Vacancy: Trustee

SameYou are looking for new trustees to help steer the charity.

We don’t expect all our trustees to have all, or indeed any, of the following expertise. However, if candidates do have any of the following skills, we encourage them to include them in their application:

    1. Digital leadership
    2. Finance leadership
    3. Neuro clinician leadership
    4. Nursing leadership
    5. Fundraising leadership

We welcome applications from people with different backgrounds, life experiences and career paths. SameYou is committed to applying values of Diversity and Inclusion in the widest sense. This means that we’re looking for trustees with different backgrounds, careers and life-experience, competencies, professional skills and diversity of thought.

If you would like to apply for the position of Trustee please send your CV, along with a brief covering letter to: [email protected] explaining your interest in SameYou and how you believe you could contribute as a trustee.

Deadline for applications: Monday 21 November 2022

Trustee Recruitment Pack

October 2022

Welcome

Thank you for your interest in becoming a trustee of SameYou.

I became Chair of the charity in 2018 and I am one of a handful of trustees who are responsible for SameYou’s strategic direction and governance.

Emilia Clarke, survived two life-threatening brain haemorrhages while working on Game of Thrones. SameYou was set up to develop better recovery treatment for survivors of brain injury and stroke. We are proud of the impact we have had on patients’ lives and rehabilitation after acquired brain injury but there is a long way to go.

We are a young charity, having launched in March 2019. It is estimated that nearly one in three people will have an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) at some point in their life. Reports say that more than 135 million people worldwide are living with brain injury. This is an underestimate of the scale of the problem due to a lack on focus on brain injury.  

Acquired Brain Injury can affect anyone.  We are keen to ensure that SameYou is representative of all the people affected by ABI. That’s why we want to hear from you whatever your ethnicity, religion, age, neurodiversity, disability status, economic background, gender identity or expression or sexual orientation or any other aspect which makes you unique. 

We’re here to ensure that brain injury survivors feel they haven’t lost the person they were before. Help us do that.

Richard Davidson

Chair of the Board of Trustees

 

Role overview

You will be expected to:

  1. Uphold and adhere to the highest standard of charity governance as set out by the Charity Commission.
  2. Contribute to the strategic direction of SameYou.
  3. Monitor the performance of the Executive team against the organisation’s strategic and operational plans.
  4. Contribute to the identification and monitoring of risk.
  5. Participate in meaningful discussions at Board (and committees) with your expertise, skills, knowledge and experience.
  6. Scrutinise Board papers and ask appropriate questions, challenge and support.
  7. Actively input in to discussions, apply good judgement and contribute to the decision making process.
  8. Have courage to make difficult decisions when required.
  9. Be an inspirational and charismatic ambassador and an advocate at all levels for SameYou, with patients, researchers, policy-makers, volunteers, partners and others.
  10. Maximise your networks and identify opportunities that will benefit SameYou.
  11. Challenge the Board, Executive team and the Board’s advisers constructively, ask questions, be inquisitive and welcome challenge back.
  12. Seek and increase knowledge, understanding and being willing to learn and improve.
  13. Build constructive, positive relationships with other Trustees and staff with a willingness to listen and understand.
  14. Be responsive to a changing world, actively engaging with and learning about developments in the charity sector and beyond.

Trustees’ Code of Conduct

This code sets out the principles expected of SameYou’s Trustees to fulfil their responsibilities. It is based around on three key areas:

  • Maintaining the highest standards of integrity;
  • Ensuring that the organisation is effective, transparent and accountable;
  • Ensuring a good working relationship with the Chief Executive and employees.
  1. Trustees hold themselves accountable to the organisation’s stakeholders including the public, for the Board’s decisions, the performance of the Board and the performance of the organisation.
  2. Except where legally authorised, Trustees should not gain financial or other material benefit for themselves, their families or their friends from their Trusteeship of the charity.
  3. Trustees will conduct themselves in a manner that enhances the reputation of the organisation. Where Trustees are aware of anything that could be damaging to the reputation of the organisation or to its staff individually or collectively this will be raised immediately with the Board and the Chief Executive.
  4. All discussions within the Board (in particular those relating to sensitive or business issues) should remain confidential.
  5. SameYou Trustees will make decisions together and take joint responsibilities for them. Such decisions should be recorded.
  6. Trustees will disclose their interests in the SameYou register of interests.
  7. Trustees will endeavour to maintain links and keep in touch with the organisation through regular contacts or visits, in order to develop a working knowledge of the organisation.
  8. Trustees should act fairly and in accordance with good employment and equal opportunities principles in making decisions affecting the appointment, recruitment, professional development, appraisal, remuneration and discipline of the Chief Executive and other employees.

Legal responsibilities

Your legal responsibilities include:

  1. Ensure SameYou is well run, solvent and delivers its charitable outcomes.
  2. Ensure funds are not placed at undue risk or misused.
  3. Ensure SameYou complies with regulation and law.
  4. Act with integrity and avoid conflicts of interest.
  5. Commit to the improvement of governance and the governing skills of SameYou’s Board of Trustees.

Formal guidance on the responsibilities of trustees is issued by the Charity Commission: see Guidance Note CC03 www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-essentialtrustee-what-you-need-to-know-cc3 which all trustees are given upon appointment.

The commitment

  1. You will be expected to attend four meetings a year – these meetings last up to half a day each. In addition you may be invited to take part in one of our sub committees which meet less frequently and often virtually.
  2. Meetings tend to take place in central London however since the pandemic we have been meeting virtually or in a hybrid way.
  3. You will be encouraged to attend an occasional supporter event or reception.
  4. You may be asked to carry out training on certain aspects of your role or responsibilities.
  5. Whilst this is a trustee role, reasonable travel expenses will be reimbursed.
  6. The term of appointment will be three years but trustees are usually eligible for a further term of three years. However, exceptions may be made to extend this period if this is necessary to maintain scarce skills and experience on the Board.

How to apply

If you would like to apply for the position of Trustee please send your CV, along with a brief covering letter to: [email protected] explaining your interest in SameYou and how you believe you could contribute as a trustee.

For further information on SameYou please visit: https://www.sameyou.org/

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