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Volunteer Trustee

  • Management Board
  • Unpaid
  • Hybrid: Scotland (would consider applicants living within UK)
  • Closing 12th February 2025


  • Advertised from 15th January 2025

Role

General Role: Generations Working Together (GWT) is seeking enthusiastic, committed, dependable and proactive volunteer trustees with a background in human resources/marketing or environment.

Our volunteers will have experience of working in the voluntary, public or private sector who would like to become actively involved in progressing the field of intergenerational work across Scotland and the UK. This person will have a strong background, expert skills and experience in any one of the following areas:

  • Human Resources - we are looking for someone with expertise in recruitment, staffing, learning and development and performance management. We wish to develop two areas of HR within the charity - supporting the developing of our intergenerational workplace training and in our own HR processes which are currently supported by Peninsula UK.
  • Marketing – at present we have a dedicated Communication and Digital Marketing Officer and have been developing this area raising the profile and image of our work. As we continue to grow, we recognise the importance of attracting a Trustee with marketing expertise who could help us expand and develop this area, targeting a wider audience.
  • Environment - our Corporate Plan 2025-2030 identifies five strategic aims which will include regenerative practice and environment/climate as an additional theme for intergenerational working. The charity looks to attract someone with a wealth of knowledge in this area who can help the team identify how best to support people, communities and organisation in this area of work.

Trustees are appointed for a term of two times three years and are eligible to serve a further three-year term or three one-year terms, after which they must retire from the board. Our Trustees are responsible and accountable for the overall strategic leadership and direction of the organisation and share our vision and passion about promoting strong, generationally connected communities.

We ask for a commitment which involves attending:

  • Four online board meetings (normally held on a Wednesday, 5.30pm to 8pm) (however this could alter in the future due to the needs of Trustees)
  • The Annual General Meeting (online) – November 2025
  • One development session (day time - in person normally Glasgow) each year to develop and review the corporate plan/manifesto (September time)
  • Occasional GWT Conferences (30th Sept 2025, Inverness)/ Parliamentary receptions or other events (Global Intergenerational Congress (Glasgow), Sept 2026)

As a small charity it is expected that Board members will take on additional responsibilities between meetings consistent with the aims and outcomes of GWT. This may include membership of task and finish groups, standing committees or specific tasks consistent with their areas of expertise. Much of the subgroup work is done via email and video conferencing.

Organisation profile:

Generations Working Together is the nationally recognised centre of excellence supporting the development and integration of intergenerational work across Scotland. Our mission is to develop, expand and improve IG practice nationwide. Our vision is to live in a Scotland where different generations are more connected, where everyone has opportunities to build relationships that help to create a more inclusive society.

Intergenerational work means relationship-based projects, activities and events where people of different generations, who might not otherwise meet, do things together in positive and creative ways. It includes any activities which purposefully ignore, remove or break down social, environmental, cultural or institutional barriers between generations e.g. ageism, making spaces for older & younger people to meet naturally, get to know each other, share ideas, pass on &/or learn new skills, work together to identify solutions to problems, addressing challenges in their communities, all the while forging relationships and friendships.

An intergenerational lens can also be applied to the workplace which can now have up to five generational cohorts within. Organisations are considering the impact of this and are questioning whether they have the right policies, processes and ethos in place to support their diverse expectations. Applying an intergenerational lens to the workplace provides an opportunity to consider the benefits that come from diverse generational groups.

As a membership and capacity-building organisation, GWT operate locally and nationally raising awareness, sharing and expanding knowledge and understanding of intergenerational practice and its impact. We provide training and wide-ranging resources and organise learning events and facilitate local and thematic networking opportunities, to enable high quality intergenerational activity to take root on the ground & flourish. GWT lead and deliver pilot projects to support and encourage the development and delivery of intergenerational practice in new settings. We also participate in research projects and scan relevant research taking place across the world for distilling and sharing with our members and others.

A short film narrated by our retired chair Alan Hatton-Yeo MBE can be viewed here on our YouTube channel detailing our history and the background of intergenerational work and its growth in the UK.

The next three years look very exciting with GWT developing new programmes of work including support to the workplace, a new corporate plan, manifesto and on top of our normal networks and training programme an events calendar which includes the following:

  • 2025 – Four learning roadshows building on our 2024 learning roadshows
  • Global Intergenerational Week Campaign (yearly) – 24-30th April – include 7 daily themes
  • National Conference to be held 30th September 2025 in Inverness
  • Global Intergenerational Congress, Glasgow, 29th September – 1st October 2026

Hear from our volunteer Trustees below:

Q. What is it like to be a volunteer Trustee?

A. “Volunteering with GWT this past few years has let me see the value of intergenerational practice in many arenas of life. It has given me greater insight into the passionate practice out there and also the resource and specialism required to support it to be done in ever more meaningful and measurable ways. I have loved the opportunity so far of being part of a Board with such great diversity of age and experience.” (Trustee)

A. “My experience volunteering as a Trustee for GWT over the past six years has been both rewarding personally and beneficial professionally. Exposure to the Governance and Compliance aspects of Trusteeship has been useful supporting my role as a senior manager within a private sector business, while the opportunity to present to workshops and conferences has been invaluable experience of public speaking. Additionally, working alongside the other Trustees and GWT staff who have a wealth of diverse and in-depth experience has been extremely useful from a professional development perspective. From a personal perspective, being able to give my time to support a cause which is increasingly important to society overall and impacts on the lives of everyone I know is rewarding and well worth the investment in time.” (Trustee)

generationsworkingtogether.org/volunteering/651d222ab9fb2

Application notes

  • Please email a covering letter (or a pre-recorded video application) stating your interest and why you are an ideal fit for the board.
  • An up-to-date CV
  • Two professional referees (we will only contact your referees if you are invited to join the Board).

Please send to Alison Clyde, CEO at Generations Working Together by email or by hard copy to Brunswick House, 51 Wilson Street, Glasgow, G1 1UZ.

For more information or to arrange an informal conversation about GWT or intergenerational work please contact Alison Clyde, by email.

Further information around intergenerational work and GWT can be sourced from our website and from the following social media sites:

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