Researcher volunteer roles in liverpool, greater london
Volunteer Opportunity: Help Build EchoLab - A Start-Up Youth Empowerment Charity
Role Title: Founding Volunteer Start-Up Team - EchoLab
Location: London (Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Southwark, Hybrid and Remote Options Available)
Time Commitment: Flexible - from 2 hours per week
Start Date: Rolling intake from December 2025
About EchoLab:
EchoLab is a new youth-led charity launching in London to empower young people through creativity, tech and mentorship. We're building safe, vibrant spaces where young people can explore coding, music, digital storytelling, and much more.
Before we launch publicly, we need a founding team of volunteers to help shape the vision, build the infrastructure, and bring EchoLab to life.
Volunteer Roles Available
We're recruiting a diverse passionate team of habds-on volunteers to help EchoLab with:
- Operations & Admin: Help set up systems, policies and logistics.
- Fundraising & Grants: Assist with research, applications, and donor outreach.
- Marketing & Outreach: Shape our voice, design assets, and build our online presence.
- Youth Engagement: Co-design programmes with young people and help recruit our Youth Advisory Board.
- Safeguarding & Governance: Support policy development and Trusteeship, Leadership and driving EchoLab forward from set up, launch and beyond.
This is a rare chance to help build a charity from the ground up. We need those with specific experience at this stage as well as energy, empathy, and a belief in youth potential.
What You'll Get
- Experience in charity start-up and social impact.
- References and certificates for your CV.
- A chance to shape something bold, inclusive and lasting.
Who We're Looking For
- People who care deeply about youth voice, creativity and inclusion.
- Young adults (18+) and first-time volunteers welcome as well.
- Lived experiences of exclusion or marginalisation valued.
- Creatives, coders, educators, and community builders.
How To Apply
Send your CV and tell us;
- Why you're interested.
- What role(s) you'd like to explore.
- Your availability.
We'll be in touch to arrange a friendly intro call.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
We are looking for a trustee with experience of the policies and pathways offered to looked after children around accessing university. This might include experience of virtual schools for looked after children, or university admissions and the outreach particularly to looked after children, or government policy in these areas.
We are looking for someone who cares about and wants to help young people who are in the care system to make it to and through university. This is not about helping individual youngsters personally. We are building and funding programmes to enable others to help them more effectively.
You need to be willing to be a trustee. This involves preparing for meetings by reading the papers, speaking up in meetings and sharing your opinions and experience, working with others on the board and with our education partners to develop ways we can fulfil our goal of increasing the number of care-experienced young people who successfully complete a degree and find work.
You need to be able to meet the time commitment which is to attend our (virtual) trustee meetings. These are held on a Wednesday afternoon once a quarter – the dates are published well in advance. We also get together, in person, for up to a full day once a year – again usually on a Wednesday. You will need to prepare for meetings and there may be the occasional other tasks so we recommend thinking of a time commitment of 2 -3 hours a month.
Previous experience as a charity trustee is highly desirable, but not essential, as you will have a full explanation of the duties and responsibilities of trustees during your induction.
Please send us a CV and a short covering letter explaining how you match the requirements for the role
We focus on improving the aspirations and education opportunities of care leavers. In particular we work to get them into and through Higher Education
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
About the Role
We're seeking a motivated and enthusiastic Sales & Business Development Volunteer to help drive our growth and expand our reach. This is an excellent opportunity for someone looking to gain hands-on experience in sales, business development, and relationship management while making a meaningful contribution to our cause.
Key Responsibilities
As a Sales & Business Development Volunteer, you'll work closely with our team to identify new opportunities and build lasting partnerships. Your responsibilities will include:
- Researching and identifying potential clients, business leads, sponsors, partners, and business opportunities.
- Supporting the development of sales strategies and outreach campaigns.
- Helping to create compelling proposals and presentations.
- Conducting initial outreach to prospective clients via email, phone, and social media
- Help maintain the contact database with updated leads and follow-up notes.
- Analysing market trends and competitor activities.
- Contributing ideas to improve our sales processes and materials.
- Reach out to companies, NGOs, and institutions to introduce TESYouth’s initiatives.
What We're Looking For
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills
- Interest in sales, marketing, fundraising or business development
- Comfortable with technology and learning new systems
- Proactive, organised, and able to work independently.
- Ability to work independently and as part of a team
- A positive attitude and desire to contribute to a social impact organisation.
(Previous experience in sales, customer service, social media for business purposes, marketing, or or business development is a plus, but not required.)
