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We’re looking for new Trustees! We’re looking for people who support our mission and values, and who can act as ambassadors for YHA.

What will you be doing?

We’re looking for new Trustees

YHA enables everyone, especially young people, to connect with each other, nature and heritage through hostels in amazing places throughout England and Wales. Since 1930, we’ve been increasing access to travel and adventure. It’s our aim to reach and positively impact the lives of more people from more diverse backgrounds. And we target our support to young people and groups from under-served communities.

It’s a really exciting time to join YHA as we’ve just launched a refreshed strategy that will see us focus our activities and deepen our impact with the aim of growing people’s confidence, connection and sense of belonging - outcomes vital to wellbeing in this uncertain world.

What you’ll get from joining our Board

• the opportunity to contribute to the success of a national charity
• the chance to use your knowledge to make a valuable contribution to society
• a full induction and membership of an inclusive, welcoming Board

This could be a great fit for you You don’t need to have been on a Board before to become a YHA Trustee. We’re looking for people who support our mission and values, and who can act as ambassadors for YHA.

What matters most is that you bring good communication and listening skills, fair and reasoned decision-making, the confidence to challenge and support constructively, and time to commit to the role.

Diversity We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and strongly encourage people from the global majority to apply. These voices are currently under-represented on our Board, and we are committed to changing that.

Valuable additional strategic experience We’re also looking to strengthen the Board with Trustees who bring strategic insight in one or more of the following areas:

• Finance
• Hospitality
• Information technology, cyber security and data protection
• Leadership in a schools environment

Please note, you don’t need to have all these attributes to apply. Candidates must be over 16 years of age. 

Experience comes in many forms. Whether you’ve taken part in a community group, student council, parent committee, trade union, local campaign, or formal Board settings - those insights are all valuable here. 

What are we looking for?

You don’t need previous Board experience to become a YHA Trustee. What matters most is that you bring:

• a strong belief in YHA’s mission and understanding of our strategic direction
• good communication and listening skills
• fair and reasoned decision-making
• the confidence to challenge and support constructively
• time to commit to the role (including preparation and attendance at meetings)
• a commitment to YHA’s HEART values: Helpful, Efficient, Authentic, Respectful, and Team-spirited

We believe diversity in all its forms makes us stronger, more effective, and better able to deliver our mission. We care about who you are — not just what you’ve done.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. In particular, we strongly encourage people from the global majority to apply. These voices are currently under-represented on our Board, and we are committed to changing that.

We’re also looking to strengthen the Board with Trustees who bring strategic insight in one or more of the following areas:

• Finance
• Hospitality
• Information technology, cyber security and data protection
• Leadership in a schools environment

You don’t need to have all these desirable attributes to apply. We welcome applications from candidates who have relevant work and life experiences and have the passion to make a difference with YHA.

What difference will you make?

Becoming a Trustee is both deeply rewarding and genuinely enjoyable. This is an opportunity to help shape the direction of YHA — a charity dedicated to connecting people with each other, the outdoors nature and heritage.

Our Trustees hold overall legal responsibility for YHA. The Board sets and oversees the delivery of our strategy, and provides guidance across key areas such as impact, finance, risk management, property, hospitality, and performance.

With Trustees from a wide range of personal and professional backgrounds, boardroom conversations are rich and dynamic — and every voice contributes meaningfully to our progress.

YHA places access and inclusion at the heart of everything we do. As a Trustee, you’ll be part of an open, collaborative culture where diverse viewpoints are not only welcomed but essential to our success.

Join current Trustees for a special webinar on 23rd June 2025 at 6pm to find out more about the opportunity and what it’s really like to be a Trustee. Sign up via the link on the YHA website.

Before you apply

You don’t have to be a current YHA member to apply to become a Trustee. To be elected, however, you will need to become an Association Member of YHA before the AGM on Saturday 8 November 2025. 

Please apply via Reach, after which we will ask you to complete our online application form, which includes your personal details, diversity monitoring and candidate statement which will ask you some questions relating to your skills and experience. If you need support with the application process or to submit your application in an alternative format, please contact us via Reach.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a charity at the very start and to make a difference in shaping how we move forward.

Living Reasons – What we are planning, who we are and where we are now:

What is the plan?

The person who is starting the charity up is autistic, has ADHD, CPTSD and also multiple physical conditions that effect daily life and is part of the LGBTQ+ community and has faced a lot of issues in life because of these things.

