Chair of the Board of Trustees

The West End Refugee Service (WERS), based in Newcastle upon Tyne is looking for a Chair to lead its Board of Trustees during an exciting period of development for the service. The Chair will be an ambassador for the charity and ensure deliver of its medium-term strategy and key objectives. 

WERS has been supporting people seeking asylum and refugees in the North East for nearly 25 years and has developed a range of interactions to support people seeking sanctuary at every step of their journey to rebuild their lives.

We are supplying basic material needs to those who are destitute, as well as providing them with advice, emotional support and further signposting. In collaboration with partner organisations we are coordinating the Life on Hold Project, which provides regular financial & wraparound support to people seeking asylum who have received a negative decision on their asylum claim.

Our volunteering programmes are supporting the development and progression of the people we work with to enable them to enrich our local society and put their talents to good use.

We seek to listen to the voice of those with lived experience of the asylum system at all levels of our organisation (including the Board of Trustees), as well as encouraging those voices to be heard more widely through our campaigns group.

We have a staff of 12 and a diverse Board of Trustees comprising 8 members, who bring a wide range of skills, attributes and life experience to a cohesive team who work together to steer WERS and support its Chief Executive.

Please visit our website and download the Candidate Pack for more details about the opportunity and details on how to apply.