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Make a difference in the lives of children and families. Become a PACT Trustee.
We are seeking an individual with strategic expertise in safeguarding gained within a children’s social care setting to join our exceptional Board of trustees. You do not need previous trustee experience as we provide a full induction and ongoing training. This is a unique chance to apply your expertise at strategic level, playing a pivotal role in ensuring we continue delivering high‑quality, trauma‑informed services, championing the welfare of vulnerable families, and shaping supportive policies that protect children and strengthen communities. If you are committed to making a lasting impact and guiding a charity that makes a positive difference to hundreds of lives every year, this is an incredible opportunity to join us on our mission.
PACT (Parents and Children Together) has been building and strengthening families since 1911 through outstanding adoption services and specialist therapeutic and trauma informed support services across Reading, the Thames Valley, and southern England. As one of the UK’s leading voluntary adoption agencies, we place children with loving, permanent families (over 84 placements last year) and offer lifelong specialist support through services like our Strengthening Families Team, CATCH and Adopter Champions. Alongside adoption, we empower women facing multiple disadvantages at Alana House and help children and their non‑abusing parents recover from trauma via our Bounce Back 4 Kids programme.
Who we are looking for
For this Safeguarding Lead Trustee role, we would welcome applications from interested individuals who have current strong understanding and experience of safeguarding legislation from within a children’s social care setting. We warmly welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and actively encourage individuals from underrepresented groups, including those with lived experience of adoption, care or disadvantage to apply. Diversity of thought and experience strengthens our Board, and we value perspectives from different communities, cultures and lived experiences. Your expertise will help us deliver inclusive, high quality services for children and families.
You do not need previous trustee experience to apply for this role as we will provide a full induction and ongoing training. Trustee roles are voluntary positions that are home-based with occasional travel to our Reading head office for in person board meetings or to collaborate with PACT colleagues relevant to your lead role (reasonable expenses covered). The time commitment is around one day per month, including quarterly Board meetings and input into wider charity matters. We aim to be flexible and will make adjustments where we can support accessibility and your availability.
What would you get as a PACT trustee?
· Satisfaction of helping vulnerable children, women and families, and giving something back
· An opportunity to exercise your skills and knowledge, possibly in a different environment or context
· A chance to contribute to the charity’s strategic growth
· A chance to expand your experience of charities and gain new skills
· An opportunity to work alongside other skilled and committed trustees
· High-quality induction, training and support from us and other charity-support organisations
· Being a Trustee can support the acquisition of valuable skills and experience that support career development
We understand that becoming a trustee is a commitment and you want to ensure that you are applying for a role that matches your values and requirements. You will find lots more information about PACT on our website and one of our current trustees has also kindly provided a short video with further details.
If you believe you can contribute to the skills and diversity of our Board and would like to apply, please visit the volunteer page of our website where you will find the trustee recruitment pack and application form.
We are committed to making our recruitment process accessible. If you need the information in a different format or require adjustments during the application process, please let us know.
The closing date for applications is Sunday 22nd March 2026 with interviews to take place on Thursday 26th March 2026.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do at PACT. We have robust measures and best practices in place to safeguard and protect the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and we take pride in maintaining outstanding safeguarding standards.
Anyone joining our team is subject to PACT’s safer recruitment pre-appointment enquiries, including an Enhanced Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check.
Registered Charity
an adoption charity and family support provider helping hundreds of families every year through outstanding adoption and adoption support services
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Are you passionate about helping older people to live well in later life? Are you able to give your time, expertise and skills as a Trustee to support our charity in its hugely important mission?
This is a fantastic opportunity to join the board of an impactful and influential charity, supporting older residents in Sutton by providing valuable advice and support services regarding health, finances and wellbeing.
A trustee role can be hugely fulfilling, as well as helping you to develop and utilise strategic leadership skills, and work with a diverse and dynamic team.
We are looking for trustees who can bring their own unique experience and expertise to support the effective governance of our charity, in particular in areas such as data and digital, commercial experience, and knowledge of the health and care sector. An understanding of charity governance, fundraising or an accountancy qualification would be beneficial.
Who are Age UK Sutton?
Age UK Sutton is a small independent charity dedicated to helping older people in our community to live well in later life. We are a network partner of Age UK, the influential national charity, and benefit from membership of a network of similar independent charities across the UK. We deliver a mixture of social and community activities while influencing strategy in Sutton. We provide vital information, expert advice and practical support. Our work enables older people to make informed decisions on finances, health, care, and wellbeing, and enables greater social connection and independence.
Location: Sutton, South West London (and online meetings)
Time Commitment:
- Quarterly Board meetings, three-hour Board meetings held virtually on Teams (twice a year), and alternately face-to-face meetings
- Quarterly Committee meetings (2-3 hours): Fundraising and Enterprise and / or Quality and / or Finance, Risk and Audit (most trustees are expected to attend 2 of the 3 standing subcommittees)
- Trustees with the capacity to do so also have the opportunity to support occasional projects or short-term working groups, supporting the CEO and wider leadership team.
