Volunteer roles

The Brent Centre for Young People
Chair

The Brent Centre is a long‑established London charity providing specialist psychoanalytic understanding, treatment of and research into Adolescent Mental Health. With a strong clinical heritage and a deep commitment to addressing social and economic inequality, the Centre supports young people experiencing complex and enduring mental health challenges.

We are now seeking a new Chair of the Board of Trustees to lead the organisation through its next phase of development, as the current Chair comes to the end of their term.

This role is unremunerated, with travel expenses paid 
Time commitment: Up to 2 days per month remote/ hybrid (with quarterly Trustee meetings and ad hoc meetings in person)
Location: London (NW6)

About us
​​​​​​​
Founded in 1967 by a group of pioneering, internationally renowned psychoanalysts, the Brent Centre for Young People was established with a clear purpose: to transform mental health support for adolescents during the critical transition to adulthood, and to tackle the significant health inequalities that exclude many vulnerable young people from accessing the help they need. 

We achieve this by providing age-specific, timely and effective psychoanalytic psychotherapies and practical support to at-risk young people struggling with serious mental health issues like anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and disordered eating.

We have developed a clinical model that puts adolescent needs and development at its core. Our unique approach maximises engagement and achieves deep-rooted and long-lasting change. With nearly six decades of experience, we have evidenced that this model works.

The role

The Chair will provide strategic leadership to the Board of Trustees, ensuring that the organisation is well governed, financially sustainable and delivering its mission with integrity and impact. Working closely with the Chief Executive, the Chair will help shape and steward the Centre’s long‑term vision, strengthen Board effectiveness, and support the organisation to respond confidently to a changing mental health landscape.

This is a governance leadership role that also carries an important external dimension. The Chair will act as an ambassador for the Brent Centre, helping to raise its profile, build relationships and champion the value of psychoanalytic approaches to improving young people’s mental health.

About you

We are seeking an inspiring and committed individual with the time and capacity to engage fully in this role. The successful candidate will bring:
 

• Significant senior leadership experience in a business, charitable, healthcare or public sector setting
• Demonstrable Board‑level experience, with a strong understanding of governance and trustee responsibilities
• Financial acumen and experience overseeing organisational sustainability and risk
• Strategic insight and the ability to support and challenge executive leadership constructively
• Credibility and confidence to act as an ambassador and external advocate
• A strong commitment to safeguarding, equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing

Experience of the mental health sector, or familiarity with psychoanalytic approaches, would be welcome but is not essential. We value curiosity, sound judgement and strong alignment with the Centre’s mission and values.

How to Apply 
 
To express your interest in the role, please contact Jane Ray or Erica Ritchie at Prospectus. 

At Prospectus we believe passionately that a truly inclusive workplace leads to increased social impact. We are committed to supporting our clients to build more inclusive teams. To understand how we are performing, we ask that you kindly complete the brief equal opportunities questionnaire when you submit your application via our website. Please be assured that your responses are kept confidential, separate from your candidate record, are not part of any application you make, and that the consultants never see individual responses to the questionnaire. 
 
Recruitment Timetable 
Deadline for applications: 21st June (midnight) 
Interviews with Prospectus: Online 29th & 30th June 
Interviews with Brent Centre for Young People, online 7th / 8th July (evening)
Second stage Interviews with Brent Centre for Young People, in person: Monday 13th & Wednesday 15th July (evening)

Apply to join the DISC founding pilot program - Becuase your safeguarding team needs better intelligence

We support safeguarding teams to identify emerging online harms, social media threats and exploitation risks through digital threat intelligence.

DISC is looking for safeguarding professionals who already understand the challenges they face and want real analytical support to help protect children and young people. Through practical intelligence, early warning insight and a direct voice in shaping a new national digital threat intelligence professional network, founding members will help strengthen how safeguarding teams respond to fast moving online risks.

• < Direct Access > to practical tools designed by PhD Crime Science researchers for safeguarding professionals, including platform risk tracking, trend monitoring, URL checks, username analysis and safeguarding intelligence resources.

