can find more information about the board, the sub-committees and current trustees at ramblers.org.uk/about-us/board-trustees-and-sub-committees.

The Ramblers promote diversity and welcome applications from all sections of the community.

The role

We are seeking independent committee members who will join the People and Culture Committee and the Strategy and Delivery Committee.

To join the Committee we are seeking three individuals with proven experience and knowledge of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, Volunteering or People/HR, and Digital Transformation.

The People and Culture Committee supports the board with:

• The people and culture activities including the equity, diversity and inclusion programme.
• Safeguarding, and health and safety matters.
• The overall employer offer, including setting and reviewing the remuneration of the Chief Executive.
• The Strategy and Delivery Committee supports the board with:
• Oversight of delivery of the agreed portfolio of strategic and operational programmes of work required to deliver the Ramblers’ strategy and charitable purpose.

Appointment

Appointments to sub-committees are reviewed by the nominations and governance committee, and then recommended for approval to the Board of Trustees. All committee appointments are subject to relevant eligibility checks.

Time Commitment

We know that people have other time commitments and so we want to make sure the committees work as well as possible for everyone.

Sub-committees are held up to four times per year, usually several weeks ahead of each board meeting. The meetings are held virtually and normally run from 5.30pm to 7.30pm. For each meeting you will need some time to read relevant papers.

Independent sub-committee members will be asked to sit on the committee for a period of three years, time commitments permitting.

The Person

To be considered as an independent committee member you should demonstrate:

• proven experience and knowledge in the specialism required
• a commitment to the mission, ambitions and values of the Ramblers
• integrity in your communication and decision making
• an ability to bring a strategic vision and provide sound and independent judgement
• an ability to think creatively
• a willingness to meet the minimum time commitment
• an ability to work effectively as a member of a team and to take decisions in the best interests of the Ramblers

Are you looking for a new challenge and an opportunity to shape the next phase of Ark’s ambitious strategy ?

Ark’s mission to create the best possible customer outcomes through our highly skilled people, the provision of high quality affordable homes and excellent care will be achieved through creating inclusive communities where quality of housing and care enable people to thrive and live a good life.

Established in 1977 Ark provides 450 tenancies, and supports over 400 people through our dedicated and highly skilled workforce of 700+ staff. We operate in 12 Local Authority areas in the North and East of Scotland, and we also have services in The Western Isles.

The Ark Group is made up of three companies:

1. Ark is a registered charity and registered social landlord (RSL) that provides housing and care and is the parent company within the group structure.

2. Ark Services Limited is a private company limited by guarantee and a wholly owned subsidiary of Ark.

3. Ark Commercial Investment Limited (ACIL) is a private limited share company and wholly owned subsidiary of Ark.

Although a housing association, the majority of Ark’s activity relates to the provision of care and support for people with long term and enduring conditions such as learning disability, mental health issues, dementia and autism. Our aim is to ensure that those who use our services receive the very best support from Ark to enable them to live a good life. For further information see Ark’s website: arkha.org.uk.

We currently have vacancies for Non Executive Board members on both the main board as well as the subsidiary board, at a very exciting time for Ark. We are entering year 2 of our Corporate Strategy and have set an ambitious set of aims to develop and grow the business with a robust set of performance targets. As a new Board Member you will play a key part in developing and enabling the delivery of the business plan for the next 5-10 years and improving the governance framework to effectively monitor performance. This will be clearly focussed upon delivery of high quality Housing and Care & Support services.

Ark Group Board

We are seeking 2-3 recruits to fill non-exec positions on Ark’s parent Board: Ark Housing Association.

This Board meets 6-7 times per year in a hybrid approach and will require some attendance face to face. We welcome applications from people with experience in Care & Support or Housing/Asset and understanding of governance in an RSL would be an advantage, however not essential.

Ark Subsidiary Board

We are seeking to strengthen our governance by appointing non executive directors to our Subsidiary Board and separate from the Ark Group Board to ensure independence. This Board will be made up of 5 or 6 individuals and chaired by an exisitng board member from Ark Group. Your role will be to serve both subsidiary companies with meetings being held consecutively, 4 times per year. This board meets on a remote basis and will be the perfect opportunity for people seeking their first Board role, with the opportunity for exposure to two very different businesses; one a commercial/private company and one a registered Charity. We will provide you with a full induction and an opportunity to be mentored by an experienced Board member and we do not expect you to have any previous board experience. Overall, we are looking for dynamic, forward-thinking and enthusiastic people from a variety of backgrounds to contribute to Ark’s emerging future.