Business services officer volunteer roles

We are looking to grow our Board of Trustees to help to increase our reach, enhance our profile, spread our message and continue to develop sustainably.

We are seeking Trustees who will bring creative vision champion the role art plays in public cohesion and transforming people’s lives.We would like to recruit up to three new Trustees during 2026, ideally with experience of Finance, Fundraising or Artistic Programming.Arts at the Old Fire Station (AOFS) is known and respected for its values-led approach and passion for social change, and all Trustees are expected to share that commitment.  

At Rethink Mental Illness, we believe everyone deserves understanding, connection, and the chance to live a fulfilling life. Our volunteers play a vital role in supporting people affected by mental illness and helping create communities where no one feels alone.

About the role

Location: Bristol

Hours: 2 hours per week

As a Volunteer Group Facilitator, you will play an important role in supporting group sessions and workshops. You will help create a welcoming, inclusive, and comfortable environment where everyone feels valued and able to participate.

Your responsibilities may include engaging with group members through conversation, welcoming participants as they arrive, and supporting the smooth running of sessions by helping with set-up and clear-up tasks. You may also assist with taking attendance at the start of each session.

Full training and regular supervision will be provided, so you’ll feel confident and supported in your role.

This role requires a Basic DBS check, which will be arranged and paid for by Rethink Mental Illness.

As a Volunteer Group Facilitator you will

• Welcome participants and help create a warm, inclusive, and supportive environment
• Support the development of a safe space where individuals feel comfortable sharing as much or as little as they wish
• Assist with setting up before sessions (e.g. arranging chairs, preparing materials, and taking attendance)
• Help tidy and reset the space after sessions
• Collaborate with other volunteers and staff to support the smooth delivery of group activities

About the service

The Bristol Community Support Services team is committed to delivering high-quality, person-centred support. The service focuses on helping individuals achieve their goals, improve their wellbeing, and maintain independence while living with mental illness.

The team includes a Service Manager, Recovery Coaches, a Digital Officer, a Group Development Coordinator, and a Peer and Volunteer Coordinator, all working together to provide a supportive and effective service.

What will make you a great fit for this role?

• Having an interest in mental health and supporting people living with mental illness
• Able to demonstrate strong active listening skills and the ability to build rapport
• Able to relate to people from diverse backgrounds and remains non-judgemental
• Understand the importance of confidentiality
• Reliable and punctual

It's not essential, but you may also bring

• Lived experience of mental health challenges
• Experience of working in group settings

How to apply

To apply, please click the “apply now” button and complete a short interest form. You will have the opportunity to upload a CV and/or cover letter however, this is not mandatory.

A member of the team will review your application and be in touch to update you on the next steps. If your application is successful, you will be invited to take part in an informal volunteer discussion.

Who are we?

We’re Rethink Mental Illness, a leading charity provider of mental health services in England. We support thousands of people through our groups, services, policy, campaigns and advice and information. Our work supports us in delivering on our mission: “A better life for everyone severely affected by mental illness.”

It is an exciting time to join our growing charity. We are on a transformation journey, one that supports the delivery of the organisation strategy – delivering Communities that Care. Supporting employees, managers and leaders through this change is a key priority for the People function. Just like its key that we attract diverse people to come and work for us.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

Diversity is important to us and we appreciate difference through difference, inclusiveness and belonging. It gives us a deeper understanding of the world, our society and the diverse communities we’re working with. By including everyone, we are able to draw on the unique experiences and expertise of our people to help shape and enrich our workplace and improve our services. One way we are doing is through our valued staff networks which play a critical and highly valued role in keeping us focused on creating a diverse, inclusive and engaged employer.  We recognise and support staff networks for our Black, Asian and minority ethnic and our LGBTQIA+ colleagues. We are also proud to have been awarded Disability Confident Employer status and are a signatory to the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter.

