Bridges To Wellbeing Administration Volunteer Volunteer Roles
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as the applications come in. Don’t miss your opportunity, apply now!
About the Role
The Bridge Project is a well-established Bradford based charity with over 35 years’ experience delivering services and projects addressing a range of issues such as substance misuse, risk taking behaviours, relationships, housing, physical/mental health, and employment. We work with individuals, families, partners, and communities to improve people’s lives in a sustainable way, empowering people experiencing multiple barriers to achieve positive change.
We currently employ over 120 staff, 40% of whom are ‘experts by experience’ and have joined us through our volunteering programme. We are recognised as being innovative and recovery focused, and our services have been highlighted nationally as examples of best practice in the sector. Our portfolio of services and projects are constantly evolving in response to the changing needs of our service users and our local communities. Currently this includes recovery focussed drug treatment services, housing and resettlement support, access to education, training, and employment (ETE), volunteering programmes, support for people engaged with criminal justice services and befriending/mentoring services for people with significant barriers to recovery and community reengagement.
What will you be doing?
Our Trustees play a pivotal role in governing the Bridge Project. They are responsible for setting our strategic vision and priorities, ensuring our financial sustainability, and providing guidance and oversight to our operations. Our Board is committed to excellence, and we are looking for new individuals to bring fresh knowledge and experience to join us in this important work. We’re committed to creating a Board which is representative of the communities we support, bringing together those with a variety of skills and experiences, to help shape what we do and how we work. We’re particularly keen to hear from candidates from ethnically diverse backgrounds and from woman, however, we would be pleased to hear from you if you feel you can add value to our Board and would like to help us to make a positive contribution. This is a rewarding role and you do not need to have experience of been a Trustee before, as there will be a comprehensive induction.
As a Trustee, you will have the opportunity to bring commitment, energy and enthusiasm to the role with a passion for doing your best. You will work alongside other talented Trustees, engage with our staff and stakeholders, and contribute to our collective mission of empowering people experiencing multiple barriers to achieve positive change.
Our Trustees play a vital role in making sure that the Bridge Project achieves its core purpose. They oversee the overall management and administration of the charity. They also ensure that the charity has a clear strategy and that our work and goals are in line with our vision. Just as importantly, they support and challenge the senior leadership team to enable The Bridge Project to grow and thrive, and through this, achieve our mission.
Time Commitment
We ask that you are able to devote time to attend 4 Trustee Board meetings per year, 4 Sub-Committee meetings per year and 1 Planning meeting. These are a mixture of in-person meetings in Bradford and zoom meetings. Meetings are currently held in the evening. Trustees are also encouraged to visit our premises to meet with the staff team and meet the people we support.
What Difference will you make?
You will be joining a friendly, highly engaged, and passionate group of likeminded Trustees who are keen to deepen the impact of the Bridge Project in local communities. As a Trustee, you will have a real opportunity to offer your unique skill set to help the strategic direction of the charity and directly contribute to these objectives.
You will collectively be responsible for ensuring that the Chief Officer and his team not only grow our services to meet everyone that needs them, but that the service we provide is of the highest quality. Last year we provided treatment and support to 4,900 individuals.
You will also have an opportunity to expand your knowledge of the voluntary and community sector and give something back to the local community as well as developing new skills.
SLDAS OCN Accredited Volunteer Training Programme
SLDAS is a local organisation working in South Liverpool. We support women who have experienced or are experiencing domestic abuse. We are a small team and are busier than ever and we need volunteers to help us reach all the women who we support. Have you got some time to give us?
All volunteers complete our Open College Network training programme that is accredited with Open Awards. Our aim is to provide trainee volunteers with the skills, knowledge and confidence necessary to enable them to work with women who are currently experiencing domestic abuse or have experienced it in the past.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Our trustees play a vital role in making sure that Upbeat Communities achieves its core purpose. They oversee the overall management and administration of the charity, and they also ensure we have a clear strategy and that our work and goals are in line with our vision. Just as importantly, they support and challenge the leadership team to enable Upbeat Communities to grow and thrive, and through this, empower refugees to thrive.
Through regular meetings, strategy days and written reports provided to the board, trustees are able to set the direction of the organisation, develop its strategic objectives and support and keep the staff team accountable in delivering on these
strategic goals.
Trustee meetings are currently held every 2 months either in person in Derby or online (hybrid). We have an annual strategy away day and trustees are also invited to be part of our sub-committees. Trustees are requested to be available to attend occasional ‘unscheduled’ meetings or engage in email communications which address urgent business as it arises, join working groups when needed and spend time preparing for meetings by reading and considering the papers circulated before meetings.
Benefits of Being a Trustee
We believe being a trustee of Upbeat Communities offers a number of fantastic
benefits:
- Strategic decision-making that positively impacts the lives of over a thousand
- asylum seekers and refugees every year
- Supporting an innovative, talented and passionate staff team as they develop
- our work and explore new services and ways of working
- Being part of a committed and focused trustee team working to see the charity
- grow
- Using your skills, experience and passion to contribute to an effective and wellfunctioning
- board
- Opportunities to learn new skills and experiences to contribute to your own
- personal development
Duties
Any individual acting as a trustee for Upbeat Communities would be required to
carry out the following:
- Promote the vision, mission and values of the charity
- Ensure Upbeat Communities and its representatives function within all legal and
- regulatory requirements applicable, and in line with its constitution, continually
- striving for best practice in governance
- Determine the overall direction and development of Upbeat Communities
- through good governance and clear strategic planning
- Approve operational strategies and policies, and monitor and evaluate their
- implementation
- Oversee Upbeat Communities’ financial plans and budgets and monitor and
- evaluate progress
- Review and approve the charity’s financial statements
- Ensure that key risks are being identified, monitored and controlled effectively
- Provide support and challenge to Upbeat Communities’ Chief Executive in the
- exercise of their delegated authority and affairs
- Contribute to regular reviews of Upbeat Communities’ own governance.
- Attend Board meetings, and be adequately prepared to contribute to
- discussions.
- Use independent judgment, acting legally and in good faith to promote and
- protect the charity’s interests, avoiding any personal conflict of interests
- Take appropriate professional advice in all matters where there may be a
- material risk to the charity
- Maintain confidentiality about all aspects of the trustee’s business
Finance Specific Duties
- Lead on the strategic financial management of the charity at board level
- Liaise with our outsourced finance team (including our Finance Director)
- Chair the finance sub-committee (which meets 6 times per year ahead of every
- board meeting)
- Maintain a clear grasp of the charity’s financial position and ensure full and
- timely financial transparency and information disclosure to the board
- Support the board of trustees in financial decision making processes
- Review and approve annual budgets
- Advise on banking and investments
- Take an active role in the financial audit process
- Contribute to the financial management of our trading subsidiary (Upbeat
- Enterprises Limited)
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.