We are now inviting a small group of founding members to join the DISC pilot project. This is a voluntary, free pilot opportunity designed for designated Safeguarding Leads, Deputy DSLs, safeguarding governors, other professionals working directly in child protection or safeguarding.

We are particularly keen to hear from safeguarding professionals who are dealing with the realities of online risk in schools, youth settings, charities, academies, trusts or community organisations. You do not need to be a technical or digital expert. What matters is your safeguarding experience, your understanding of children and young people, and your willingness to help build something useful, ethical and thats genuinely crime prevention focused.

As a founding member, you will receive access to DISC pilot services and help shape what the service becomes. Your experience, feedback and professional judgement will directly influence the tools, briefings and intelligence support we develop for safeguarding teams across the UK.

Digital Intelligence & Safeguarding Centre started as a UCL, University of London based social venture supporting schools, charities and youth organisations with digital safeguarding intelligence. We help safeguarding teams make sense of online harms, social media risks, harmful trends, platform threats, online offenders and emerging digital behaviours that may affect children and young people.

This pilot is about partnership and community. DISC resources are designed to support, not replace, existing safeguarding policies, DSL decision, making or statutory responsibilities. Final safeguarding decisions remain with your organisation. Our role is to strengthen your awareness, improve your access to digital threat intelligence and help you respond earlier to emerging online risks.

This is a founding member opportunity! Participation is voluntary, free of charge and there is no obligation to continue after the pilot. Founding members will be recognised as early adopters and expert contributors to the DISC intelligence network and will have a direct say in how the service develops. If you are a safeguarding professional who wants better intelligence on online harms, stronger support for digital safeguarding decisions and the chance to help shape a new crime prevention focused service, we would be very pleased to hear from you.

During the pilot, founding members will receive:

• Weekly Threat Briefing on online risks, social media harms, and digital safeguarding trends
• Access to our crime analyst’s intelligence reports, platform alerts and threat assessments
• The opportunity to submit digital safeguarding tasking requests to the DISC Threat Desk
• Beta access to the DISC members dashboard and digital intelligence toolkit
• Successful applicants must attend the initial onboarding training session

                                                               Ready for real threat intelligence?

Inclusive Boards is delighted to be supporting Child Action Northwest in their search for new Trustees.

About Child Action Northwest (CANW)

CANW has been in existence for over 130 years since the founding of Blackburn Orphanage in 1886, we’ve been caring for children and young people from some of the most deprived areas of the region.

CANW exists as a modern charity providing quality services to children, young people and families across the Northwest.

The inequality that exists up and down the country means that many communities face complex challenges -simply getting by is tough. 

Our mission is to support children, adults and families across the country, ensuring that when life presents difficult circumstances, we’re there every step of the way to make sure they get the support they need.

About the Trustee roles

We are particularly interested in hearing from candidates with skills in one or more of the following areas:

Finance and Commercial: we welcome applications from candidates who are financially astute, can read a set of accounts, and bring business acumen and commercial exposure. You will bring senior strategic finance experience developed in the voluntary, public, or private sector to help ensure that CANW is financially sustainable over the long term so we can continue to deliver vital services to children, young people and families across the Northwest.

Fundraising: whilst the majority of CANW’s income comes from commissioned services, we are still working to make sure that our income streams are robust and well diversified. Part of this strategy involves building up our efforts with respect to trusts, foundations, and major donors. 

Children’s Services: from the criminal justice system and residential services to support for neurodivergent children and young people and residential services, CANW operates a broad portfolio of services designed to give families the best chance at success in life. It is important that our board has deep expertise in these and other services. 

If you feel that you have skills, experience and a background that may add value to CANW’s Board but are not listed above, this doesn’t mean that we wouldn’t be happy to hear from you. Please get in touch.

About the Trainee Trustee opportunity

Given our focus on children and young people, CANW is deeply committed to representing those who use our services at Board level. We recognise that there are many young people out there at the forefront of professional skills development and we give equal value to recent experience as much as seniority in a field. 