Living Reasons is being created to fix what we think is a challenging situation that is getting harder to achieve every week, month and year in the current economic, political, environmental and societal landscape. It is not easily defined but we hope the charity objects below will help put context to what we want to achieve, what we can say is that below are the issues we are trying to address, how we do this will change as quickly as society does, but the issues we want to tackle are these:

1) Outdated and damaging employment practices

2) Accessibility to services

3) Limited employment, training and education opportunities

4) Lack of support during times of crisis or need

5) Lack of equity and agency for many people in society

6) Institutional discrimination that is not challenged

7) Abuse of the legal system at all levels

8) Abuse of power in government bodies

9) Poor access to healthcare

10)  Unequal treatment of many people in society by large corporations

11)  Assumptions made by wider society based on incorrect, outdated or discriminatory rhetoric that is used in daily life

12)  Outdated company engagement with the public

13)  Lack of support that is not talked about and not being addressed

Who are we?

Well, it is a small operation at this point, there are three people that are working to set up the charity, but we are all neurodivergent and have disabling aspects to our lives and experienced lack of opportunity or presumed ideas based on others perception of us. We are just people who care in reality and want to make a true change in society for everyone we work with.

Where are we now?

We are ready to become a CIO; we want to go straight to a fully incorporated charity so that we are able gain the most support as possible and open up opportunities for growth from day one as well as ensure people know they can trust us.

We need 3 trustees to start and understandably, two of us don’t want to be trustees due to personal reasons, so we need at least another two, maybe more, trustees to start up. That is hopefully where you come in!

We have our governing document, and we are still completing the further documents we want to launch with. We hope that new trustees will add to the plan and bring fresh ways of us working and how communicate the message of the charity.

The charity objects

· To promote social inclusion for the public benefit by preventing people from becoming socially excluded, relieving the needs of those people who are socially excluded and assisting them to integrate into society.

For the purpose of this clause ‘socially excluded’ means being excluded from society, or parts of society, as a result of one or more of the following factors: unemployment; financial hardship; youth or old age; ill health (physical or mental); substance abuse or dependency including alcohol and drugs; discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, disability, ethnic origin, religion, belief, creed, sexual orientation or gender re-assignment; poor educational or skills attainment; relationship and family breakdown; poor housing (that is housing that does not meet basic habitable standards; crime (either as a victim of crime or as an offender rehabilitating into society).

· The relief of financial hardship, either generally or individually, of people living in England and Wales by making grants of money for providing or paying for items, services or facilities

· The promotion of equality and diversity for the public benefit by conducting or commissioning research on equality and diversity issues and publishing the results to the public; advancing education and raising awareness in equality and diversity and promoting activities to foster understanding between people from diverse backgrounds.

Our Living Values -

Creativity

1) Imaginative Development (Individual)

2) Instilled Collaboration (Internal)

3) Changing The Status Quo (External)

Prospectivity

1) What Can You Do (Individual)

2) What Can We Do (Internal)

3) What Can They Do (External)

Revolutionary 

1) Inspire With Confidence (Individual)

2) Boundaryless Innovation (Internal)

3) Challenge Traditions (External)

Attentivity

1) Analyse and Redesign (Individual)

2) Rebel and Reform (Internal)

3) Enquire and Reimagine (External)

So, who are we looking for?

The answer to this is complex. What we are looking for in a trustee is someone who is passionate about creating equity for everyone while sustaining equality, someone that has lived experiences that would mean they can relate to the objects of the charity, whether that be personally, as a support for someone that does or has struggled to be given equity in society or someone that works or has worked in an industry that has played a part in restricting others in society and want that to make real change.

We think this covers a large number of people.

The role of trustee in Living Reasons will always be a remote role, meetings will be held online as standard as we would like to have trustees that are from all areas of the UK and that anyone can be a trustee, regardless of any accessibility requirements.

Additionally, to the personal experiences, the below are also necessary for all trustees of all charities:

1) Must not have an unspent conviction

2) Must not be barred from working with children or vulnerable adults

3) Must not be in undischarged bankruptcy, or other debt management programme

4) Must not be barred from being a trustee or company director

The requirements of skills and understanding of the undertaking of trusteeship with Living Reasons:

1) Being a trustee comes with requirements and responsibilities in terms of acting in the best interest of the charity at all times in line with the law and the charity’s governing document, which will be supplied to all trustees before agreeing to be a trustee and will be discussed with any person selected to be a trustee before they agree to be a trustee.