What You'll Gain
- Practical experience in sales and business development
- Mentorship and guidance from experienced professionals
- Opportunity to build your professional network
- Development of valuable transferable skills
- Flexible working arrangements
Additional Information
- This is a voluntary role and can be carried out entirely remotely.
- All reasonable expenses will be reimbursed.
About TESYouth
TESYouth (Training, Employment Opportunities & Social Development for Youth) is a social enterprise and not-for-profit organisation dedicated to reducing youth unemployment. Through training programmes, work experience, interactive workshops, and volunteering opportunities, we support young people in developing their skills and achieving their career aspirations.
Together with our collaborators and partners, we aim to make a lasting positive impact in the community.
TESYouth is committed to equality, diversity, and inclusion. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and communities.
Tackle and reduce youth unemployment by providing with the necessary tools to develop skills, aptitudes, knowledge and self-confidence.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Are you musical? Would you like to support others to express their emotions through music?
Music plays a valuable role in mental wellbeing with research showing that it can boost your mood, self-confidence and reduce stress overall. Taking part in music-based activities increases our resilience and engages us in the here and now.
You will be supporting people to express their emotions, provide a time for people to relax and feel proud of their final music pieces!
We are recruiting for a volunteer to support and facilitate a Music Group.
What you will be doing
- To prepare music sessions, involving individuals in the planning process where possible
- Inspire and motivate individuals to develop their musical skills, assisting them in the creation of their projects and supporting them to brainstorm and use their own initiative
- Encourage individuals to continue independent activities
The skills you need
- Experience of Music either in a professional, educational, or personal level
- Able to collaborate with individuals to plan a music group session and facilitate confidently
- A calm and patient manner
- Ability to provide a trusting, open, kind-hearted atmosphere that encourages learning and participation
- An effective communicator with a patient and sympathetic nature
- Ability to handle individuals with complex needs and work with a person-centred approach
What's in it for you
- Supporting You - You will have a dedicated volunteer supervisor to support you in your role; Quarterly volunteer forums with the central Volunteering team and volunteers across Hestia; References for job applications
- Developing You - You will gain knowledge and insight into issues that impact Domestic Abuse, Modern Slavery and Mental Health; You will have access to our extensive Learning and Development Programme; 40% of our departed volunteers secured a paid role at Hestia last year!
- Valuing You - We hold annual Volunteer Awards and Celebration events; We reimburse travel expenses and up to £5 for lunch for your volunteering; We hold social events and outings for our volunteers to get together and have some fun
We deliver services across London as well as campaign and advocate nationally on the issues that affect the people we work with.




Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Purpose of role
You will play a crucial role in supporting our Senior Hospital Services Partnerships & Outreach Executive with the administration and delivery of our Sunshine in Hospitals programme. From carrying out general administrative duties, liaising with medical professionals across our core hospitals, to supporting with the delivery of our diverse hospital programme, you will help create a positive and uplifting environment for young patients and their families currently undergoing medical treatment.
Key Responsibilities:
· General administrative duties, including sending out of promotional materials to hospitals, monitoring and responding to email enquiries from the hospital services inbox, and taking telephones calls.
- Supporting with the planning and delivery of activities at our Hospital Activity Days, such as arts and crafts, games, and storytelling sessions, tailored to the interests and abilities of the children.
- Collaborate with hospital staff to ensure activities are safe and appropriate for the medical setting.
- Assist in setting up and cleaning up activity areas before and after sessions.
- Support with the delivery of our special projects (i.e. sensory bags, teddybear day, world book day, liquid to tablets initiative). Including and not limited to researching and sourcing products, dealing with suppliers and associated administrative duties.
- Support with the distribution and collection of feedback from medical teams and families taking part in any of our programmes.
What skills do I need to have?
- Friendly, you'll be an ambassador of Rays of Sunshine whilst volunteering with us
- Experience of working with children and young people (not essential but preferred)
- Be comfortable interacting with others (especially children and young people) to create a relaxed and positive experience for them and their families
- Creative and organised, with knowledge of using Microsoft programmes (such as powerpoint and excel)
- Ability to solve problems and manage unexpected situations/last minute requests with a calm and professional manner
- Caring and empathic
- Ability to work collaboratively with hospital staff and other volunteers.
We brighten the lives of seriously ill children across the UK by granting wishes and providing ongoing support in hospitals and within the community
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Join The Difference as our next Chair as we tackle the social injustice of lost learning in England’s schools.
Applications close at 9 a.m. Friday 31st October.
The Difference is a charity working to create a more inclusive education system where every young person can thrive. Founded in 2018, our mission is to ensure that rates of lost learning are falling by 2030. We take a three-pronged approach, delivering evidence-based programmes that equip school leaders to embed a whole-school approach to inclusion, conducting research to inform best practice and using our networks and expertise to influence policy and drive system-wide change.