Anyone from the age of 16 can become the Trustee of a Charitable Company such as CANW and we welcome applications from young people with skills in the following area:

Digital Communications: in an increasingly digital world, it is vital that CANW is effectively reaching people who need our services with our communications. We would love to hear from people who understand search engine optimisation (SEO), AI search, and raising brand awareness through digital channels.

ABOUT TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR FOUNDATION
Tottenham Hotspur Foundation is the charitable arm of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Using the power of sport, we work with local communities to improve physical health, mental wellbeing, education, and employment outcomes.

About the Role

We are looking for enthusiastic and reliable Volunteer Football Coaches to support the delivery of fun, inclusive, and engaging football sessions for children and young people aged 7–18.

This is a fantastic opportunity for individuals who are passionate about football and making a positive impact within the local community. Volunteers will help create a safe and enjoyable environment where participants can develop their skills, confidence, and enjoyment of the game.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the delivery of football coaching sessions and activities for children and young people aged 7–18.
• Help create a positive, inclusive, and safe environment for all participants.
• Encourage participation, teamwork, and enjoyment through engaging sessions.
• Build positive relationships with participants, parents/carers, and fellow coaches.
• Represent the club/community programme in a professional and respectful manner at all times.
• Follow safeguarding, health & safety, and equality policies and procedures.

What We’re Looking For

• Passion for football and working with young people.
• Positive attitude, enthusiasm, and reliability.
• Good communication and teamwork skills.
• Ability to motivate and encourage participants of different ages and abilities.
• Experience playing or coaching football is beneficial but not essential.
• A willingness to learn and develop coaching skills.

Desirable (but not essential)

• FA Level 1 Coaching Badge (or working towards it).
• Emergency First Aid qualification.
• Safeguarding Children certificate.
• Previous experience volunteering or working in grassroots/community sport.

What Volunteers Will Gain

• Valuable coaching and leadership experience.
• Opportunities for personal development and coach education.
• Experience working within a community football environment.
• The chance to make a positive difference in young people’s lives.
• References and support for future coaching opportunities.

Safeguarding & Recruitment Statement

We are committed to safeguarding and protecting our children and young people at The Tottenham Foundation.  All volunteer roles are subject to a safer recruitment process which includes enhanced criminal records and barring checks, robust referencing and other vetting checks.  

Our safeguarding system is underpinned by a range of policies and procedures which encourage and promote safe working practice across the organisation. On joining you will be required to undergo continuous professional development to maintain safe working practice and to safeguard our children and young people.

We welcome applications from anyone regardless of age, disability, gender, race, or ethnic and national origins, religion or belief, or sexual orientation.

Outdoor Learning Volunteer Officers are a key part of our team at Skelton Grange Environment Centre and are involved in:
- Supporting and leading environmental activities with young people and the local community.
- Planning and preparing sessions - and sometimes even developing new activities to help young people connect with nature.
- You will be trained and supported by experienced project staff and work as part of a team with paid staff, trainees and other Volunteers.

Typical activities for the Outdoor Learning Volunteer role include:
- Running environmental education sessions for school visits during term time.
- Running play activities for groups of children and young people during the school holidays.
- Keeping education day resources up to date and developing new resources, activities or materials as required.
- Helping with the general running of the centre and the project, including both development work and routine maintenance to ensure we are an inspiring location for visitors to experience nature.

Benefits to you:
We aim to involve our Outdoor Learning Volunteer Officers in:
- Running a range of outdoor education and play activities and events with schools and community groups on the Skelton Grange Environment Centre site.
- Planning, risk assessing and running safe and engaging activities outside for children.
- All the necessary skills and knowledge to be able to run the sessions, from bushcraft skills to plant identification to working with children.

