Trustee
We are seeking three committed Trustees to join a national fostering Board at a pivotal time, supporting strategic growth and championing foster care across the UK.
Position: Trustee (Volunteer)
Organisation: The Fostering Network
Location: UK wide. Particular interest in Wales and Northern Ireland
Hours: Approximately 10 to 15 days per year
Term: 3 years, renewable for up to two further terms
Remuneration: Voluntary role. Reasonable travel expenses reimbursed
Closing Date: Monday 23 February 2026
Interview Dates: W/C 16 and 23 March 2026
About the Role
This is an opportunity to join the Board of Trustees at a national fostering charity, following the launch of a new organisational strategy and the appointment of a new Chair in 2025. Trustees play a vital role in setting strategic direction, ensuring strong governance and supporting the organisation to deliver meaningful change for children and young people in foster care.
Key responsibilities include:
· Providing strategic oversight and constructive challenge at Board level
· Supporting delivery of the five year organisational strategy
· Acting as an ambassador for the charity and its values
· Contributing to effective governance, risk management and financial oversight
· Building strong relationships with fellow Trustees, senior leaders and stakeholders
· Attending Board and committee meetings, both in person and online
About You
You will bring personal experience of the foster care sector and a strong commitment to improving outcomes for children and young people.
We are particularly interested in candidates who:
· Are based in Wales or Northern Ireland
· Are qualified social workers working within fostering services
· Have skills in finance, particularly qualified accountants
· Have experience in commercial or business development
You will demonstrate sound judgement, strategic thinking, discretion and the ability to contribute confidently within a Board setting.
About the Organisation
The UK’s leading fostering charity and membership organisation. Founded 50 years ago by foster carers, it works across all four nations to influence policy, improve practice and strengthen the fostering community. At the heart of its work is a belief in the power of relationships to transform lives.
Other roles you may have experience of could include; Trustee, Non Executive Director, Board Member, Independent Board Member, Social Work Leader, Finance Director, Commercial Director, Strategic Advisor.
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!
Exciting opportunity to help shape the future of the UK’s leading Badger charity
Become a Trustee on our active board!
Badger Trust celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2026. We are the leading voice for badgers in England and Wales, dedicated to promoting and enhancing the welfare, conservation, and protection of badgers, their setts, and their habitats.
We have a network of over 50 local voluntary badger groups, growing all the time, supported by thousands of dedicated supporters and followers.
We are now seeking new Trustees to join our Board. These will support the current Trustees and Chief Executive in delivering the charity's objectives, ensuring we have the right mix of skills, experience, and people to achieve even more for badgers in the coming years.
For these vacancies, Badger Trust is particularly interested in people with experience in charity fundraising, law, and development planning to help us achieve our goals in these areas, building on our research, citizen science, and campaigning work.
Your skills
Trustees with a focus on fundraising will have a strategic approach to opportunities, and might offer support through one or more of the following methods:
- Identifying and reaching out to major donors and corporate partners
- Assisting in writing bids for grants and trust applications
- Offering guidance in planning and executing fundraising strategies and campaigns.
We encourage members of badger groups to apply to ensure the group network is effectively represented.
We are seeking applicants whose professional knowledge will bring value to our Board.
You should be a strong strategic thinker, capable of working collaboratively, and willing to engage with the broader role of Trustee. Badger Trust values diversity and aims to broaden our Board in terms of skills, background, and life experience.
We encourage all applications, especially from individuals of racially diverse backgrounds and those with disabilities, as these groups are currently under-represented on our Board.
We also encourage applicants from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds across the UK.
Time Commitment
The Board typically holds four to six meetings each year on Saturdays. Most of these meetings are conducted online, with two in-person meetings scheduled annually. However, there may be occasions when virtual meetings are necessary outside of the regular schedule.
We also conduct an Annual General Meeting (AGM) or Symposium, which Trustees are expected to attend and support. The head office is located in Brighton, but in-person meetings are
generally held in central England. The 2026 Badger Trust Symposium is being held at the University of Northampton.
In addition to routine Board activities, past and present Trustees have contributed to various initiatives and assisted with staff-led projects based on their skills, expertise, and interests. Examples of this work include assisting the creation of our planning and development guide, updating the guide to badger rescue and rehabilitation, engaging with Government and Parliament on the Planning & Infrastructure Bill, scrutinising Government policy and commissioning information searches, taking legal action, and assisting in the recruitment and interviewing of specialised staff.
