Thank you for your interest in joining the Board of NatWest Social & Community Capital.
We are currently seeking to appoint up to two Trustees to join the board of NatWest Social & Community Capital (S&CC). S&CC’s Board of Trustees play an essential role, guiding the organisation, shaping its strategy, and ensuring that it meet its statutory obligations.
Who we are & what we do
NatWest Social & Community Capital is an independent charity, supported by NatWest. We were set up in 1999 to help bridge the gap between grants and mainstream finance for purpose-led businesses. Our mission is to enable social enterprises, charities, and community businesses to make a positive impact in UK communities. We achieve this by providing flexible loan finance to social enterprises that are unable to access mainstream funding. Our priority areas of impact are employability, education, and training for those furthest from the labour market, the provision of services to the most disadvantaged and community regeneration.
How we do it
We provide loans of between £30,000 and £750,000, often accompanied by business support. We typically work with social enterprise who are 4 years old, with annual revenues exceeding £300,000, who are looking to take on supportive finance. We aim to address market needs through our loan offering and we’re currently reviewing our approach to investment to develop new and innovative ways to further increase our social impact. We recognise that our investees often benefit from non-financial support, and as such, through partners, we offer additional services including impact measurement, PR and marketing support.
Our funding comes from a £10m NatWest grant; NatWest continue to support us through the provision of three full time, seconded, staff (a CEO and two Loans Officers) as well as providing IT, legal and marketing support.
We also benefit from the support of our volunteer Credit Panel, which consists of a mix of volunteers from the bank and from the impact investment sector. The panel meets fortnightly, acting under delegated authority from the board, to assess new applications and manage the existing portfolio.
The board of trustees
We are governed by a board of trustees. The board consists of up to eight trustees, of whom up to four are senior management from NatWest Bank – who volunteer their time to support the charity – and up to four external trustees who are specialists from the social sector.
S&CC’s Board of Trustees and the CEO assure the delivery of our charitable objectives and the impact of our work. The Board delegates responsibility for management and day-to-day operations to the CEO.
In addition to quarterly board meetings and an annual strategy day, we have three sub-committees:
- Governance and Nominations Committee.
- Finance and Investment Committee.
- Communications & Engagement Committee.
Who we are looking for
This is an unremunerated position[1] which brings rewards other than money. If you want to make a difference in our world, this is a great opportunity to bring your skills, knowledge, and expertise to help us deliver our mission.
Trustees, acting together, must govern the charity, safeguarding its assets and applying them as efficiently and effectively as possible to further the charity’s objects as set out in its governing document.
You will have a commitment to the organisation and its objectives and a personal interest in the charity’s work. You will have integrity, excellent communications skills, and strategic vision.
Specific responsibilities
- Ensure that the organisation complies with its governing documents.
- Ensure that all the charity’s activities are within its objects and within the law and regulations.
- Safeguard the charity’s mission and its good name.
- Fulfil all statutory duties imposed on a trustee by the Charities Act 2011 and a director under the Companies Act 2006.
- Be an advocate of the charity’s mission and work, representing S&CC externally where necessary.
- Work with Trustees and the CEO to develop strategic goals and objectives and monitor the charity’s progress towards the achievement of its strategic goals.
- Be accountable to stakeholders.
- Act in the best interests of present and future investees, setting aside personal interests.
- Attend quarterly board meetings and be available from time-to-time to support the team through correspondence and ad-hoc meetings.
- Devote the necessary time and effort to developing a good understanding of S&CC and its activities, reading papers, and undertaking other preparatory work for meetings as required. It is envisaged that the Trustee will most likely need to devote 4 days per year to the charity.
- Be available to staff for advice and enquiries on an ad hoc basis.
Trustees will be able to
- Identify with, and be motivated by, S&CC’s mission.
- Think innovatively, critically, independently, and strategically.
- Contribute effectively to the Board
- Think creatively and have a willingness to speak openly and constructively.
Specific requirements
For our Trustee appointment, we are specifically interested in people who:
- Have run, are running, or middle management within a social enterprise.
- Have experience of raising impact investment.
- Have experience of operating within our priority areas of impact.
- We are particularly interested to hear from people who have lived experience of our priority areas.
The Board is committed to improving diversity in the charity sector and are particularly keen to receive applications from people based outside of London and members of minority ethnic communities.
[1] Reasonable travel expenses directly incurred in your role as Trustee when attending quarterly meetings in person can be claimed.