The role will give you the opportunity to use your skills and experience in a supportive environment and aims to support you into being able to run activities and lead groups independently.
It's a chance to do something very satisfying and worthwhile and have lots of fun with some great people!
If you want to use this role to move on into employment in the environmental sector we can also provide you with a range of useful training courses, job opportunity information, interview guidance and references.

We will provide expenses to cover volunteer travel costs.

What you need:
We are looking for enthusiastic individuals who are keen to work with young people and to connect people with green spaces.
People volunteer with us for all sorts of reasons: you may have lots of skills that you are keen to share, or you might be looking for something worthwhile to do with your time, or you might be wanting to launch a career in the environment sector.

Board Member

We are seeking committed and experienced individuals to join a trust as a Member, helping to ensure strong governance, accountability and strategic oversight.

Position: Member

Salary: This is a voluntary role however expenses can be paid in line with the allowances policy

Location: Being local to Derby, or at least having an understanding of the community is important.

Time commitment: Around 2-3 meetings a year in the evening

Closing date: 29th June

About the role:

Local Governors sit within the Trust’s overall governance structure.  The Department for Education sets out that in an academy trust, the purpose of governance is to provide:

- strategic leadership

- accountability and assurance

- strategic engagement

The board has collective accountability and strategic responsibility for the trust. It has a focus on ensuring the trust delivers an excellent education to pupils while maintaining effective financial management and must ensure compliance with:

- the trust’s charitable objects

- regulatory, contractual and statutory requirements

- their funding agreement

Members ensure that the Board of Trustees and governance generally functions well. 

Key responsibilities will include:

Directing Trustees:  In rare events, Members can, by special resolution, direct Trustees to take a specific action where Trustees are unable, or unwilling to act in the best interests of the Trust.

Appointing and removing Members and Trustees:  Subject to the Articles of Association and Terms of References, all Members and most Trustees are appointed by existing Members.

Amending the Articles of Association: Members can amend the Articles of Association (in some cases, subject to Charity Commission approval), change the name of the Trust and wind it up. Local governance arrangements.

Appointing auditors:  Members appoint auditors to carry out the annual external audit function.  Internal auditors are appointed by trustees.

About you

We are looking for individuals who can bring independent judgement, integrity and a commitment to good governance.

You will ideally have:

• An interest in education and charitable governance
• Strong strategic thinking and decision-making skills
• The ability to provide constructive challenge and scrutiny
• Good communication and interpersonal skills
• A commitment to acting in the best interests of the organisation
• An understanding of accountability, leadership and organisational oversight

Previous experience as a trustee, governor, board member or senior leader would be beneficial but is not essential.

About the organisation

The organisation is a trust that was formed to provide opportunities for collaboration, support, and challenge for the schools of Derby while allowing each school to retain its identity and accountability to its local community. 

Areas of expertise you may have experience with could include: Finance, education, legal, estates management, compliance, charity work, health.

About us:

Tell My Truth and Shame the Devil C.I.C is a pioneering Podcast/Youtube Channel and healing membership organisation. We provide a platform for survivors and whistleblowers  to share their lived experiences, highlight systemic frustrations and offer solutions rooted in culturally trauma-informed care.Our membership offers young people and survivors a path to heal, learn digital skills and interactively participate in our Alchemic 369 Book Club, where members engage in weekly interactive discussions, debates and critical analysis of African, Caribbean and world history, Ifa, classics and political thought. Members will sharpen their reading, reasoning and imagination skills, with opportunities to discuss works directly with authors ,highly subsidised plant-based transformative retreats and join a community designed to empower and educate.

We are a mission-driven, collective-focused C.I.C building a movement that combines healing, re-education and empowerment.

Our content focuses on:

•      Survivors’ of CSA, RSA, CT, CA stories
•   Whistleblowers and retired-experts
•      Generational trauma and healing
•   Youth empowerment and education
•   Community transformation through honest storytelling

Our mission is to challenge generational cycles, expose hidden truths, fight for justice and create a platform rooted in authenticity, deep healing, and transformation.