We are seeking a new Chair to guide us through our next phase of growth and impact. This pivotal role will provide strategic leadership, strengthen governance and ensure the Board is well-equipped to support and challenge our executive team. The Chair will work closely with the CEO, championing high performance, inclusivity and constructive debate while helping shape strategy, oversee board development and support key areas such as fundraising and policy influence.
We are looking for an experienced non-executive with strong governance knowledge and proven skills in leading a growing organisation. Prior Chair experience is not essential, but strategic leadership and a collaborative approach are key. Above all, you will be an empathetic and inclusive leader, committed to our mission to ensure every student can access learning and feel a true sense of belonging.
Please click 'Redirect to recruiter’ to be redirected to the Peridot Partners website, where you can find full details of the candidate profile and register your interest to apply.
Applications for this role close at 9 a.m. Friday 31st October.
We’re an executive search firm working across third sector, education and membership sectors to transform leadership and inspire change.

Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Title: Communications volunteer
Summary
Help us grow and engage our audiences by creating communications materials for us to use externally and across our website, social media, print materials and newsletter, so that we can help support the mental health of more women across Sussex.
Description
Our charity delivers counselling and therapeutic groups for women across Sussex. We are looking for an experienced communications professional to work with to support with all or some of the following:
Communications:
· Help to create a communications plan with the CEO, mapping out key activities and campaigns over the year
Blog:
· Create helpful mental health blog content for women, using SEO keywords
Outreach:
· Build contacts and reach out to potential press to raise awareness of our organisation
Events:
· Assist with fundraising events and promotion of these from the Brighton 10K run, our Christmas raffle and party.
You will be working with the CEO who will provide our existing brand/style/logo guidelines and brand research/user personas.
What impact will they have?
Your creative output will shape how we present ourselves to our clients and funders. With your help we will be able to continue to reach and support more women across Sussex.
About the volunteer
Description
We are looking for a volunteer who:
· Has experience in creating and writing SEO blog content
· Has the ability to quickly understand the needs of our team / organisation / participants
· Has good communications and organisation skills
· Understands the resource constraints of a small charity and is able to work with these.
Skills
· Marketing and communications
Where and when
Location
Can be fully remote or partly remote if based near Brighton.
Time
Time commitment
· 0-6 hours / week – the role could be an ongoing role
Volunteer availability
Either inside or outside office hours.
Application details
Application instructions: please send published content examples (social, blog or e-newsletter posts) a CV and details of your availability and interest in the role
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Over past decades, enormous advances have been made in our understanding of MS. Research has got us to a critical point, and we can see a future where nobody needs to worry about their MS getting worse. Our Stop MS Appeal needs to raise £100 million to find treatments for everyone with MS.
Our Stop MS Champions help us reach more people and inspire them to get involved in our Stop MS Appeal by encouraging raising funds and awareness by delivering presentations, attending events and identifying new audiences to speak to. They inspire people to engage with and influence fundraisers and groups, enthuse people and make sure our community’s voice is heard.
As our Lead Stop MS Champion, you’ll motivate your team of Stop MS Champions to help reach more people and inspire them to get involved in our Stop MS Appeal.
By using your ability to motivate and support, you will oversee and lead a team of 5-10 Stop MS Champion volunteers, encouraging them to engage the people they know to raise funds and awareness, and provide reliable information and guidance.
You’ll also network to engage with and influence fundraisers and community groups, enthusing people by delivering presentations at events and finding new audiences to speak to. In this role, as well as developing your leadership, networking, influencing, communication, organisation and presentation skills, you’ll have a chance to be part of something amazing – you could help us stop MS.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Learning and curriculum designers wanted to help East London Waterworks Park deliver its environmental learning goals.
East London Waterworks Park is a volunteer-led charity that has won a 2024 New London Architecture award and raised £2m towards buying land from the Department for Education to transform the 14-acre Thames Water Depot on Lea Bridge Road on the border of Waltham Forest and Hackney, into a new biodiverse park with natural swimming ponds, forest schools and community spaces.
We are looking for volunteers to develop learning content and resources, such as lesson plans and educational materials, to support our environmental learning goals. This role will focus on creating school-friendly resources for our website and collaborating with educators to enhance our offerings.
