Child and young person therapist volunteer roles

We are seeking a passionate and committed individual with clinical expertise to join our Board of Trustees – people who share our values and vision, and are ready to help drive strategic decision-making and ensure our continued success and impact, making a meaningful difference through our work supporting disabled people to live with greater independence.

Designability is a national charity that, for over 50 years, has created equality of opportunity for disabled people by removing barriers to independence, enabling them to live the life they choose.

Following a person-centred design approach, and by including disabled people at each point of the design process, we ensure their ideas and lived experiences are taken on board and that what we create reflects people’s needs as well as products and services they want to use. We are best known for the iconic Wizzybug powered wheelchairs for very young disabled children. To date, they have been loaned to over 1,400 children, typically aged between 14 months and 5 years, across the UK completed free of charge thanks to the support of our generous donors.

Our Trustees actively contribute to the Board of Trustees by giving firm strategic direction to Designability, setting overall policy, defining goals, setting targets, and evaluating performance against agreed targets.

We are recruiting a new trustee to bring further clinical excellence to our Board. This is a voluntary, unpaid role with reimbursed expenses and a structured induction programme.

We would welcome candidates with experience in any of the following areas:

• A leadership role, relating to clinical delivery, or clinical trials and research involving medical devices.
• Assessing organisational risk and accountability, and implementation of mitigations in a clinical setting.
• Delivery of strategy or change management in a clinical setting.  
• Significant experience of working with disabled people, including experience gained through a senior position in occupational therapy, physiotherapy, rehabilitation engineering or rehabilitation medicine.
• Experience in Early Years Powered Mobility, wheelchair services or provision of medical devices
• Experience of clinical governance.

You will be joining an independent, national charity based in Bath. Our creative and inspiring team includes engineers, technicians, product designers, occupational therapists, fundraisers and administrators. We are led by strong values: we are creative, inclusive and practical, with our vision being to create a future where every disabled person has the products they want to live the life they choose. 

Closing Date for applications: 28th November

Interview date: Successful applicants will be offered a mutually convenient interview date, following the closing date.

Are you motivated by the opportunity to positively impact the UK’s mental health at the highest level, and be part of an internationally recognised organisation improving therapy standards? You might just be the right person to join the UK Council for Psychotherapy team.

Who is the UK Council for Psychotherapy?

UK Council for Psychotherapy is the leading organisation for psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors in the UK. We believe that psychotherapy can help us in profound ways, solving immediate issues and transforming how we think, feel and behave. Alongside offering professional support for our members, we are the leading research, innovation and educational body working to advance psychotherapies for the benefit of all. We regulate the profession and speak up for the importance of psychotherapy.  

What matters to us

UKCP’s mission: We see first-hand the power of psychotherapy to improve lives, so we speak up for the importance of psychotherapy in national and local policymaking and represent the social value of psychotherapy in the UK today.

Our vision: A society that understands the value and impact of high-quality psychotherapy, the importance of making psychotherapeutic services available to those in need and the relevance of psychotherapy in improving lives.

And our all important values: Our values are central to us. We recruit according to them, appraise our people against them, embed them in our working practices with colleagues, ensure that our practice is continually informed by them and measure our impact against them. We encourage you to read the candidate pack to learn more about our values.

So what does life as a trustee at UKCP look like?

Are you looking for a voluntary role that is rewarding and offers you the chance to provide leadership with your HR or communications skills? Then here is a look at some of the key tasks you’ll be involved in as trustee. You will:

• help to embed good governance practices in everything UKCP, the trustees and officers, and staff undertake as well as promoting diversity and inclusion
• provide leadership and direction to the organisation in order to pursue UKCP’s vision, mission and strategic direction
• prepare for and attend Board and other meetings and contribute expert ideas and know-how
• provide your HR or communications expertise to support understanding and decision-making across the Board.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion

UKCP is committed to doing more to reflect the communities we serve. The Equity, Diversity and Inclusion – Belonging, Intersectionality, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (EDI-BIIDE) Committee plays a vital role within UKCP governance, driving the strategic management of equity and inclusion initiatives across the organisation.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for two trustees who share our desire to improve the UK’s mental health and an appreciation of the role of high-level oversight in achieving this. Having communications, PR or professional HR expertise, along with an understanding of the distinction between governance and management, will be key in these trustee roles.

If you have experience in working in an influential role and feel that you have good, independent judgement; can also act with impartiality, fairness and respect confidences; we believe that you may be a great addition to our board.

Don’t think you quite meet all of the specifications? Please don’t count yourself out – we’d still love to hear from you and learn more about you and your interest in joining UK Council for Psychotherapy.

Sounding good? Here’s how you can apply today.

Eastside People is supporting UK Council of Psychotherapy in the recruitment of these roles. Please apply by submitting your CV and a cover letter, both in Word doc format.

Please use the cover letter (max 2 pages) as an opportunity to add to the information you have shared in your CV and ensure that you cover the following: 

• why you are interested in the trustee roles at UKCP
• having read the information pack, what relevant experience and skills you feel you would bring to this role. This might come from paid work, study, community or voluntary work or other experience.

We want you to have every opportunity to demonstrate your skills, ability and potential. If you have a disability or require reasonable adjustments during the application or interview process, please contact us so we can support you appropriately.

The closing date for applications is Monday 24th November. Shortlisting interviews will take place shortly after, and shortlisted candidates will have an interview with UKCP shortly after this. 

We look forward to hearing from you!