Our Mission
Our mission is to promote and enhance the welfare, conservation, and protection of badgers, their setts, and their habitats.
Our Vision
Our vision is a world where badgers are respected as part of our rich wildlife heritage and are safe from persecution.
Chair, Rosie Wood, joined the board in 2021:
“Being on the Board of Badger Trust brings with it plenty of opportunities to learn and collaborate with people of like mind, which I hope you would expect. But it also offers opportunities to open conversations with different decision-makers who can drive change. It gives me scope to remake our arguments in fresh and compelling ways, informed – in my case –by sharing the background of those I need to engage with.
While we need people committed to protecting and conserving badgers, we also need them to understand those who can best help – funders, policymakers, lawmakers, and communicators. Don’t expect it to be a passive role – badgers need active friends and advocates. But it will rapidly build your skills, professional networks, and CV, and we will do our best to match your interests and availability to the Charity’s needs.
Content publishing template for Badger Trust ©Cox and Co Creative 2023 updated 24.04.2023
Badger Trust Vice-Chair, Phil Loveday, who joined the Board in 2023, encourages you to get in touch:
“I joined the Badger Trust board as I just love badgers and am a member of my local badger group. I also bring extensive organisational, educational and people skills gained during my career in teaching, including as a head teacher at large secondary schools in the Midlands.
I feel passionately that we need the next generation to have the chance to enjoy nature, and to do that, we need to protect it now — that’s what Badger Trust is all about. We need more experienced people willing to help guide the charity in the years ahead.”
Further information
Find out more about our work on our website, where you can also see details of our current Board. You can connect with us on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.
We are a registered charity and limited company, registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office for data protection compliance and with the Fundraising Regulator for fundraising compliance. We are also members of the Small Charities Coalition and NCVO for best practice, guidance, and support as part of our aim to be an effective and efficient charity.
We encourage applicants to ensure they are familiar with the legal responsibilities of a charity Trustee, and more information can be found on the Charity Commission’s website. See Badger Trust’s registration with the Charity Commission.
Trustee roles are voluntary and unpaid. Expenses for Board business will be reimbursed in line with our expenses policy. The final appointment to the Board depends on the election of the recommended Trustees at the AGM of Badger Trust by member groups.
How to apply
Please complete the Trustee application form (provided as a Word document) and send it back as a pdf, with a copy of your CV.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Inclusive Boards is delighted to be supporting The Girls’ Network in the search to appoint their next Chair and two Trustees.
About The Girls’ Network
At The Girls’ Network, we believe that no girl should have her future limited by her gender, ethnicity, background or parental income.
Young people from lower-income families are significantly less likely to go on to higher education than their wealthier peers, which can have a lifelong impact on opportunity and earning potential. Recent years have also seen inequalities deepen and young people’s wellbeing adversely affected, particularly following the Covid-19 pandemic. These structural and social barriers disproportionately affect girls and young women from communities of least advantage.
We exist to challenge this inequality. Our mission is to inspire and empower girls and young women from underrepresented backgrounds to realise their ambitions, discover their self-worth, and develop the confidence and capacity to shape their own futures.
We work in communities of least advantage across England to deliver programmes that provide long-term, meaningful support.
About the Opportunities
The Girls’ Network is seeking a new Chair of Trustees to lead and support The Girls’ Network through their exciting next phase of growth, supporting an exceptional, values-driven team and ensuring they remain ambitious, accountable and true to their founding mission.
We are particularly interested to hear from candidates with:
- Experience of strategic leadership and governance within a complex organisation.
- Experience or understanding of the education / schools landscape.
- Good understanding of voluntary sector governance, funding and finance management.
- Thorough understanding of the legal duties, responsibilities, and liabilities of trusteeship.
- Demonstrable financial and commercial acumen, including experience in financial planning, oversight, risk management, and the establishment and monitoring of systems of control and accountability.
- A track record of driving innovation and organisational change, with the ability to apply insight to support the charity’s achievement of its strategic objectives.
- Experience of working across sectoral boundaries, leveraging partnerships and opportunities.
The Girls’ Networks is also seeking two talented and committed Trustees to join their Board. We are particularly interested in hearing from candidates with experience in one or more of the following areas:
- Fundraising
- IT and digital
We are also seeking Trustees from the North East, Merseyside, West Midlands who can bring their lived experience to add value to the Board. We also encourage applications from young Trustees and will support first-time Trustees to bring their valuable perspectives to the Board.