The role would include:
- Developing online learning resources for our website (on-going project)
- Designing or tailoring existing lesson plans and activities for schools
- Supporting the creation of ELWP’s Under 18s volunteering policy
- Supporting outreach efforts to promote ELWP’s existing learning programmes
Schools, universities and youth groups we've collaborated with include:
- Waltham Forest College
- Henry Maynard Primary School, Walthamstow
- Buxton School, Leytonstone
- Kingsmead Primary School, Hackney
- Daubeney Primary School, Hackney
- UCL
- Royal College of Art
- University of Westminster
- Project Zero
- Voyage Youth
- Loyola University Chicago
- Vanderbilt University Nashville
We're looking for people to lead on these projects and facilitate the direction of the learning working group.
The Learning Circle currently meets monthly on a Wednesday evening at 8pm for an hour on Google Meet and spends voluntary time outside of the meeting completing agreed tasks remotely.
Ideal candidates have experience in curriculum design, teaching, or educational resource development. Creativity, strong writing skills, and an understanding of outdoor or environmental education will be valuable. Our roles are quite flexible. We hope that people bring radical imagination, peace with nature, and courageous inclusiveness to the role.
Your support will help young people and learners improve their environmental knowledge of design and research as well as contributing to our community-owned park. This will in turn provide a sense of stewardship over the land once the park is created and student's ideas have been built into the park. Creating learning projects with educational institutions will also help our charity with the strategy to buy the land through showing the value of our environmental education programme before we create the park.
You will have a significant impact on the creation of a new biodiverse community-owned park with free access natural swimming ponds. By volunteering in this role, you will help shape the future of East London Waterworks Park as a community-led environmental learning space. This will also help our charity with the strategy to buy the land through showing the value of our environmental education programme before we create the park. If you’re interested in joining us, we’d love to hear from you!
East London Waterworks Park is a charity campaigning to create a new biodiverse park with natural swimming ponds, forest schools and community spaces




Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
This is an exciting opportunity to join a charity at the very start and to make a difference in shaping how we move forward.
Who are we looking for?
At present we are working towards being fully operational, over the next year Living Reasons will be looking to expand its reach and part of that journey is to work with the trustees and the team to create campaigns that are relevant to the charity values, aims, goals and purpose in an engaging way.
The role of Campaigns Co-ordinator will focus on creating campaigns to raise awareness, income and engagement with our supporters, donors and people who engage with the charity.
This role will be key in ensuring that the message of the charity operations is translated to a wide audience, while also aligning with the ethos and charity objectives.
In this role you will work with all other teams in the charity, including funding, research, live experience and social media and communications, to establish, develop and create on brand campaigns.
Living Reasons feels that experience is not as important as passion, drive and creativity, we like to do things differently, so if you feel you could create engaging, far reaching campaigns that speak to wide audiences, please get in touch with us about this role, regardless of experience, we want our volunteers to grow and develop alongside the organisation.
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
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)
To create equality and equity in all areas of society, opening opportunities that are less damaging and focused on the person as a whole.

The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
This is an exciting opportunity to join a charity at the very start and to make a difference in shaping how we move forward.
Who are we looking for?
At present we are working to secure funding that will see us through our first year, and the role will be an important part of the organisation's growth and ability to obtain funding for specific areas of work by ensuring people who volunteer or engage with Living Reasons receive a high level of training and development.
As an organisation, Living Reasons believe that your individual skills are more important than experience. With this in mind, this role would suit someone who enjoys helping, engaging and passing on knowledge as well as researching and creating new ways of communicating with people, whether you have experience in learning and development is not important as they are skills that can be built on and are able to grow with the organisation.
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
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)
To create equality and equity in all areas of society, opening opportunities that are less damaging and focused on the person as a whole.

The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
While gaining invaluable experience, practice your passion within real-life scenarios.
We’re looking for Social Media Manager volunteers to join our team, who will play a key role in the growth of our brand messages and visions. The ideal candidate will assist us grow our on-line presence and increase traffic to our digital channels.
Responsibilities
Increase traffic to our digital channels
Grow our brand messages, visions and on-line presence.
Requirements
Working experience with online digital marketing & Social Media
Strong verbal, written, and organisational skills.
Enthusiastic, Dedicated and willing to learn.
The role could be entirely remote and is unremunerated but all reasonable expenses will be met.
About TESYouth
TESYouth (Training, Employment Opportunities & Social Development for Youth) is a NFP social enterprise which focuses on improving the rate of youth employment, through volunteering, interactive and skill-based workshops, work-experience and training programmes. Together with our strategic partners, we collaborate with organisations to provide youth to develop their skills, and to assist in achieving their career aspirations.
Tackle and reduce youth unemployment by providing with the necessary tools to develop skills, aptitudes, knowledge and self-confidence.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Help shape a fair, bold solution to the climate crisis. Work with us to turn carbon reduction into real community action.