Job Purpose:

At this early stage, we are looking for someone who can actively help us:

•      open doors,
•      create opportunities,
•      build relationships,
•      secure sponsorship conversations,
•      and develop long-term corporate partnerships that support our growth and impact.

This is not a passive administrative role.
 We are looking for someone who is energetic, resilient, organised, and excited by the challenge of helping grow a meaningful organisation through strategic outreach and sales efforts.

 About the role:

Corporate Outreach & Partnership Development

•      Research and identify aligned companies, organisations, brands, and institutions
•      Reach out to potential sponsors and corporate partners via email, LinkedIn, phone calls, and networking
•      Build relationships with decision-makers and partnership leads
•      Arrange meetings, partnership discussions, and sponsorship opportunities

What You Will Gain

This is where you make it real and compelling:

•       role experience in a purpose-driven media company
•       The opportunity to build and own an entire sales system from scratch
•       Direct involvement in a platform advocating for justice, healing, and truth
•       Hands-on experience managing and scaling outreach activity
•       A clear pathway into a paid roles as we scale
•       Long-term opportunities as the organisation grows (team expansion, global reach, partnerships)
•       Top performers transition into paid roles as the C.I.C scales and secures funding.”
•        Identity Shift

 We don’t operate on individualism—we build through collectivism, meaning:
  As the platform grows, your role, influence, and opportunities grow with it

Additional Notes

This role is not suitable if you:

•      Prefer low-responsibility volunteer work
•      Avoid handling sensitive data or detailed reporting
•      Are seeking immediate paid employment
•      Are uncomfortable applying analysis to strategic decisions

Next Steps:
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to:

● A practical discussion about event planning, coordination and execution

Our Interview Style & Vision

At Tell My Truth and Shame the Devil, we believe some of the deepest conversations happen outside of traditional media environments.

Nature creates openness, grounding, vulnerability, reflection, peace, and authenticity.

Our interview style focuses on:

• real conversations,

• emotional honesty,

• human connection,

• calm environments,

• and cinematic storytelling through authentic settings.

This is about creating meaningful experiences rather than manufactured media moments.

Key Responsibilities

Hosting & Interviewing

• Conduct emotionally intelligent and engaging interviews

• Create a safe, respectful, and comfortable environment for guests

• Guide meaningful conversations around lived experiences, healing, trauma, growth, transformation, and truth-telling

• Represent the platform professionally and compassionately

Story & Guest Development

• Identify and connect with potential guests and storytellers

• Build relationships with survivors, advocates, community voices, and inspiring individuals

• Help develop compelling story ideas and conversation themes

• Collaborate with outreach and production teams where stories are already sourced

Outdoor & Field-Based Filming

• Conduct interviews in natural or visually meaningful environments

• Ensure recordings are captured clearly and professionally

• Use high-quality smartphones or filming equipment where available

• Pay attention to lighting, sound quality, environment, and presentation

Examples of locations may include:

• beaches,

• riversides,

• forests,

• rooftops,

• mountain settings,

• parks,

• countryside locations,

• or culturally meaningful community spaces.

Community Representation

• Act as a positive representative of the platform and mission

• Build trust and connection within communities

• Help create conversations that encourage awareness, healing, empowerment, and education

Equipment & Requirements

Hosts should ideally have access to:

• Minimum a high-quality smartphone with strong video capability

• Reliable internet and communication access

• Basic understanding of lighting and filming environments

• Confidence communicating on camera and in public environments

Professional filming experience is welcomed but not required.

Authenticity, emotional intelligence, and communication ability are more important than perfection.

Ideal Candidate

We are looking for individuals who are:

• natural communicators,

• emotionally intelligent,

• calm and grounded,

• confident speaking with people from different backgrounds,

• passionate about storytelling and human connection,

• creative and self-motivated,

• and aligned with the mission of truth, healing, and empowerment.

This role may suit people interested in:

• podcasting,

• presenting,

• journalism,

• media,

• storytelling,

• advocacy,

• mental health awareness,

• social impact,

• filmmaking,

• content creation,

• community leadership,

• or public speaking.

