Governance Volunteer Roles

This role is not accompanied by any financial remuneration, although reasonable expenses for travel may be claimed.

Kintsugi Hope are committed to developing trustees and will invest in appropriate CPD, such as ‘How to be a good trustee’ training, charity governance and finance.

Who we are & What we do

Kintsugi Hope is a charity based in the UK striving to make a difference to peoples mental wellbeing.

"Kintsugi' (金継ぎ) is a Japanese technique for repairing pottery with seams of gold. The word means 'golden joinery' in Japanese. This repairs the brokenness in a way that makes the object more beautiful, and even more unique than it was prior to being broken. Instead of hiding the scars it makes a feature of them.

We want to see a world where mental and emotional health is understood and accepted, with safe and supportive communities for everyone to grow and flourish.

A Kintsugi Hope Wellbeing Group is a safe and supportive space for people who feel or have felt overwhelmed, providing tools for self-management in a facilitated peer mentoring style setting.

It consists of a structured yet flexible series of 12 weeks of content, which includes group and individual activities designed to help participants to accept themselves, to understand their value and worth, and grow towards a more resilient and hopeful future.

The role of the Group Leader is to facilitate the sessions using the material available, signposting people if necessary to further help and support. It can feel vulnerable and scary starting a group, but the benefit of a Kintsugi Hope Group is that Group Leaders are not on their own.

Issues covered include; disappointment, loss, anxiety, anger perfectionism, shame and resilience. Feedback so far has been amazing.

What we are looking for

We are looking for people with the specific skills described in the Person Specification (below). To ensure that our board is as diverse as possible we are particularly keen to receive applications from groups that are under-represented on the board. Particularly young people, people with disabilities, or who experience physical or mental concerns.

Person Specification

The application must have:

• Significant experience and expertise in either scaling an organisation, legal, adult safeguarding, mental health services at a community level or other skills that will enhance the board.
• Experience of a charity or corporate board, or be able to demonstrate strategic thinking in a non-operational capacity.
• The time and energy to be an effective trustee and support the strategic development of Kintsugi Hope – estimated to be around 4 hours a month on average.
• A willingness to attend relevant training to support their role and increase the knowledge of the board.
• Commitment to the mission, vision and values of Kintsugi Hope.
• Understanding and acceptance of the legal duties and responsibilities of trusteeship.
• Ability to work effectively as a member of a diverse team.
• Good independent judgement
• Integrity

It is desirable for the applicant to have:

• High level of commercial awareness
• Effective communication skills
• Good analytical skills.

Experience of being a Company Secretary

What’s involved in being a trustee

• The Board of Trustees meet four to five times a year. Once or twice a year on a Saturday for vision and impact days and three times a year online between 7pm and 9.30pm on different evenings.
• Trustees are asked to take on specific roles, for examples on committees or working parties, and asked to attend additional meetings if necessary.
• All trustees are expected to participate in discussions, provide opinions and make decisions as required. 
• Trustees may be contacted by the operational team for support in their specific areas of expertise.

A summary of the primary duties of all charity trustees can be seen below by looking at Gov website, The essential trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do.