Our vision is for a world in control of CO2 emissions - a fair social and economic approach that motivates and supports people and organisations to reduce their carbon footprints.
Our ultimate mission is to persuade people, business and government that together, we can take meaningful action using our Carbon Accounts framework. We are already demonstrating how this would work on the ground in local community action groups. We believe this will inspire governments to introduce the same mechanism to reach science-based emission reduction targets on a national basis.
What will you be doing?
We are a small, new charity with massive scope to make a difference in shifting the narrative on climate change where other organisations have failed. We are currently almost completely volunteer-led, with the exception of a freelance fundraiser. We would like to build up our trustee board and include trustees who are keen to drive us forward through their active involvement.
Our goal for the next 12 months is:
· to continue building our local group of activists who watch their carbon and ecological footprints
· to create a carbon labelling campaign, a carbon trading group, a carbon footprint and Carbon Accounts app
· to foster recognition from local businesses and government
· to create a blueprint which can be adopted in other locations
We want to spread the movement far and wide, to promote public, business, academic and political acceptance of carbon budgets, carbon trading and our Carbon Accounts approach by demonstrating how and why it works, and running communications and fundraising campaigns.
There are many practical activities you could also help with beyond trustee responsibilities, not in any order, for example workshop facilitation, managing volunteers, fundraising, carbon emissions data and spreadsheets, writing or journalism on sustainability, social media, photography or videography.... Skills and experience in any will be helpful.
What are we looking for?
We’re looking for someone to jump right in with our small and dynamic team to provide guidance, energy and insight to help us develop. We’re looking for someone who has some experience with:
· charity governance
· policy creation and management
· strategy development combining marketing, fundraising, volunteer management and finance & business planning
· you’ll need an awareness of the serious nature of the crisis and the need for radical action by governments, i.e. a strong desire to see society make an urgent response to climate change
· ability to work online, in person, in different environments with different types of people
· consistency and good communication
· co-operation, exchange of ideas, flexibility
· ability to put ideas across clearly while seeking first to understand others
· free on Monday evenings for our in-person meetings (not mandatory)
Duration
Our trustee positions run for 3 years after which the person may seek re-election
Location
We are keen on everyone being local, coming to in-person meetings and leveraging their local knowledge and connections, to keep group dynamics strong and foster motivation and commitment. We cover the London boroughs of Hackney, Islington, Camden, Haringey and Westminster.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Actively Interviewing
This organisation is scheduling interviews as applications come in. They're ready to hire as soon as they find the right person. Don't miss your opportunity, apply now!
Chair of Trustees - Terms of Reference
Introduction
Emergency Nutrition Network (ENN) is a well-established and highly respected UK-based charity working to reduce malnutrition globally. ENN strives to enhance the effectiveness of nutrition policy and programming by building evidence, convening critical actors and transferring knowledge. We are passionate about being field driven and are globally recognised as thought leaders and conveners in nutrition. Our vision is a world where ‘Every individual confronted by malnutrition has access to the knowledge, tools, services and resources they require to meet their needs. We work with governments, civil society, UN, donor and academic organisations to achieve mutual goals. Through these collaborations we support agencies to implement evidence-based nutrition programming, predominantly in low- and middle-income countries.
The Trustee Role
ENN is seeking to appoint a new Chair of Trustees to lead its Board with strategic insight, collaboration, and a deep commitment to the organisation’s mission. This is a significant and rewarding opportunity to guide the governance of a globally respected charity at a pivotal time in its journey.
As Chair, you will play a key leadership role in ensuring that the Board of Trustees operates effectively, provides strong oversight, and supports ENN to fulfil its charitable objectives. You will work in close partnership with the CEO and fellow Trustees to shape and monitor the delivery of ENN’s strategy, ensuring that the organisation complies with its purpose, charity law and company law and that the organisation pursues its objectives as defined in its governing document.
The Chair will also ensure that the Board functions properly and that effective decisions are made and implemented.
This role calls for someone with strong leadership presence, relevant experience, and a collaborative approach. Someone who can lead inclusive, focused meetings and create a supportive, respectful for both trustees and the senior management team.
A helpful summary of trustee roles and responsibilities can be found in Charity Commission guidance ‘The essential trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do’
We are looking for a Chair who brings substantial leadership and governance experience, including at board level within the charity, public, academic, or international development sectors. While a background in nutrition or humanitarian work is not essential, a strong interest in global health, development, or social impact is important.
Your Responsibilities as a Trustee:
As Chair of the Board, you will play a key leadership role in ensuring the overall effectiveness of ENN’s governance and strategic direction. You will guide the Board in fulfilling its collective responsibility to uphold ENN’s mission and values, while supporting the organisation to thrive in a complex and evolving funding landscape.
