Community CVS is currently seeking new Trustees.
How to apply and the selection process
- Step One: Complete the trustee nomination form and return it to Clair Bloomfield – clair.bloomfield@communitycvs.org.uk.
- Step Two: The Chair and CEO will arrange to meet with you to discuss the role and you can ask any questions about the role or about Community CVS.
- Step Three: The Chair and CEO will present a report to the CVS Board of Trustees, who will consider your application and make a decision on whether to co-opt you onto the Board or not.
- Step Four: you will attend board meetings until the next Annual General Meeting when the board and yourself will jointly decide whether to put you forward to the membership for a 3 year term of office.
- Step Five: The AGM will decide on whether to offer you a 3 year term of office. At the end of the 3 year term, with the members approval – your term of office can be extended for another 3 year cycle.
Expectations of a Trustee
As a Trustee and a Director on the CVS Board of Trustees, trustees are expected to:
- be aware of your legal responsibilities to ensure that the organisation complies with its governing document, charity law, company law and any other relevant legislation or regulations and ensure that the organisation pursues its objects as defined in the governing document and manages resources effectively in pursuit of its objects.
- contribute actively to the board of trustees’ giving firm strategic direction to the organisation, setting overall policy, defining goals and setting targets and evaluating performance against agreed targets.
- attend CVS Board of Trustees meetings regularly. Meetings are arranged at the beginning of the year and trustees are expected to prioritise these.
- understand and be committed to the CVS mission, vision & values, strategy and policies.
- be interested in and be committed to the four pillars: providing leadership to and advocacy for voluntary and community action; building collaborations and partnerships across the sector and with our public and private sector partners; providing capacity building, development, training and practical support to civil society organisations and our local communities; and developing a vibrant volunteering eco-system.
- share in the governance of CVS, performing the duties of a trustee and director, and sitting on sub committees and taking a lead role in areas that align to your skills and experience.
- represent CVS on other bodies and/or events as agreed and report back to the CVS Board on the work done on its behalf.
- support all decisions once they have been reached by the CVS Board of Trustees and delegating their implementation to the CVS Senior Leadership Team.
- be willing to participate in training and strategy meetings.
- ensure that your employing body accept time commitment involved in their full participation as a CVS trustee, as above.
As a general rule, this will involve between 4 and 15 days work per year. The usual term of office is for three years for a trustee whose appointment has been approved at a CVS AGM or as a co-opted member until the next AGM when the CVS Board can recommend your appointment on a 3 year basis to the membership. Trustees are eligible to continue being on the Board on a 3 year cycle, so long as the AGM confirms their continuation.
There are normally six CVS board of trustees meetings each year and a calendar of dates are normally set each year at the November meeting.
As a corporate body the CVS Board of Trustees collectively:
- accepts legal responsibility for CVS which is a Company Limited by Guarantee;
- trustees are therefore also Directors of the Company;
- accepts responsibility for being the employer for the staff; and
- determining the overall policy framework for the senior leadership and staff teams to work within.