Trustee Vacancy

Trustee Vacancy

Voluntary role

Meetings every 6 weeks

Closing date 4th August 2025

Who We Are

Founded in 1899, Birmingham Settlement works at the heart of Birmingham’s communities to tackle social inequality and support people to lead happy, healthy, fulfilling lives. 

We focus on financial inclusion, community and environmental action, wellbeing, empowering individuals and bringing people together to build stronger communities.

Over the past few years, we have been through an exciting period of change and growth including the development of two new sites; our Nature and Wellbeing Centre by Edgbaston Reservoir and our Sports and Community Centre in Kingstanding. As we build on this work, we are now looking to refresh and grow our Board of Trustees to help us deliver and grow the safe, high-quality services and opportunities our communities want, deserve and expect.

About the Role

We’re seeking trustees who share our values and can help guide our governance, grow our charity and partnerships, proactively seek new opportunities, help develop strategy and make decisions and support us to achieve our bold vision. 

We welcome people from all backgrounds and are keen for our board to reflect the diversity of our city. While experience and understanding of charity law and governance can be useful, most importantly is the willingness to support the values and aims of the Settlement.

So if you’ve never been a trustee before, don’t worry. What matters most is your enthusiasm, your willingness to learn and your desire to help others. We’ll provide a warm welcome and the guidance and support you need to feel confident in your role.

Who We’re Looking For

We’re seeking forward-looking, committed and enthusiastic people who want to share their time to support our mission.

We’re not expecting you to have previous board experience – what matters most is that you care about making a difference in Birmingham and are willing to get involved. We’re particularly keen to welcome new voices and perspectives. If you’re passionate about fairness, community and opportunity, read on!

 We’re looking for people that:

• Care about our mission and understand the needs of the communities we support.
• Can be committed and give the necessary time and energy to the role.
• Bring good judgement, creativity, fresh thinking and a willingness to speak up – even if it means asking challenging questions.
• Work co-operatively as part of a team, listening to others and contributing to shared decisions.
• Help us spread the word about Birmingham Settlement and what we do, using networks or ideas to help raise our profile.
• Support fundraising events and activities, whether by attending, championing or helping out.
• Can share skills, knowledge or experience (whatever they may be!) to help us make informed decisions and grow our impact.
• Are open to learning about things like managing risk, governance and charity responsibilities – we’ll support you with this.
• Be a positive advocate for our work, and play a part in helping Birmingham Settlement reduce inequality in the city.
• Take time to visit our projects and get a real feel for the work we do and the challenges our communities face.

We particularly welcome applications from the communities that we support, from women, young people, and people with lived experience, and are currently keen to add marketing, income generation and business skills to our team, but we recognise not everyone will have all those skills at the same time, and this list is by no means exhaustive!

Our Values

We’re looking for trustees who are commitment to social justice and share our organisational values of being:

• Committed
• Non-Judgemental
• Accountable – with integrity, honesty and transparency
• Caring
• Enabling
• Responsive

What’s Involved?

Trustees meet every 6 weeks for around two hours, rotating between our centres in Kingstanding and Ladywood, with flexibility to join meetings online, although in-person is preferred.

This is a voluntary position, but we can reimburse reasonable expenses and provide refreshments at meetings.

You will be required to prepare in advance for Board and Committee meetings, and between meetings you may be involved in emails or discussions – typically contributing 2–6 hours per month. How much you get involved beyond that is up to you.

What You Get In Return

Becoming a trustee is a rewarding experience. As a trustee with Birmingham Settlement, you’ll benefit from:

• Valuable experience in leadership, strategy and governance for personal or professional growth.
• Skills development and training in areas like decision-making, teamwork, risk management and understanding how charities work.
• A warm welcome and support, including an induction and opportunities to learn as you go.
• The chance to make a real difference in people’s lives and help shape a fairer future for Birmingham.
• Insight into the voluntary and community sector, and the complex challenges faced by communities.
• Opportunities to build your network, meet new people and be part of a committed team.
• A sense of purpose being part of a charity that’s been supporting people in Birmingham for over 125 years.

How to Apply

If you’re ready to help shape the future of Birmingham Settlement we’d love to hear from you. Please visit the vacancies section of our Birmingham Settlement website for further details about this post and how to apply.

To get a feel of our values and our overarching mission, please take a look at the About Us section of our website.

Closing Date: Monday 4th August 2025

Birmingham Settlement is committed to Equality of Opportunity and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. Registered charity number 517303