What You Will Gain

• Real-world hosting and interviewing experience

• Opportunity to build a public profile and media presence

• Portfolio-building opportunities across podcasting and storytelling

• Networking and relationship-building opportunities

• Experience working within a growing media and advocacy platform

• Creative freedom and personal growth opportunities

• Leadership and media mentorship

• Opportunity to develop your own audience and storytelling identity

• Potential future paid opportunities and long-term media career pathways

• Direct pathway into a future paid role

• The chance to help build a nationally recognised media and survivor-support platform

• COS opportunities for top performing staff members 

This role is designed as a long-term pathway opportunity to a paid position and lifestyle transformation.

We don’t operate on individualism—we build through collectivism, meaning:
  As the platform grows, your role, influence, and opportunities grow with it

PR )Help us raise awareness, grow our community and bring more smiles to children across the UK.

Make a Smile is looking for a proactive, creative PR Officer to help share our story. If you enjoy communicating, building relationships and spotting opportunities, this role offers a meaningful way to make an impact.

What You’ll Do

• Seek out PR opportunities locally and nationally
• Build relationships with newspapers, radio, TV, university media and online platforms
• Pitch stories, arrange interviews and support chapters with media engagement
• Help organise university Instagram/TikTok takeovers and newsletter features
• Attend networking events and build connections with supporters and public figures
• Ensure our social media pages are high‑quality and on‑brand
• Work with the Website and Video Officers to share media features and create inspiring content
• Add interested contacts to our mailing list and help produce a monthly newsletter

Who This Role Suits

You don’t need formal PR experience - just enthusiasm and confidence. You’ll thrive if you:

• Enjoy writing, storytelling or creating content
• Feel comfortable reaching out to people and building relationships
• Are proactive and organised
• Have an interest in media, marketing, journalism or communications
• Want to gain experience in PR within a supportive charity environment
• Care about Make a Smile’s mission and want to help us reach more families

What You’ll Help Us Achieve

• Greater visibility for Make a Smile 
• Stronger volunteer recruitment and fundraising 
• Consistent, high‑quality branding across chapters
• More opportunities to showcase the impact of our work

Seeking support with childcare for children aged 0-12 for a Community Arts project in Vauxhall. We are looking for a volunteer to join experienced childcare providers.

The Amies Projects (part of Pan Intercultural Arts) are music and drama projects for women survivors of human trafficking, providing an uplifting and empowering space for participants to make friends, learn new skills and get creative together. We hold several sessions each week and provide childcare for all the participants who need it, with 2 childcare team members during each session. The sessions for the participants are in an adjacent room to the childcare space, meaning parents are in the same building.

Key Info

Sessions are 2 hours long

We share a meal before starting sessions, and have a short debrief afterwards

Project is based in Vauxhall

Induction training provided (building induction, safeguarding, boundaries)

Sessions are term time only

Availability

We are seeking weekly childcare support for the following sessions (term time only):

Mondays 17:45-20:00

Tuesdays 14:15-16:00

Tuesdays 17:45-20:00

Essential

Some experience looking after children aged 0-12

Willingness to undergo Enhanced DBS check

Desirable

Understanding of safeguarding (we will offer training if not)

Description of role

To support the childcare practitioner with providing supervision of young people aged 0-12. During the session there is no set curriculum to follow. We encourage children to be creative, offering arts supplies eg play doh and crayons, as well as toys for creative play. Children will have food during the session, which will be provided either by the charity or by the parents depending on the age and preferences. Children will need to be supported to use the toilet, nappies changed etc. We ask that volunteers alert staff of any safeguarding issues arising.

Become an Independent Visitor to be matched one to one with a young person in care. You will meet once or twice a month to take them out to do fun activities together. This is an opportunity for our young people to develop a healthy relationship with a trusted adult, have fun and share their worries and feelings if they are ready to do so.

We'll provide full training, all your expenses and ongoing support from dedicated staff. 

