We are recruiting a new Chair! This role offers an opportunity for you to make a real difference to the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
About New Citizens’ Gateway
New Citizens’ Gateway helps refugees and asylum seekers deal with the very challenging circumstances that they find themselves in. We seek to help these people to recover from their often traumatic experiences and to start rebuilding their lives in the UK.
New Citizens’ Gateway is the working name of Barnet Refugee Service which is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee.
What will you be doing?
A summary of the Chair’s responsibilities are:
· Coordination of the Board of Trustees to enable the trust to fulfil its purpose.
· Provide leadership to the organisation and to the Board by ensuring that everyone remains focused on the delivery of the organisation’s charitable purpose in order to provide greater public benefit.
· To encourage an effective relationship between:
– the Board of Trustees and the staff/volunteers
– the Board of Trustees and the external stakeholders/community
This role is mainly home-based.
What are we looking for?
We are interested to hear from individuals with:
Charity governance experience / Trustee experience as a minimum
· Knowledge and experience of best practice and good governance relevant to charities and the main requirements of the Charity Commission
· Proven organisational leadership & management skills with experience of operating at a senior strategic level with an organisation
· Ability to motivate staff and volunteers and bring people together
Significant experience in chairing meetings and events
· Ability to make decisions and facilitate good decision-making
· Ability to foster and promote a collaborative team environment
Strong leader & delegator
Passion and understanding in relation to working with vulnerable people (refugees, homeless, drug addiction, etc.)
Experience working in the charity sector (trustee, volunteer or staff)
Financial literacy (a basic understanding of charity finance)
Although not specifically required, we would welcome candidates with:
· Skills and experience in gathering client or public input , capturing and then acting to respond
· Experience in developing external communications through networking, PR and social media
· Lived experience or has worked closely with refugees or asylum seekers
A full person description can be found in the candidate pack attached.
What difference will you make?
Being a Trustee and now Chair of NCG has been and continues to be a great privilege. It is a chance to do profoundly meaningful work helping some of the most vulnerable people in our society using my skills and experience. But at the same time the opportunity to learn a tremendous amount that is new to me, to work as a team and make new good friends. I feel very lucky.
Conor Doyle – Trustee/Chair
Commitment:
Estimate of time needed: one to three hours per week.
The time commitment includes 6 formal meetings (5 trustee meetings and 1 AGM). We estimate a time commitment of 2 days a month is required.