Becoming a truly anti-racist organisation

We have an ambition of become a truly anti-racist employer, campaigning organisation and service provider - and in our efforts to influence policy and wider societal factors impacting on mental health set out in our anti-racist statement . We have designed a multi-year anti-racist programme of work contained in our Race Equality Action Plan which demonstrate our intention to hold ourselves accountable and be judged on our progress on becoming a truly anti-racist organisation.

ADMIN MANAGER & COMPANY SECRETARY (VOLUNTEER ROLE)

SUNSHINE Charity – Because No One Should Live in Lockdown Forever

Do you remember lockdown?

1. The stillness.
2. The uncertainty.
3. The feeling of being cut off from the world.
4. The long days where connection felt far away.

Now imagine living like that every single day — not because of a pandemic, but because loneliness has quietly become someone’s whole life.

At SUNSHINE, we refuse to let that be anyone’s reality. Not in London. Not in our communities. Not while we’re here.

We’re here to bring back joy, connection and human warmth — and we need someone organised, steady and compassionate to help keep our young charity running smoothly behind the scenes.

Who We Are

SUNSHINE is a brand‑new, grassroots, 100% volunteer‑powered charity on a mission to brighten the lives of people experiencing loneliness and social isolation. We’re small, passionate, and building something hopeful from the ground up. We’re awaiting our charity number — but our mission is already alive, growing and ready to shine.

Now we need someone who can help us stay organised, compliant and confident as we grow.

Your Role: Admin Manager & Company Secretary

This is a vital role at the heart of our charity’s operations.

You will be the person who keeps us organised, compliant and functioning — the calm, reliable presence who ensures SUNSHINE runs smoothly as we build our services, our team and our impact.

You will:

• Manage our core administration, ensuring documents, records and processes are kept up to date

• Support the Board and CEO, helping prepare agendas, minutes and paperwork

• Ensure good governance, keeping us aligned with legal and regulatory requirements

• Maintain key policies, updating them as we grow

• Oversee filing systems, digital organisation and internal communications

• Support volunteer onboarding admin, helping us stay structured and efficient

• Be the organisational backbone, helping SUNSHINE stay steady, safe and well‑run

Your work will help us build a charity that people can trust — one that is safe, organised and ready to support those who need us most.

Who You Are

• You’re someone who loves order, clarity and good organisation.
• You’re reliable, detail‑focused and calm under pressure.
• You care deeply about people and want to use your skills to make a real difference.
• Maybe you’ve worked in admin, office management, governance, compliance or PA roles.
• Maybe you’ve supported Boards or senior leaders before.
• Maybe you’re simply brilliant at keeping things running smoothly.

What matters most is your heart, your steadiness, and your belief that loneliness should never be a life sentence.

Why Join Us Now?

Because this is the moment everything begins.

You won’t just be joining a charity — you’ll be helping to build it. Your organisation will shape our foundations. Your attention to detail will shape our safety. Your presence will help us bring sunshine into lives that have been dark for far too long.

If you want to be part of something hopeful, human and life‑changing, this is your moment.

How to Apply

Send us your CV and a short statement about why this role speaks to you.

We welcome people from all backgrounds, experiences and walks of life.

Let’s build a charity full of sunshine — together.

The food system is unsustainable and unjust, and it’s damaging the health of a generation. We are a youth activist movement set up to challenge a food system that’s been set up to fool us all. We're looking for a new Chair who shares our passion for empowering youth leadership and transforming our food system

Settle Stories is recruiting a new Chair of the Board and up to five Trustees, as several long-serving trustees reach the natural end of their terms after years of outstanding service.

Who We Are

A world where every voice, empowered by story, helps build our shared future.

Settle Stories is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation based in the Yorkshire Dales. Since 2010, we have used the power of story to educate, to empower, and to endure. We have reached over 200,000 people across 44 countries and 6 continents. We pioneered hybrid live-streaming for storytelling events in 2019, a year before the pandemic made it necessary. In 2025, funded by the British Council, we collaborated with Msitu Wa Ndoto to broadcast live performances from Africa's oldest burial site, a 76,000-year-old cave in Kenya, connecting artists from the UK and Kenya to audiences worldwide. We are now looking to expand this work, broadcasting from unusual and culturally significant places across the globe.

