Youth Board member

Tender is an arts charity working with children and young people to prevent domestic abuse and sexual violence through creative projects. Our programmes are safe, enjoyable, age-appropriate spaces where young people can engage with sensitive topics and “rehearse” for real-life scenarios. Participants are encouraged to be both consumers and producers of learning through script-work, role-play and creative media such as films and art. Throughout, we enable young people to explore their choices, rights and expectations in relationships and to recognise the early warning signs of abuse.

Tender works first and foremost with young people, meaning our work is always varied and constantly evolving. We are therefore lucky to receive the support and guidance from our Youth Board, who meet monthly to develop Tender’s activities and direction, and explore innovative ways of engaging young people in a way that stays relevant to them.

What is the Tender Youth Board?

Tender’s Youth Board is an advisory group that supports the on-going development and delivery of Tender’s work. As a youth-based organisation, the board plays a vital role in guiding how we engage young people in conversations around healthy relationships, domestic abuse and sexual violence, and promote the issue to wider society. We do this by getting young people to work closely with members from every department of the Tender team and its Board of Trustees.

The Youth Board supports Tender’s work by:

• Developing and delivering awareness-raising campaigns and blogs
• Contributing ideas for projects and resources
• Reviewing Tender’s activities that are used in workshops with young people to ensure they are relevant and appropriate
• Discussing policies and current events in the Violence Against Women and Girls sector
• Contributing to Tender’s recruitment processes
• Contributing to Tender’s funding applications

Time Expectations

We ask our Youth Board members for a commitment to volunteering for a minimum of 6 hours every three months. The ways members can engage are listed below:

• Meetings will be typically held twice a month on Wednesday, 5:30pm – 6:30pm. It is important that you can attend the majority of these online meetings, and at least one meeting a month.
• Twice per year, in March and October, a meeting is held in person at Tender’s London office – travel and food expenses are covered.
• Volunteering time at public events to promote Tender’s cause, such as panels and organisational events.
• Carrying out other tasks that come up outside meetings, such as blog writing, or being on steering groups for specific projects.
• Engaging with flexible work experience opportunities in various teams across the charity.
• Responding to emails before meetings to let us know if you will be able to attend or not.

You can find example of the types of events attended by our Youth Board, and blogs written by members on our website and in our trustee report.

How we support you

Three members of the Tender team support the Youth Board by running the interactive and creative meetings, and planning the year’s activities. They will be available during your time on the Youth Board to ensure you get the most out of volunteering with us.

At Tender we believe in the importance of giving back to those who volunteer their time with us. You will be given a full induction to the Youth Board so that you understand our work and your role as a Youth Board member. As an active member of the youth board, you will be offered opportunities and rewards, such as:

• Free masterclasses from external organisations (topics have included: CV writing, working in policy, influencing government, facilitating workshops using arts-based methods, and charity governance)
• Free tickets to theatre productions, exhibitions and other public events
• Opportunities to build your CV through campaigning, masterclasses, events and work experience.

To make sure we’re supporting our Youth Board members, we carry out a survey of new members to better understand what you wish to gain from the Youth Board, and endeavour to offer opportunities to develop in ways that will support your future plans and ambitions. This could even include working at Tender – a number of our employees started their journeys at Tender on the Youth Board!

Who can apply to the Youth Board?

We are looking for young people aged 16-25 living in any region within the UK who:

• Understand issues impacting young people’s relationships
• Would like to learn more about campaigning on topics surrounding relationships, gender equality and domestic abuse
• Are interested in working with Tender to influence the work we do and the impact we have
• Are interested in drama and the arts as a tool for social change

We understand that some applicants may have personal experiences of these issues or know people with personal experiences. The Youth Board is not a therapeutic space and therefore we would never ask you to talk about these experiences. Please be mindful that this role will interact with topics that are sometimes difficult, and it is therefore important that you consider whether this is the right time for you to engage in this work.

We are especially looking for volunteers who are aged 16-18, LGBTQ+, black and ethnic minorities, male-identifying, non-binary and young people with disabilities.

Application Process

Applications are currently open, and will close on 2 November 2025 at 11.59pm . You can find tips on how to write your application at the top of the application form. Tender will then review applications and invite shortlisted applicants to a one-hour group online interview. Those who are accepted onto the programme will be invited to an online induction before their first meeting. 

Interview dates are as follows:

Tuesday 25th November, 5.30pm - 7.00pm

Wednesday 26th November, 5.30pm - 7.00pm