Honorary Treasurer
The BEARR Trust
The BEARR Trust is seeking to recruit a new Treasurer, responsible for overseeing the Charity’s income and expenditure, preparing regular financial reports to the Board of Trustees and preparing the annual accounts. The Treasurer will also be a Trustee of The BEARR Trust. This role is voluntary.
The BEARR Trust is seeking to recruit a new Treasurer, responsible for overseeing the Charity’s income and expenditure, preparing regular financial reports to the Board of Trustees and preparing the annual accounts. The Treasurer will also be a Trustee of The BEARR Trust. This role is voluntary. Background The BEARR Trust was established in 1992 to support community-based organisations helping vulnerable people in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. We provide grants to grassroots community groups alongside information and knowledge exchange to build partnerships and strengthen support for vulnerable people through local activity. Currently, we work in ten countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Role description Specific duties of the Treasurer The Treasurer is responsible for: · Maintaining oversight of The BEARR Trust’s finances · Providing regular reports (every two months) to Trustees on income, expenditure and financial risks · Working with the Chairman to prepare an annual budget, and keeping track of performance against the budget throughout the year · Ensuring that partners and suppliers are paid efficiently. This includes making international payments, most of which are done via Convera · Preparing the Annual Accounts for independent examination, and liaising with the independent examiner to ensure that queries are addressed. General Trustee duties As with all charities, the Trustees collectively are responsible for The BEARR Trust’s aims and direction, for its property, finances and the employment of staff and volunteers. All Trustees must: · Ensure that the Trust complies with charity law and the requirements of the Charity Commission, the Trust’s own charitable purposes and objects, other relevant legislation and the requirement for trustees to act with integrity and avoid any personal conflicts of interest or misuse of charity funds or assets · Ensure that the Trust is and will remain solvent, use charitable funds and assets wisely, and only to further the Trust’s purposes and interests, while avoiding undertaking activities that might place the Trust’s property, funds, assets or reputation at undue risk · Exercise reasonable care and skill, using personal knowledge and experience to ensure that the Trust is well-run and efficient, and consider getting external professional advice in all matters where there may be material risk to the Trust. Beyond these formal duties, Trustees undertake a variety of roles. These include contributing to our newsletter, managing and contributing to events, raising funds and considering applications to the Small Grants Scheme and Ukraine Appeal. There are therefore opportunities to become involved in the wide range of BEARR’s activities. Person specification The Treasurer should have: · A commitment to The BEARR Trust’s goals and charitable objects and an interest in, and some knowledge of, the context for BEARR’s work in Eastern Europe and Central Asia · Experience of financial management and administration, budgeting and reporting. This does not need to include formal accountancy qualifications – experience may come from general management roles in paid or voluntary work. · Experience in preparing charity accounts using the Charities Statement of Required Practice (SORP) would be advantageous. Experience in fundraising (e.g., preparing funding applications and budgets) would also be welcome. Time requirement The time required varies from week to week, although payments need to be made and the accounts updated on at least a weekly basis. Indicatively, this equates to a time requirement of around 3 hours per week, in addition to attendance at Trustee meetings every two months (Trustee meetings are held in London, although remote attendance is also possible). However, time availability and support needed can be discussed with potential volunteers for the role. Expenses Trustee roles are unpaid. However, they may claim reasonable travel expenses.
Administration,Finance & Accountancy,Trusteeships & Committees
Admin, Basic IT skills - internet & email, Bookkeeping & Finance
The Treasurer should have: · A commitment to The BEARR Trust’s goals and charitable objects and an interest in, and some knowledge of, the context for BEARR’s work in Eastern Europe and Central Asia · Experience of financial management and administration, budgeting and reporting. This does not need to include formal accountancy qualifications – experience may come from general management roles in paid or voluntary work. Experience in preparing charity accounts using the Charities Statement of Required Practice (SORP) would be advantageous. Experience in fundraising (e.g., preparing funding applications and budgets) would also be welcome.
This is an exciting time to join BEARR’s diverse and engaged trustee team. Building on its origins as a charity formed in 1992 to help vulnerable people in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, BEARR has developed a unique combination of grant giving and information sharing. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, we established a new fund, helping small, grassroots organisations in Ukraine and Moldova to distribute much-needed humanitarian assistance. As a result, our operations and contacts have grown significantly. Our current Treasurer has recently become BEARR’s new Chairman, and we are looking for a new Treasurer to succeed him. If you have experience of financial administration and management and an interest in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, we would love to hear from you! You don’t need to be a qualified accountant, but experience of preparing charity accounts would be an advantage. As Treasurer, you would also be a Trustee, with opportunities to take on a range of different roles within The BEARR Trust, depending on skills and availability.
The time required varies from week to week, although payments need to be made and the accounts updated on at least a weekly basis. Indicatively, this equates to a time requirement of around 3 hours per week, in addition to attendance at Trustee meetings every two months (Trustee meetings are held in London, although remote attendance is also possible). However, time availability and support needed can be discussed with potential volunteers for the role.
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The role is remote. However, attendance at Trustee meetings every two months is required (Trustee meetings are held in London, Voluntary Action Islington, although remote attendance is also possible).
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