Duration: A 3-year term (may be extended for two further 3-year terms)
Final closing date: Tuesday 1 April
Please download the full information pack. The covering letter should set out the following (in no more than 2 pages):
Why are you interested in a trustee role at Age UK Sutton?
How you would contribute to Age UK Sutton as a trustee?
Please highlight all relevant experience, and demonstrate how your skills match the specific requirements of the role as set out in the Person Specification.
Please note that we will focus on your demonstrable experience and potential in the above areas and do not expect candidates to have experience in all responsibilities outlined in the Job Description.
Registered Charity
21 - 50
A Sutton where every older person lives well, feeling connected and valued with the confidence and support they need to thrive.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.
Thank you!
Purpose of the role
In this important role, you will be responsible for assessing the eligibility of applicants for our grants and services, in adherence with Variety’s structured grant management approach (guided interviews, weighted scoring and panel review) to maximise impact for disabled and disadvantaged children and young people.
You will be required to handle grant applications and supporting information with the utmost confidentiality, following organisational policies to ensure the privacy and security of all sensitive and personal information.
Using our defined eligibility criteria and assessment tools, you will evaluate applications and conduct fair and consistent assessments, making award recommendations to support the decision-making process. You will bring an independent voice, playing a key role in ensuring that decisions are made fairly, equitably and transparently and will be required to support your recommendations with evidence of sound analysis and reasoning.
Key Responsibilities
• Review applications and supporting evidence prepared by the case management team.
• Clarify points with applicants when required (within agreed boundaries).
• Conduct structured, remote assessments (by telephone/video call) to understand need, urgency and likely impact on the child, their family life and communities.
• Establish the baseline for monitoring and evaluation by articulating the impact of the intervention.
• Where applicable, use the weighted assessment tool (base on the eligibility criteria and the Theory of Change) consistently and document clear, impartial rationales to prioritise need.
• Prepare concise, written recommendations aligned to policy, criteria and evidence.
• Attend quarterly Assessor Network meetings, which are a forum for sharing good practice, peer support, news sharing, undertaking essential training and reward and recognition.
Optional, Additional Responsibilities
• Where applicable, support the Impact Monitoring and Evaluation team to undertake post-award follow-up interviews to measure the impact made over time.
• Where applicable and available, represent Variety at events, presentations of awards and through online content.
Adherence to Policy and Quality
• Act as a beacon of good practice in fair grant assessment.
• Uphold safeguarding, confidentiality, GDPR, equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and anti‑bias standards throughout the assessment process.
• Escalate concerns (quality, safeguarding, unusual risk, conflicts of interest) in line with policy.
• Follow process controls and segregation of roles, supporting a robust, auditable trail.
• Participate in induction, refresher training, and calibration sessions to ensure consistency and continuous improvement.
• Adhere to Variety’s Code of Conduct.
Time Commitment
• Assessments: the time commitment for these varies and is flexible but we expect you will be spending 4 – 8 hours per month on these, dependent on demand and pool of assessors.
• Assessor Network: hybrid meetings that will last 1.5 – 2 hours and will be held quarterly.
• Training: short modular induction plus periodic refreshers usually rolled into Assessor Network meetings.
Support & Supervision
• Induction & training: policy, criteria, assessment skills, impact tools, safeguarding, data protection.
• Ongoing support through Programme Manager, Programmes Support Officer and Head of Programmes.
• Expenses: out‑of‑pocket expenses will be reimbursed in line with Variety’s Expenses Policy.
Impact Measures (Volunteer‑Appropriate)
• Timely completion of assigned assessments; adherence to guidance and safeguarding.
• Quality of written rationales; consistency of weighted scoring.
• Constructive contribution to committee discussion and calibration.
• Positive feedback from applicants (tone/respect) gathered via staff.
• Case study preparation
Person Specification
We welcome people from many walks of life. If you’re feel that you are the right person for this role but are unsure whether you “tick every box,” please still consider applying; training and support are provided.
What you’ll bring (essential)
• Fair assessment mindset: you can weigh information against clear criteria and explain your reasoning.
• Analysis skills: comfortable reviewing forms/evidence and using a simple scoring tool. Able to summarise and analyse complex information to extract relevant data, paying attention to detail.
• Communication: great written and spoken English (we have templates to help).
• Lived experience or insight: personal, professional or volunteer experience that helps you understand the challenges faced by disabled or disadvantaged children and young people (or you can demonstrate thoughtful knowledge of these issues).
• Friendly and approachable: comfortable conducting sensitive conversations by telephone/video call with empathy and professionalism.
• Reliability and care: you follow guidance, meet agreed timeframes where you can, and ask for help if something isn’t clear.
• Values & conduct: commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion; willing to complete safeguarding training and a DBS check.
Helpful extras (nice to have, but not essential)
• Comfortable using basic digital tools (email, online forms, video calls) – we can show you the rest.
• Experience in any of the following is desirable:
o Grant-making
o Community/children’s services
o Health/education/SEND
o Occupational Therapy
o Social care
o Structured interviewing
o Teaching
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.