Retirement communities director volunteer roles
Join Chailey Heritage Foundation as a Trustee and help shape the future for children and young people living with complex disabilities.
Applications close: Monday 2nd March 2026
Location: North Chailey, Lewes, Sussex, BN8 4EF
Time commitment: c.1 day per month
About Chailey Heritage Foundation
For over a century, Chailey Heritage Foundation has been a beacon of support for children and young people living with complex disabilities.
We’re a vibrant community in Sussex bringing together an Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ school, welcoming residential homes and a specialist centre with therapies including gym and art therapy, alongside a farm and café. Our expert teams work with time, patience and curiosity to nurture every child and young person’s potential.
Every day we see extraordinary outcomes — a child using assistive technology to communicate for the first time, a young adult building confidence towards greater independence, or a family finding the specialist support they need to navigate a world that can feel inaccessible. Strong governance underpins these outcomes, ensuring we stay resilient, ambitious and focused on what matters most.
About the roles
A board for the future
With the launch of our new five-year strategy and planned retirements over the coming period, we’re expanding our board. We’re looking to appoint two new Trustees, with backgrounds in finance and people/organisation design, who will help guide Chailey Heritage Foundation through this next chapter.
The role of a trustee
Trustees play a vital role in shaping our strategic direction, maintaining high standards of care and education and ensuring our long-term sustainability. This is an important time for the sector, as education, health and social care continue to evolve.
We are seeking Trustees who bring insight, leadership and constructive challenge, alongside a strong commitment to our mission.
Who we are looking for
- Trustee to join our People & Culture Committee
We’re seeking a Trustee to join our People & Culture Committee and help shape the heart of our organisation. This role is suited to someone with broad organisational leadership experience and a strong understanding of people-related challenges and the strategic approaches required to address them, rather than a purely functional background.
You will bring current expertise in organisational development and design, with a strong track record in people leadership, culture and values-led change. You’ll support the board and executive team to build and sustain a thriving workplace where colleagues are supported to do their best work. You’ll also help us attract, develop and retain the talent we need to deliver outstanding support to the children and young people.
You will work closely with the Chief Executive and our Executive Director of People & Culture, providing oversight, challenge and guidance on our people strategy, leadership and organisational culture.
- Trustee with Financial expertise (to join our Finance, Audit & Risk Committee)
Alongside this, we’re looking to appoint a Trustee with strong financial expertise: a qualified accountant with senior leadership experience, able to provide thoughtful oversight, constructive challenge and practical support to the board.
You’ll join our Finance, Audit & Risk Sub-Committee, chaired by our Treasurer and work closely with our Resources Director (who reports to the Chief Executive) and fellow Trustees to strengthen financial resilience and governance.
Join us
We understand that joining a board is a significant commitment which is why we offer a comprehensive induction programme and ongoing support.
You will be joining a highly engaged group of professionals working together to ensure Chailey Heritage Foundation continues to make a life-changing impact.
If you believe in what we do and want to use your skills to make a lasting difference, we would love to hear from you.
Whether you are an experienced Trustee or considering your first board role, we encourage applications from individuals who share our commitment to enabling children and young people with complex disabilities to thrive.
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 on Monday 2nd March 2026
Recruitment Agency
21 - 50
We’re an executive search firm working across third sector, education and membership sectors to transform leadership and inspire change.
Thank you!
Trustee Opportunity at Citizens Advice
Citizens Advice South Lincolnshire is seeking new trustees to help shape the future of our high-performing advice charity.
With offices in Grantham, Spalding and Stamford, plus outreach centres across the region, we support a population of 225,000 people. Last year, we helped 14,000 clients with 60,000 issues and secured over £7 million of additional income for them. We are here for everyone to help people move on with their lives.
As a trustee, you’d join a well-known, respected charity, influence strategy, strengthen governance and contribute to meaningful change. This is an opportunity to share your expertise with other professional, dedicated trustees, gain valuable experience, build on your leadership and strategy skills, and increase your employability. Prior Board experience is not required.
We welcome expertise in digital media, finance, fundraising, HR, IT, law, marketing, PR, risk management, senior management, local government, or strategy.
What do you need to become a trustee?
Trustees don’t need specific qualifications, but we expect all trustees to have six core skills:
● Insight into the organisation: considering CASL’s objects and its public benefit strategically
● Challenging constructively: clarifying facts; stimulating thought
● Analysing issues: being objective; evaluating risks; using evidence; planning ahead
● Weighing up opinions: using evidence; balancing long- and shortterm; prioritising value
● Interpersonal skills: communicating clearly; listening actively; supporting a healthy culture
● Confidence and self-awareness: collaborating with others; treating everyone with respect.
The Board also values specialist skills as assets among its members:
● experience or qualifications in:
‣ business or charity leadership
‣ equity, diversity and inclusion
‣ facilitation
‣ finance and accountancy
‣ human resources
‣ IT, AI or digital media
‣ law or governance
‣ local government
‣ marketing, PR or communications
‣ risk management, or
‣ strategy development
● past experience as a client or service user of this (or a similar) organisation
● a track record of charitable fundraising, or
● being an effective chair.
Finally, competent trustees should have these six personal qualities to some extent, and demonstrate them in their behaviours:
● Committed - motivated, dedicated, persevering; plays an active role.
● Responsible - accountable, independent, reliable; accepts collective responsibility.
● Trustworthy - ethical, principled; is a critical friend and focuses on continuous improvement.
● Collaborative - team-oriented, approachable; builds relationships and seeks consensus.
● Confident - independent; contributes constructively and expresses opinions courageously.
● Thoughtful - curious, adaptable, open-minded; appropriately challenges the status quo
Please see the attached Information Pack for the Trustee Role Description and how to apply.
Also attached is the Trustee Application Pack and Trustee Recruitment Advert
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.