About the appointment
Introduction
The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust is seeking two new Trustees to join its dynamic and ambitious Board. The Trust, as both a charity and a Non-Departmental Public Body, supports delivery of the Armed Forces Covenant Fund of £10M, and facilitates funding on behalf of other bodies including the Office for Veterans Affairs, and HM Treasury. These are delivered through grant making to organisations both within and outside the Service charity sector, and last year the Trust facilitated £31.7M in grant programmes. We are seeking a Trustee with senior level experience in grant making and one with extensive knowledge of human resources.
Introduction from the Chair
As Chair of the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust (The Trust) I would like to thank you for your interest in this appointment and encourage you to read further.
The Trust is a grant making charity, created in 2015 and a Non-Departmental Public Body; it receives a £10m grant in aid from the Ministry of Defence annually (known as the Armed Forces Covenant Fund). As a grant maker supporting the whole Armed Forces community, the Trust ensures the funds we manage are tackling the varying needs of the Armed Forces, their families, and veterans and their families and to also provide positive opportunities for their wellbeing and integration into the communities in which they live.
The Armed Forces Covenant is the nation’s enduring commitment to those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families. It ensures that they should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services, and that they are treated fairly and deserving of our respect and support. The Covenant also ensures, where appropriate, that those who have given most for their country are provided special consideration, such as injured service personnel and veterans and bereaved families.
You can find out more about our work here: https://covenantfund.org.uk/
The Trust is seeking two Independent Members of the Board of Trustees who will join a dynamic team of senior military and government officials from across the UK. The Board is comprised of a majority of independent members.
This is an exciting opportunity to play a leading role in the Trust. The successful candidates will help the Trust remain at the forefront of supporting and delivering the Armed Forces Covenant promise by helping to deliver funding programmes that address disadvantage due to Service and support for those who have given the most, across all corners of the United Kingdom. Since becoming an independent charity and Non-Departmental Public Body in 2018, the work of the Trust has been hugely successful in supporting numerous programmes for the benefit of the Armed Forces community, including in response to COVID-19, veterans mental health and wellbeing and reducing isolation.
We are looking for a diverse range of candidates who can complement the skills and experiences of the current board members.
I wish you the best of luck with your application and thank you again for your interest.
Hans Pung
Appointment description
Main Responsibilities
The Board is the principal governing body within the Trust and, as such, Trustees are responsible for:
• Establishing and taking forward the strategic aims and objectives of the Trust within its regulatory framework and policy framework determined by the Secretary of State for Defence;
• Overseeing, and holding to account, the day-to-day leadership of the Trust;
• Ensuring that adequate governance, audit and control systems are in place to ensure statutory and administrative requirements are met, including that the Trust operates within its statutory authority and delegated authority given by the MOD, in accordance with any other conditions relating to the use of public funds, charity law; and that, in reaching strategic (but not individual grant) decisions, the Board takes into account guidance issued by MOD;
• Monitoring and ensuring the effective management of risk, including reputational risk, and communicating these to the MOD;
• Ensuring that the responsible Minister is kept informed of any changes that are likely to impact on the strategic direction of the Trust’s Board or on the attainability of its targets, and determining the steps needed to deal with such changes;
• Maintaining adequate oversight of the Trust’s activities, in particular its finances, to ensure that public money is spent with probity in accordance with government policy and guidelines; and
The location of this role is remote, with occasional travel to London.
Organisation description
The Trust was established to distribute £10M per annum in perpetuity from 2015 onwards in order to fund projects that support the aims of the Armed Forces Covenant and in particular projects that support the Armed Forces community locally, regionally and across the whole of the United Kingdom. In April 2018, an independent charity, the Armed Forces Covenant Trust Fund was set up to administer the Covenant Fund as a charitable trust. The Trust is registered with the Charity Commission and governed by its Trustees.
The Trust’s strategic aims are:
To make grants to support the Armed Forces Covenant. This Framework exists to enable that aim to be achieved in a timely, effective and transparent manner.
To ensure that the distribution of monies addresses one or more of the following themes:
• Non-core healthcare services for veterans;
• Removing barriers to family life;
• Extra support both in and after service for those that need help; and/or
• Measures to integrate military and civilian communities and allow the Armed Forces community to participate as citizens.
The Trust is administratively classified by the Cabinet Office as a Non-Departmental Public Body. It is also a charity.
Board composition
The board composition is:
• Chair, Independent :
• Hans Pung
Member, non-executive, independent:
• Victoria Wilson;
• Frances Nash;
• Wendy Cartwright;
• Lieutenant General Sir Nick Pope;
• Sarah Clewes;
• Jonathan Bell;
Member, government official:
• Major General James Senior;
• John Mooney;
• Captain Caroline Dix;
• Anisha Worbs;
• Peter Kellam;
• Zoe Bishop
Person specification
Essential criteria
• A willingness to devote the necessary time and effort (up to 12 days a year for Board Meetings, Sub-Committees and Stakeholder events)
• Senior-level experience as an executive or non-executive board member dealing with complex matters and multi-million-pound expenditure
• Good, independent judgement with an ability to think creatively and contribute to board discussions.
• An understanding and acceptance of the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of trusteeship.
• An ability to work effectively as a member of an inclusive team.
• A commitment to Nolan’s seven principles of public life: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.
• Specialist knowledge of either:
• Human Resources and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (to chair the Remuneration and Nominations Committee, and ideally to be a member of the Audit and Risk Committee).
• Grant making (to chair the Grant Making Sub Committee).
Desirable criteria
• Knowledge/experience of the Armed Forces Community.
• Knowledge of the voluntary sector.
• Experience of working in or with a Non-Departmental Public Body