2) An understanding of financial information is required, this is to ensure that financial reports are assessed correctly and that any anomalies are highlighted, this does not mean you need to have in depth accounting or finance experience by any means, but it is important that you are able to analyse financial reports and risk as they arise.

3) Specific to Living Reasons, you will need to be someone that thinks creatively and is not scared of challenging traditions and pre-existing ideas and open to hear from a wide audience to make informed but innovative changes that are sustainable, realistic but also dynamic and challenging the current societal norms.

About Impetus

Impetus transforms the education and employment outcomes of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly those facing systemic barriers.

We do this by using our deep expertise and high calibre networks to give the best non-profits in these sectors the essential ingredients to have a real and lasting impact.

Through a powerful combination of long-term funding, direct capacity building support from our experienced team and our pro bono partners, alongside research and policy influencing to drive lasting systems change, we work towards a society where all young people can thrive in school, pass their exams and unlock the doors to sustained employment, for a fulfilling life. We are resolutely focused on outcomes and impact, driven by quality evidence.

You would be joining a team that is passionate, rigorous, determined, creative and warm. We care deeply for our colleagues, our charity partners and the young people we serve.

Governance

Impetus is a charitable company registered with the Charities Commission (Charity number 1152262) in 2013 under its Memorandum and Articles (governing document). The governing body of the charity is the Board of Trustees, led by our Chair. The Board sets strategy and reviews policy. Day-to-day responsibility is delegated to the Chief Executive Officer, who works closely with the Chair. We have several committees and advisory groups made up of experts from a range of fields, providing in-depth review and oversight of our activities led, where possible, by Trustees.

Trustees are aware of and comply with the duty to act in the public benefit in accordance with section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 and members are listed on the administrative details page of our website. The governing body also meets as the sole corporate Trustee of The Youth Endowment Fund, a registered charitable trust.

Our Trustees provide strategic direction, hold the executive to account, and safeguard our mission and values. At Impetus, we recognise that a diverse Board strengthens our governance and better reflects the communities we serve, and we are now seeking two new Trustees. One with significant expertise in public affairs, government relations, or political communications, and one with extensive experience of the chairty sector. These roles will strengthen our ability to invest with stronger insight, as well as to shape policy and secure the systems level change needed to give every young person a fair chance to succeed.

About this role 

This role will complement the existing strengths of our Board, which includes leaders from business, civil society and philanthropy. We are seeking a candidate with deep charity sector experience who can bring insight and challenge to our work supporting frontline delivery organisations. The successful candidate will help ensure our strategic decisions remain grounded in the realities of the young people we serve and the charities that support them. They will play a key role in strengthening how we partner with our portfolio, and in championing systemic change across the education and employment landscape for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Commitment: 

​1 term (3 years) - with a possible second term extension

Time commitment: 

Part-time, flexible. Includes Board meetings (5 per year), occasional sub-committee meetings (up to 4 per year), an annual strategic Board away day, and attendance at in-person events.

Location: 

​Hybrid. While much work can be done remotely, we expect Trustees to attend in-person meetings in central London and at key events throughout the year.

Reports to: 

Chair of Trustees

Key responsibilities

Charity Sector Related:

• Bring insight from your experience in the charity sector to strengthen Board understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing frontline delivery organisations.
• Champion the needs and perspectives of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, ensuring their lived experience remains central to our strategy and decisions.
• Support the Investment Committee with sector insight to inform funding and partnership decisions across our portfolio.
• Offer strategic guidance on how to deepen our support to charity partners and strengthen their capacity to deliver impactful outcomes at scale.
• Help shape our organisational approach to working in partnership with delivery organisations, ensuring it is rooted in trust, challenge and a shared commitment to excellence.

Role in Relation to the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF):

• Impetus is the legal entity accountable for the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), which operates under the strategic direction of an independent Committee, chaired by an Impetus Trustee. While this trustee role does not sit on the YEF Committee, the Impetus Board retains overall governance responsibility for the Fund’s effective delivery, including safeguarding and financial oversight.
• The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of the public affairs landscape and the role of policy, funding, and government relationships in shaping large-scale initiatives like YEF. They will recognise the significance of YEF’s mission in preventing youth violence and the importance of influencing government decisions on future funding streams, including opportunities such as the Dormant Assets Fund. They will contribute to Board-level discussions with strategic insight and a clear grasp of their non-executive responsibilities.