Your responsibilities will include:
- Chairing the Board of Trustees: Leading quarterly Board meetings and the Annual General Meeting, ensuring well-structured and inclusive discussions, clear decision making, and effective follow-up on actions.
- Strategic Leadership: Working with the CEO and fellow trustees to shape and review ENN’s strategic direction and priorities, especially in light of changes in the global funding environment.
- Supporting Fundraising and External Relations: Acting as an ambassador for ENN, supporting engagement with key stakeholders including donors, partners, and networks. Where appropriate, the Chair and trustees may play a role in donor cultivation or advocacy.
- Governance and Compliance Oversight: Ensuring that ENN complies with its Articles of Association, charity and company law, and sector best practice. Overseeing the effectiveness of risk management and ensuring proper financial controls are in place.
- Board Development and Succession: Ensuring the Board remains diverse, skilled, and effective by leading on trustee recruitment, development, and performance review processes. Championing a culture of inclusion and learning.
- Relationship with the Executive Director: Building a strong, supportive, and transparent relationship with the CEO. Providing guidance and challenge as a critical friend and ensuring effective communication between the Board and ENN’s Management Team.
- Safeguarding and Ethical Oversight: Promoting and safeguarding ENN’s reputation, values and policies including its commitment to safeguarding, equity, and ethical conduct.
- Adaptability in Financial Stewardship: Supporting the Board and Executive Team to respond proactively to funding challenges and opportunities, including exploring alternative funding models and revenue diversification.
The Chair will be expected to attend quarterly Board meetings (held virtually and occasionally in-person), subcommittee meetings where relevant, and represent ENN externally when needed. This is a voluntary position, with reasonable travel and related expenses reimbursed.
Required Knowledge and Skills
- Demonstrable experience of senior leadership, preferably at board level, within the non-profit, public, or international development sectors.
- Strategic vision and the ability to identify and understand response to changing contexts.
- Proven ability to chair complex meetings effectively, enabling inclusive, strategic, and outcomes-focused discussions.
- A strong understanding of governance responsibilities, including the legal duties of charity trustees, and a commitment to high standards of ethical and financial stewardship.
- Experience in guiding organisational strategy, change management, and performance monitoring at a senior level.
- Insight into the UK charity sector, the Charity Commission’s regulatory framework, and good governance principles.
- A good understanding of global development funding trends, with an appreciation of how geopolitical shifts have impacted international donors and the wider NGO landscape.
- Experience in supporting income diversification and navigating financial uncertainty, including stewarding fundraising strategy, major donor engagement, or building new funding partnerships.
- A collaborative and inclusive leadership style, with the ability to support and challenge constructively, build consensus, and maintain a strong, positive relationship with the CEO and senior management team.
- An ability to serve as an ambassador for ENN’s mission, engaging confidently with external stakeholders, donors, and sector leaders.
- A clear alignment with ENN’s values, commitment to equity and inclusion, and passion for reducing global malnutrition.
Previous experience of charity trusteeship is desirable but not essential if the candidate demonstrates equivalent governance or board leadership experience in another sector.
Membership and Operation of the Board
The ENN Board of Trustees comprises individuals appointed by the Trust Members, selected for their diverse skills, experience, and commitment to ENN’s mission and values. Collectively, the Board provides strategic leadership, ensures good governance, and supports ENN in delivering its charitable objectives.
Trustees are appointed for an initial term of four years and are eligible for reappointment at the discretion of the Trust Members at a General Meeting, in accordance with ENN’s Articles of Association.
The Chair of Trustees is elected by the Board from among its members. The Chair serves for a term of up to three years and may be re-elected for one additional term. This ensures a balance of continuity and renewal in Board leadership.
The Board meets quarterly and may convene additional meetings as required. Trustees are expected to attend meetings regularly and actively participate in subcommittees, working groups, and strategic initiatives as needed.
Time Commitment – And our Commitment to You
Your commitment in an average year is likely to be 4 pre-fixed board meetings, each of half a day. Each of these are preceded by sub-committee meetings, usually of ninety-minutes, and each trustee is expected to participate in one sub-committee. Other committee and ad hoc meetings and additional support will be arranged as agreed. We encourage active participation and engagement, and Trustees often give more time outside of this, on their own terms.
Board meetings are held virtually, with an intention to hold one facilitated face to face meeting at the ENN HQ in Kidlington, Oxfordshire, every two years. Additional sub-committee meetings will be convened remotely.
