---

---

Location

Bracknell, Berkshire | United Kingdom

---

Job description

Do you have financial skills and enthusiasm to help an organisation that supports disabled people?

You could be the next Treasurer for Bracknell Shopmobility.

What will you be doing?

Set up in 2004, Bracknell Shopmobility are the independent charity helping local people’s disability needs, from hire of mobility scooters to advice on disability aids and assistance. We run mobility scooter hire from our shop in central Bracknell, with our community café and fundraising activities, plus contact with professionals who can advise on issues faced by disabled people. In Summer 2022 we obtained National Lottery funding to transform the charity; we’re thus looking for financial leadership to help trustees and volunteers build and enact our strategy for the future.

In 2021/22 our income was £64k. Our Reserves have been maintained at 1½ years running costs, despite pandemic and cost-of-living times: we now need to robustly plan for our future growth.

About our Board of trustees

Our Board includes people with experience and skills in managing the charity, with some newer trustees. We’d expect our new Treasurer to have empathy with our cause and our beneficiaries, as well as good financial acumen.

Although we’d welcome your financial qualification, that’s not a prerequisite, as our finances aren’t complex. You also don’t necessarily need prior experience of charity trusteeship, and while an understanding of how charity finance works would be beneficial, of course, the ability to communicate financial information clearly, especially to other trustees, is very important. Support from our employees is always available, as they will be dealing with the day-to-day finances. Full induction to our organisation will be provided, plus specialist support including access to external training.

Note that we are also recruiting a new Chair of the Board, and together you will help steer our future.

We are a charity not a business, but we apply business principles to governing our organisation. We are looking for fresh expertise and experience from a variety of backgrounds to our charity; we want to expand the diversity of our Board, in all meanings of the word, and strongly welcome applications from a wide variety of people, including those with less experience of the charity sector. 

What are we looking for?

Here is some of what we would expect from our trustees. We know that you may also need training and support from other trustees and from external organisations, and that that will be forthcoming, as necessary, to build on any area.

• Clear commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, valuing differences to make better decisions and deliver better outcomes
• Understanding of the needs of our beneficiaries is desirable; an empathy with them is essential
• Experience and knowledge of managing finances, bookkeeping or similar
• Experience and knowledge of current practice relevant to voluntary and community groups, charities or SME finance would be useful; an outline understanding of the Charities SORP would be welcome
• A recognised financial and/or accounting qualification would be highly beneficial but is not a prerequisite
• Ability to communicate financial information clearly, especially to other trustees whose in-depth financial knowledge may be less than yours
• Skills to analyse proposals, examine their strategic financial consequences and make concise recommendations as part of the trustees’ team
• Ability to cooperatively work with the team of trustees, bringing impartiality and objectivity to decision-making
• Skills and ability to listen, even to dissenting views
• Willingness to speak your mind and to challenge other trustees and employees with good intent; able to make unpopular recommendations to the Board, if necessary
• Commitment to the organisation; willingness and ability to devote the necessary time & effort
• Experience of committee or similar work, with an understanding of the role of the Treasurer in effective (charity or corporate) governance, would be highly-valued
• Willingness to be available to our bookkeeper and employees/volunteers with financial responsibilities on a scheduled or ad-hoc basis to provide advice and answer enquiries

What do you get?

• An opportunity to exercise your strategic financial & planning skills, probably in a different context 
• New skills and expansion of your experience of charities
• An opportunity to influence and collectively-govern an organisation supporting disabled people
• The personal reward of giving back to the community
• Boost to your career or CV, if needed
• Induction, training, support from us and from charity-support organisations

What difference will you make?

What do we get?  

• Your strategic financial management skills, knowledge, understanding or experience 
• Your abilities to influence plans for our charity’s financial future
• Enhancement to our overall governance and the Board of trustees
• Your participation in our collective decision-making, contributing to all areas of our charity work
• Your enthusiasm

What do our beneficiaries get?  

• The ability to continue our support to disabled people in Bracknell
• A well-governed charity, financially sustainable for the future
• A forward-looking and agile organisation, with a well-informed Board

Before you apply

Your CV or similar will be read by our trustees; an interview offered to candidates as soon as mutually convenient.  

Appointments are subject to satisfactory references and satisfactory completion of an Enhanced DBS check. 

A detailed Role Description & Person Specification can be made available to you upon request.

I need to know more

Contact Mike Allen via the Reach platform for more information and arrange to have a no-obligation initial informal discussion (Teams/Zoom/phone) and explanation about this important role.

Causes

• Voluntary sector support

Organisation type: 

Charity

inVOLve Community Services is a charity that supports other local charities and community groups, by recruiting trustees for other charities, and now operate some...

---

Job tags

---

---

Salary

£64k per annum