Core Trustee Responsibilities:

• Attend quarterly Board meetings and occasional sub-committee or strategy sessions.
• Provide oversight of organisational performance, risk, and compliance.
• Ensure the charity is governed effectively and in line with legal obligations.
• Support the CEO and leadership team with advice, challenge, and strategic insight.
• Review and understand core governance documents (e.g. Articles of Association, audited accounts).
• Complete the necessary documentation, such as declarations of interest and trustee eligibility.

Person specification

Essential skills and experience:

• Substantial experience in the UK charity sector, ideally with a focus on improving outcomes for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• A deep understanding of the operational and strategic challenges faced by frontline delivery organisations, including funding, growth, and impact measurement.
• Experience working in or with youth-focused charities, with a clear commitment to addressing the systemic barriers young people face.
• Proven ability to bring charity sector insight to strategic decision-making, particularly in support of long-term organisational partnerships.
• Ability to bring constructive challenge and sound judgement to Board discussions, with diplomacy and clarity.
• Strong alignment with Impetus’ mission to support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to achieve their potential.
• A commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

Our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion

At Impetus, we believe that a diverse workforce leads to an organisation that is more open, creative and gets better results.

We want our team at Impetus to represent the diversity of the people and communities we serve. We also want our team to be one where different experience, expertise and perspectives are valued, and where everyone is encouraged to grow and develop.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, ages and genders. We particularly welcome candidates who bring diverse perspectives, whether through professional experience, cultural background, or personal journeys that include the challenges faced by the young people we serve. We value the diversity of thought and perspective lived experience can bring, while recognising that personal experience is not something we expect candidates to disclose or revisit.

Induction and Training

At Impetus, we’re committed to ensuring that every trustee feels informed, supported, and confident in their role from day one. Our structured induction process includes a comprehensive welcome pack, access to key organisational documents and strategy, one-to-one meetings with staff and fellow trustees, and the opportunity to observe our work in action. We ask new trustees to commit three to four hours over their first few months to fully engage in the induction process. We take this seriously because we know that strong, effective governance starts with clarity, connection, and a shared understanding of our mission to transform the lives of young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

How to apply

You will need to:

• Complete the online form (including the equal opportunities monitoring form).
• Upload a comprehensive CV and supporting statement. 

The supporting statement should be no more than two sides of A4 and should address the criteria in the person specification.

If you wish to have an informal discussion about the opportunity, please contact recruitment.

The deadline for applications is August 22nd, 2025

Interviews

Interviews will take place in the end of August, or as applications come in, to suit both the availability of the applicants as well as members of the Impetus Leadership Team and Board.

Personal Data

Your personal data will be shared for the purposes of the recruitment exercise. This includes our HR team, interviewers (who may include other partners in the project and independent advisors), relevant team managers and our IT service provider if access to the data is necessary for performance of their roles. We do not share your data with other third parties, unless your application for employment is successful and we make you an offer of employment. We will then share your data with former employers to obtain references for you. We do not transfer your data outside the European Economic Area.

GACD (the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases) is the only alliance of international research funders jointly funding, developing and facilitating global research collaborations to tackle the growing burden of chronic ‘non-communicable diseases’ (NCDs) including heart disease, diabetes, cancers and mental health conditions. The worldwide burden of NCDs is increasing, but doing so most rapidly in poorly resourced countries where they are a significant risk to health and wellbeing. GACD aims to provide essential evidence on the most effective ways to prevent or manage these chronic conditions and improve health equity.

As a member of the GACD Board of Trustees, you will provide strategic leadership and oversight for GACD as it seeks to fulfil its charitable objects. You will ensure GACD operates in accordance with its governing document and meets its legal and regulatory requirements.

At this time, we are particularly looking to attract a candidate with a strong understanding of the UK charity sector, including experience with charity governance and best practices in charity management.

This is a voluntary role and the position is expected to start from December 2025/January 2026 for a three-year term, in the first instance.
You can find full details of the role by downloading the role description.

Closing date: 26 September 2025 at 12 noon
Interviews (virtual): w/c 13 October 2025