Supporting people in Rochdale borough to live active, creative, happy and healthy lives
Welcome
I am delighted to invite you to consider the opportunity to become a Trustee and help guide and shape the future development and delivery of this dynamic charity.
We are here to support people to be healthier, happier, and more culturally rich. People are at the heart of what we do. We are passionate about this mission and are committed to building on what we have achieved while continuously striving to improve. To succeed, we know we must evolve - becoming more collaborative with partners and communities, more environmentally sustainable, more inclusive and focused on making a lasting impact.
This is an exciting and pivotal time for us as we continue to bring together community, culture and health to establish ourselves as a leading health and wellbeing charity. With growing opportunities to invest in our people, our work and our facilities, we will continue to make a meaningful difference - and we’d love you to be part of it.
David Gelsthorpe Chair of the Board of Trustees
About Your Trust
Rochdale Boroughwide Cultural Trust, commonly known as Your Trust, is a medium sized charity (turnover £14.5 million) sitting at the heart of the Rochdale borough, providing leisure, culture and community health and wellbeing services.
Working closely with key partners, both within the borough such as Rochdale Borough Council, and at Greater Manchester and national levels, we have an innovative agenda of supporting people to make their lives more active, creative and healthy.
What We Do
We aim to inspire people to live healthier, happier and creative lives through combining cultural and leisure services. We provide state of the art leisure and fitness facilities including swimming pools, gyms and sports halls, as well as managing outdoor sites including a lake and country park offering adventure and water activities. We believe everyone should be able to enjoy the benefits of being active and feeling healthy so we deliver tailored programmes to help those that need us the most, for example, people experiencing ill health, isolation or limited financial means.
We also operate cultural venues offering heritage and fine art exhibitions, local studies library and live performance. We work in schools, community locations and with partners to deliver education, projects, festivals and events which inspire, engage and support our diverse communities and make Rochdale an exciting, creative place to live, work and visit.
Our Values
We love working in Rochdale borough and with its communities. It’s rich history of ideas and innovative social reform inspires us every day to challenge ourselves to innovate and ‘do things differently’ and that has inspired how we work.
• Care: we show our commitment to people and place through the care we take and the quality of our work.
• Excellence: we listen, learn and strive to be the best we can.
• Inclusive: we welcome all. We value diversity, act professionally and with integrity. We treat everyone with understanding, respect and dignity.
• People Focussed: we are people focused and they are at the heart of what we do.
Where We Work
Our main venues across the borough are:
• Arts and Heritage Resource Centre, Rochdale
• Heywood Civic Centre
• Heywood Sports Village
• Hollingworth Lake Adventure and Water Activity Centre
• Littleborough Sports Centre
• Local Studies, Sparth Community Centre
• Middleton Arena
• Rochdale Leisure Centre
• Touchstones Rochdale Museum and Art Gallery
We also work with lots of other venues and community centres boroughwide.
Our quest for new Trustees
Help to guide and support us through our next major phase of development
As a trustee, you will be joining a welcoming and supportive group of individuals who bring a rich mix of skills, experiences and perspectives from all walks of life. Our Board is made up of people who are passionate about making a difference and who value collaboration, learning and mutual respect.
Being a trustee is a rewarding opportunity to contribute to a cause you care about while also developing your own skills and experience.
Our work has never been more relevant, as we continue to support communities through vital services that promote health, wellbeing and cultural engagement.
The Board is focused on strengthening the collaborative partnerships already in place, recognising that working together is key to our future success. We also wish to diversify our Board so that it reflects our community better.
We’re seeking individuals who are talented, passionate and well-connected to help guide us through the next exciting - and ambitious - phase of our development. Over the next five years we will be opening a range of new venues and services and we need trustees that can support us with this important work.
The role can offer valuable personal and professional growth that can support your career or enrich your life more broadly.
We are looking for trustees to support us in developing our approach to:
• Identifying and managing opportunities (and risks) for growth and development. This could be with a commercial focus, or from a social value perspective
• Improving the health of our local communities at a macro and micro level
• Understanding, developing and measuring opportunities for increased social impact
We are interested in people from all walks of life. For example you may be:
• A senior finance or accounting specialist
• A community leader or someone with great knowledge of your local community and its needs
• A leader from a leisure or sporting background or organisation
• A senior marketing specialist
• An equality and diversity expert
• A senior ICT consultant or specialist
The role is voluntary. Prior experience as a Trustee is not necessary.
Our Trustees are asked to commit to a minimum of four formal Board meetings per year, three of which are held online, plus two away days.
There is also an ambassadorial element to the role and from time to time, trustees may be asked to represent the charity at meetings and functions.
We are committed to creating an inclusive Board that reflects our communities. We welcome applications from people of diverse backgrounds and circumstances.
We would be happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that may be required.
Duties / Responsibilities
1. To set and pursue the vision, mission and values of the organisation
2. To ensure that the organisation complies with its governing document, charity law, company law and any other relevant legislation or regulations
3. To ensure that the organisation pursues its objectives as defined in its governing document
4. To ensure the organisation maintains proper financial control and applies its resources exclusively in pursuance of its objectives
5. To contribute actively to the Board of Trustees’ role in giving firm strategic direction to the organisation, setting overall policy, defining goals and setting targets and evaluating performance against agreed targets
6. To oversee the strategic management of risks for all aspects of the organisation
7. To monitor the implementation of internal policies, which must include equality and diversity and health and safety policies
8. To safeguard the good name and values of the organisation in line with principles set out in the Trustees Code of Conduct
9. To ensure the effective and efficient administration of the organisation
10. To ensure the financial stability of the organisation
11. To protect and manage the assets of the organisation and to ensure the proper investment of funds
12. To promote the organisation and act in its best interests, never in the interests of yourself or another organisation
13. To appoint the Chief Executive and monitor his / her performance
Other Duties
In addition to the above statutory duties, each Trustee should use any specific skills, knowledge or experience they have to help the Board of Trustees reach sound decisions.
This may involve:
1. Scrutinising board papers
2. Leading discussions
3. Focusing on key issues
4. Providing guidance on new initiatives
5. Other issues in which the Trustee has special expertise
Safeguarding
All Trustees should ensure that they are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities and take responsibility for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of adults and children and young people. This will include completing a Standard DBS check.
How To Apply
If you would like an informal discussion about the role, please contact Andrea Pardoe, Director For People, Organisational Development & Wellness at andrea.pardoe@ yourtrustrochdale.co.uk in the first instance.
To apply, please send a summary CV along with a brief supporting letter (no more than two sides of A4) to andrea.pardoe@yourtrustrochdale.co.uk