In schools, our Stories for Schools platform brings the nation's finest storytellers into classrooms through filmed content aligned to the national curriculum. The Storyful Way, our mindfulness-integrated storytelling methodology, is validated by Sheffield Hallam University for its outcomes in emotional well-being and resilience. Judges for our annual Children's Story Competition have included Sir Michael Morpurgo, Joanne Harris MBE, and Anne Fine. Closer to home, Settle itself sits at the heart of everything we do: for 15 years we have preserved the stories of the Yorkshire Dales through oral history projects, heritage archives, and the world's first Listening Gallery, housed in a phone box, keeping local voices alive for future generations.

We have a strong and committed Board, and several trustees have stayed well beyond their original terms. That is a testament to the organisation. In line with good practice, the time has come to bring in fresh voices.

Our current Chair has served two distinguished terms, steering Settle Stories through the pandemic and into its strongest ever position. The organisation is well placed for Arts Council England's next NPO round and the opportunities ahead.

We are looking for an enthusiastic Chair and Trustees who share our values and our passion for the power of story. We are also keen to hear from individuals who would welcome supporting us in a specific area on an advisory basis.

What we are looking for

We are recruiting for Trustee roles and, for those who cannot commit to a Board seat, non-voting Advisor positions. 

Applications for both roles are particularly welcomed from women, those from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and Person of Colour) backgrounds, and from those based in Yorkshire and the North. 

All Trustees must:

• Have an understanding and acceptance of the legal duties, responsibilities, and liabilities of trusteeship.

• Be confident to work digitally using Zoom/GMeet and shared docs.

• Have strong networks and the willingness to build and share them.

• Exercise good, independent judgment.

• Have the ability to think creatively.

• Have a willingness to speak their mind.

• Have the ability to work effectively as a member of a team.

• Adhere to Nolan’s seven principles of public life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, 

accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership.

We are seeking Trustee candidates with one or more of the following:

• arts practice - people with working experience of the cultural sector from a practitioner and/or manager perspective;

• business skills - commercial experience in earned income growth, B2B sales, or scaling subscription or digital products.

• digital expertise – specifically including:

  • web design and user interfacing (UX/UI);

  • digital security and infrastructure;

  • digital marketing/performance marketing;

• HR and people development - strategic people leadership: organisational culture, equality and inclusion, workforce development.

• finance, legal, and governance experience - commercial finance, charity law or governance, with experience of mixed-income organisations.

Advisors should:

• Be able to demonstrate a high level of skill in one of the areas listed above, and be willing to support the Chief Executive and her team whenever advice or views on service delivery and development is needed. An understanding of Charity Commission requirements is also desirable.

Being an advisor is a flexible arrangement between the charity and the individual.  The length of the term will be agreed on an individual basis.

The Chair role

We are looking for a committed individual who has a passion for story and literacy.

• the skills and time to be able to lead a medium-sized Board effectively and efficiently within the legal and best practice guidance set out by the Charity Commission; 

• the skills and time to provide regular support (remotely and in person) to the CEO and staff team at Settle Stories; 

• An understanding of the issues facing small, ambitious charities, and specifically cultural/arts council-funded charities.

The Brigantia Learning Trust Governance Model is different to the way a governing body in a non-academy or traditional school undertakes governance.

Essentially, there are four elements to the governance of the Brigantia Learning Trust academies – local councils that are delivered via the Academy Advisory Councils (AAC), Trust governance, delivered via the Full Board of Trustees (Non-Executive Directors), the Trust Leadership Team (Executive Directors) and the Trust Members. 

The Board of Trustees has 4 sub-committees, concerned with Finance, Risk & Audit, HR, Education & Standards and Remuneration along with the four Academy Advisory Councils: Brigantia Hill Fort, Hinde House (2-16), Yewlands and Longley Park Sixth Form. As the trust continues to grow, and the Academy Advisory Councils become more experienced and confident, greater delegated powers will be identified and approved by the Board of Trustees.