Ideally you will join the Board in 2025, though we can show some flexibility on this for the right candidate, and in your first few months you should allow for additional time for induction and orientation (including meeting a number of the Leadership Team).
Remuneration
This is an unpaid, voluntary position. Reasonable expenses will be reimbursed for attendance at Board meetings and other Trustee activities in line with ENN’s policies. Some employers encourage and enable trusteeship as part of wider career development and corporate social responsibility; please check with your organisation and their relevant policies.
Our Values and Commitment to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
ENN is committed to diversity and inclusion, and to building a culture where every staff member and volunteer is recognised and valued as an individual. We actively encourage applications from a broad range of experiences and backgrounds and are particularly interested in improving representation of younger people and minority ethnic groups on our Board.
To Apply
If you believe you’re the candidate we’re looking for please submit a CV and a covering letter of no more than 2 pages describing your motivation behind applying for the role, as well as explaining how you believe your skills and experience match what we are looking for.
Closing date for applications: Sunday 28th September 2025
It is expected that shortlisted candidates will be invited to an informal interview during the week commencing Monday 29th September 2025
Screening Checks
All candidates who we progress will be screened through Accuity World Compliance to comply with counter terrorism and financial sanctions regulations. Appointment will be subject to a satisfactory enhanced DBS check (or equivalent criminal records check where available, for non-UK citizens) and 2 satisfactory references. If you already have a transferrable enhanced DBS, please state this in your application.
Additional Information About ENN
A Letter from the Board of Trustees
At ENN we are truly passionate about what we do. Over the past 27 years ENN has become a powerful and recognised name in the nutrition sector, working with others to influence outcomes around the world. We produce highly regarded research and publications that inform and inspire practitioners worldwide and we convene technical interest groups and communities of practice who are the ‘go to’ networks for their specialisms. Our partners know and trust ENN for quality, rigour and impartiality. Our work makes a real difference in the lives of children in some of the most difficult parts of the world. The ENN-led Operational Guidance on Infant Feeding in Emergencies has become the key global policy guidance and has been endorsed by the World Health Assembly, and our technical leadership and convening has facilitated real change in awareness and a new narrative, challenging siloed approaches to Wasting and Stunting management.
Our work has never been more important. Nutritional challenges are growing across the world; undernutrition rates may be slowly decreasing but other forms of malnutrition are on the rise. The positive progress that is being made is unequal and many countries are now facing the double burden of both under and over nutrition. Crises around the world are increasingly protracted and the historical and artificial silos of ‘humanitarian’ and ‘development’ don’t reflect real needs which are much more fluid. Emerging threats, such as the broader impact on nutrition of the COVID-19 pandemic bring new challenges to address.
At present our annual turnover is around £1.8m (c. USD2.27m), we employ 28 staff and engage 20 - 30 specialist consultants. With our new strategy, we are keen to drive even greater impact by exploring new and innovative approaches and increasing our reach further still. We do so with funding in place from a range of institutional partners and private foundations.
As an organisation working across numerous technical areas relevant for countries experiencing high burden of malnutrition, we look to the board, and those trustees with a more technical focus in particular, to discuss new technical gap areas with us to ensure we maintain a responsive and balanced portfolio, to help us further develop our network, funding and connections, and to help us navigate the important work we do to influence structural and impactful change in the sector, including advising in situations where there is potential for strategic risk. We are looking for a Technical Trustee to join the board who can bring their technical knowledge and extensive experience to this role.
We hope the enclosed information helps you to explore ENN and the role.
With best wishes,
The ENN Board of Trustees
Vision
Our vision is ‘Every individual confronted by malnutrition has access to the knowledge, tools, services and resources they require to meet their needs’
Our History
Founded in 1996 in Ireland, ENN has a long and rich history in global nutrition. Following an evaluation of the Great Lakes Emergency in 1995, implementing agencies identified an urgent need to establish a vehicle for capturing programming experiences and preserving institutional memory in the emergency food and nutrition sector. This gave rise to ENN’s publication, Field Exchange, which was first produced in 1996, designed to stimulate critical thinking and learning, influence research agendas and cross-fertilise information and exchange. ENN was generously hosted by Trinity College Dublin for its first eight years, before relocating to Oxfordshire in 2004 and is now a UK registered Charity.
"To me, ENN is one of the most long-standing focal points for emergency nutrition technical information and coordination." (ENN partner)
Who We Are Now
Our Strategy aims to enhance the effectiveness of nutrition policy and programming by improving knowledge, stimulating learning, building evidence and providing support and encouragement to practitioners and decision-makers involved in nutrition and related interventions. We take a particular lens on fragile and conflict affected, and high burden, states. We have three core principles guiding our work:
· Independent, neutral and impartial
ENN is not bound by the views or positions of any one institution and is not a nutrition implementing agency. Any opinions expressed are based on the available evidence and the experience of our rich and diverse network.
