Introduction by our Chair

Thank you so much for your interest in volunteering with Off the Record Bath and North East Somerset. (OTR BaNES). This applicant pack aims to give you more insight into the role of being a trustee with OTR and the types of roles that we are looking to fill.

OTR is seeking 5-6 volunteer trustees to join us at an exciting time of development for the charity.  We are looking for trustees who have some specific experience or expertise in one or more of the following areas:

• Finance (Treasurer)
• Digital/Tech
• HR/Employment Law
• Young Person (18-25 years old)
• Working with/identifying with communities of social and economic deprivation, people of colour and boys/young men.

We welcome candidates for the trustee roles from all backgrounds, but we will prioritise those who will help us to continue to diversify the team.

We are particularly keen to appoint trustees with lived experience that reflects an aspect of the lives of the young people we serve and aspire to serve. In our new strategy we have committed to increasing the proportion of young people accessing our services from communities where health and wellbeing issues are more prevalent: people from low income backgrounds, people of colour and boys and young men. We are committed to creating an equitable environment where all can thrive. We will ensure that the recruitment process and decision making has representation of both age and other forms of diversity.

You will be joining an active and supportive team of trustees at an exciting time for our well established and highly regarded charity. The role will be challenging at times but very rewarding. It will provide invaluable experience and the opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of young people. We meet as a Board six times a year, plus some additional meetings for any subgroups and other trustee activities. We’ll provide you with a full and thorough induction, and give you the chance to meet staff, volunteers and most importantly the young people we serve.

In this pack, you will find more details about this trustee role, and specifics about the sort of people we are looking for.

If you are interested any of the roles, or unsure which one might be for you, feel free to reach out to our Director, Phil for an informal discussion. We really encourage an informal chat if you want to ask any questions or find out more. We look forward to hearing from you.

Off the Record exists to improve the emotional health and wellbeing of young people by providing them with a safe space to be themselves. In our new strategy we have committed to increasing the proportion of young people accessing our services from communities where health and wellbeing issues are more prevalent: people from low income backgrounds, people of colour and boys and young men.

To do this we are looking to appoint 1-2 trustees with lived experience, or have relevant professional knowledge and understanding of these specific areas to continue to inform and guide our decision making.

The Trustees of Off the Record are committed to becoming a board that better represents the young people we serve. We welcome all applications, even if you don’t feel you fulfil all aspects of the role.

The purpose of the role

To ensure the Board of Trustees has appropriate information and oversight of our performance and development in these key areas of work across the organisation:

• Bringing their experience and expertise to the Board and OTR to help inform strategic developments and services
• Supporting the Director and SMT to monitor, track and learn from our delivery in these areas.
• Supporting the OTR consider wider learning and benchmarking happening within these areas across the UK and third sector.
• Supporting and challenging OTR to establish and maintain increased proportion of service delivery to these under-represented groups.

What we are looking for

We are looking for trustees with lived experience, or who has relevant professional knowledge and understanding of the three identified areas in our strategy, which are; reaching people of low income status, increasing our reach and access to people from racially minoritized communities and boys and young men.

You do not necessarily need to have any experience of being a trustee, and OTR will give you a full induction and individual support to help you develop into this role.