Local Councils - The Academy Advisory Council

Each AAC consists of a group of people who could be parents, community nominees, academy staff. They will meet with the academy (Executive) Principal, Associate Principal and other senior leaders where appropriate. In attendance at these meetings will be Link Trustees and members of the Trust Executive Team may be in attendance. This is to ensure that the voice of the local stake holders is heard first-hand by the Board of Trustees.

The Brigantia Learning Trust Board has established six key roles for Academy Advisory Councils: 

• To advise/act as a critical friend to the (Executive) Principal of the academy

• To advise the Trustees about local issues they need to consider that affect the academy

• To support the Safeguarding Trustee with localised academy information

• Represent the interest of the academy community in the running of the academy

• Represent the academy in its community

• Provide support to the (Executive) Principal in undertaking appropriate day to day procedures that are essential to the life of the academy

The six roles translate specifically into the following tasks that the AAC undertakes:  

• To act as a key link between the academy, parents and local community

• To support the work of the academy in the community

• To help on the ground with the implementation of certain academy policies

• To offer challenging but positive and proactive support to the (Executive) Principal

• To regularly discuss the academy’s performance in relation to the KPIs (Key

• Performance Indicators)

The difference between Brigantia Learning Trust Governance and a traditional Governing Body

By comparison to a traditional school Governing Body:

• The AAC’s role is not to “manage” the Academy as such.  This is done through the Trust Leadership Team and the Board of Trustees.  Therefore, the AAC is not required to take decisions on staff or financial matters affecting the Academy.  As an Academy Advisor you should have an understanding of strategic issues that impact on the Academy, and be updated on them regularly by the Principal, but you are not required to have direct responsibility for them.
• As the Trust Leadership Team and Board of Trustees takes responsibility for educational standards, legal compliance and financial viability, the AAC then has the time to investigate the impact of policy on the ground, to see how they are working, and explore how the Brigantia Learning Trust ethos is being understood and expressed in the way the Academy operates. As an Academy Advisor, your view as a parent or as part of the community is vital in this discussion.

3. HOW THE AAC OPERATES 

Expectations

Brigantia Learning Trust understands that the role of an Academy Advisor is voluntary, however, in order for the Academy Advisory Council to function efficiently and effectively, there are certain expectations of Academy Advisors in order to achieve this.

i) Meetings

Meetings of the AAC take place 3 times over the academic year. The meeting is prepared by the Principal and the Chair of the AAC, and the process is supported by the clerk to the AAC. You will receive a link to the agenda and papers in advance of the meeting from the clerk electronically.

Meetings are usually held after school or at other times as agreed locally by all Academy Advisors.

ii) Contribution at meetings and outside of meetings

Academy Advisors are expected to come to meetings prepared; having read and familiarised themselves with the agenda and accompanying papers as well as being prepared to ask relevant questions (Please see section 3.2 for further detail and examples).

iii) Business Interest and code of conduct

Academy Advisors are required to declare any business or other interests in any item being discussed at the AAC meeting. The Academy Advisers are asked to abide by the AAC Code of Conduct. The AAC clerk will provide the appropriate forms for AAC members to sign.

iv) AAC Responsibilities

Academy Advisors should make every effort to visit the Academy during the Academy day; all visits must be planned and focused on areas as agreed by the full Academy Advisory Council. Visits inform the work of the AAC and provide valuable information for support and challenge to the Academy’s Leadership Team. AAC members are asked to report on their visit using the appropriate form. This report will be presented at the AAC meetings, and a central record of all visits will be held by the Clerk to the Board of Trustees.

v) Skills Audit

All Academy Advisors are expected to complete a skills audit at the beginning of every academic year, this assists the Trust Executive and Trustees to identify gaps in skills and arrange appropriate training.

vi) Safeguarding

All Academy Advisors are required to have an up-to-date enhanced DBS check, as well as undertake annual safeguarding training as required, this will be delivered at the first AAC meeting of the academic year.