This is an opportunity for you to build skills and knowledge within social care and test yourself with real life experience of a young person in care.

We're looking for enthusiastic, committed people to bring their experience, skills and positivity to the lives of young people who have been through tough times. We will be providing training on the following subjects.

Session 1 Introduction to IV and the Care system
Session 2 Trauma, Attachment and Growth
Session 3 Safeguarding
Session 4 Communications and Boundaries
Session 5 The Role Of The IV

Become an Independent Visitor to be matched one to one with a young person in care. You will meet once or twice a month to take them out to do fun activities together. This is an opportunity for our young people to develop a healthy relationship with a trusted adult, have fun and share their worries and feelings if they are ready to do so.

We'll provide full training, all your expenses and ongoing support from dedicated staff. 

This is an opportunity for you to build skills and knowledge within social care and test yourself with real life experience of a young person in care.

We're looking for enthusiastic, committed people to bring their experience, skills and positivity to the lives of young people who have been through tough times. We will be providing training on the following subjects.

Session 1 Introduction to IV and the Care system
Session 2 Trauma, Attachment and Growth
Session 3 Safeguarding
Session 4 Communications and Boundaries
Session 5 The Role Of The IV

Learn to Love to Read offers one-to-one support to children who find learning to read challenging, in schools and online via Zoom.Our In-school volunteers are asked to commit 90 minutes, one afternoon a week, usually between 1-3 pm.
Our virtual volunteers are asked to commit 30-60 minutes, one afternoon a week, usually between 4-6 pm.

Full training and ongoing support is provided for all volunteers to provide them with a framework which supports children's reading skills, while also building their self-esteem, confidence and love of reading. Our volunteers support the same children each week, providing 20 minutes of one-to-one support for the whole academic year. This ensures a consistent and rewarding experience for both the volunteer and the children.

In Wandsworth, post-COVID, 20% of Key Stage 1 and 25% of Key Stage 2 children did not reach the expected standard of reading in summer 2025. Low literacy is linked to poverty and social exclusion, limiting options in life. Early literacy intervention is crucial to break this cycle. School closures due to COVID-19 have been tough for children from disadvantaged families.
 

Please note we only work with schools in the London borough of Wandsworth and all our volunteers need to live in or within easy reach of that borough. 

In line with Safer Recruitment, all applicants are asked to complete an application form, provide references, take part in a face-to-face interview and ID check, and attend online training which includes safeguarding. All volunteers must have an enhanced DBS check which we arrange on your behalf. You will also be required to obtain checks from any country in which you've lived for more than three months from the age of 16 in line with Wandsworth's guidance. Once you have registered, we’ll send you a link to the application form.

Learn to Love to Read is committed to working without bias and offering equal opportunities for our volunteers. We are committed to valuing diversity and working inclusively across all our activities. Our aim is that everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

THE ROLE

The Safeguarding Trustee acts as the Board’s lead on safeguarding, providing strategic oversight, guidance, and challenge to ensure the highest standards of safeguarding practice across the organisation.

You will:

• Provide strategic oversight of safeguarding policy and practice
• Support and challenge the organisation to maintain high standards
• Ensure safeguarding is embedded in governance and decision-making
• Ensure safeguarding risks are appropriately reflected in the risk register
• Work closely with the Chair, Charity Director, and safeguarding lead to promote a strong safeguarding culture across the organisation.

WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR

We would welcome applications from people who have:

• Experience or knowledge of safeguarding children and young people
• An understanding of safeguarding legislation or guidance
• Good judgement, integrity, and the ability to think strategically

Trustee experience is not essential—we will support your development.

WHY JOIN US?

Blue Smile is a children’s mental health charity dedicated to transforming the mental health and life chances of children across Cambridgeshire through arts-based therapies. We support over 200 children each week, working closely with schools and families.

This is a meaningful opportunity to contribute your expertise to a well-respected charity and help make a lasting difference to children’s mental health.

We are committed to diversity and inclusion and welcome applications from all backgrounds.