· Driven by our network
ENN’s network is made up of practitioners, decision-makers and academics working on nutrition and associated fields all over the world. By supporting their learning and sharing their knowledge, ENN is able to make a unique contribution to turning knowledge into practice.
· Based on experiential learning and evidence
ENN believes that policy and practice can, and should be, informed by evidence and experience. Where this exists, ENN seeks to share the learning from this evidence and experience; where it is missing, ENN advocates for it to be developed or directly supports, and often brokers, its development.
Our People
ENN’s team is made up of a range of technical experts in nutrition, with decades of collective experience, and a small operational team. ENN’s Management Team comprises of the CEO, 2 Technical Directors, a Finance Manager, HR Manager & Projects Coordinator Lead. As well as our 28 staff, we engage a significant number of experienced specialist consultants on our projects. ENN is highly committed to diversity and inclusion, to enabling and promoting flexible working for our staff, and to supporting continued professional development.
Our Finances
ENN is financially supported by a range of institutional donors (including the Irish and US governments), charitable foundations (including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Eleanor Crook Foundation), as well as UN agencies and INGOs. Our income has grown over the last few years, with income in the current FY 2023 projected at around £2m (c. $2.5m).
Our Governance
ENN is a UK-registered charity (Charity Registration Number: 1115156) governed by the Board of Trustees and a set of ‘Articles of Association’. The Board is currently comprised of 8 Trustees and meets regularly throughout the year, with full board meetings on a quarterly basis. The Board currently has three sub-committees, one covering Governance & People, another Technical and the other Finance, which are responsible for ensuring the highest standards in terms of finance, personnel, and technical expertise and application.
As a UK-registered Charity, ENN also files accounts as a UK-registered Company with Companies House (Company Registration Number 04889844).
Emergency Nutrition Network works to reduce undernutrition globally.
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Learning and curriculum designers wanted to help East London Waterworks Park deliver its environmental learning goals.
East London Waterworks Park is a volunteer-led charity that has won a 2024 New London Architecture award and raised £2m towards buying land from the Department for Education to transform the 14-acre Thames Water Depot on Lea Bridge Road on the border of Waltham Forest and Hackney, into a new biodiverse park with natural swimming ponds, forest schools and community spaces.
We are looking for volunteers to develop learning content and resources, such as lesson plans and educational materials, to support our environmental learning goals. This role will focus on creating school-friendly resources for our website and collaborating with educators to enhance our offerings.
The role would include:
- Developing online learning resources for our website (on-going project)
- Designing or tailoring existing lesson plans and activities for schools
- Supporting the creation of ELWP’s Under 18s volunteering policy
- Supporting outreach efforts to promote ELWP’s existing learning programmes
Schools, universities and youth groups we've collaborated with include:
- Waltham Forest College
- Henry Maynard Primary School, Walthamstow
- Buxton School, Leytonstone
- Kingsmead Primary School, Hackney
- Daubeney Primary School, Hackney
- UCL
- Royal College of Art
- University of Westminster
- Project Zero
- Voyage Youth
- Loyola University Chicago
- Vanderbilt University Nashville
We're looking for people to lead on these projects and facilitate the direction of the learning working group.
The Learning Circle currently meets monthly on a Wednesday evening at 8pm for an hour on Google Meet and spends voluntary time outside of the meeting completing agreed tasks remotely.
Ideal candidates have experience in curriculum design, teaching, or educational resource development. Creativity, strong writing skills, and an understanding of outdoor or environmental education will be valuable. Our roles are quite flexible. We hope that people bring radical imagination, peace with nature, and courageous inclusiveness to the role.
Your support will help young people and learners improve their environmental knowledge of design and research as well as contributing to our community-owned park. This will in turn provide a sense of stewardship over the land once the park is created and student's ideas have been built into the park. Creating learning projects with educational institutions will also help our charity with the strategy to buy the land through showing the value of our environmental education programme before we create the park.
You will have a significant impact on the creation of a new biodiverse community-owned park with free access natural swimming ponds. By volunteering in this role, you will help shape the future of East London Waterworks Park as a community-led environmental learning space. This will also help our charity with the strategy to buy the land through showing the value of our environmental education programme before we create the park. If you’re interested in joining us, we’d love to hear from you!
East London Waterworks Park is a charity campaigning to create a new biodiverse park with natural swimming ponds, forest schools and community spaces



