Chair of Trustees
Marble Hill Playcentres
We are a dynamic charity focused on a children's adventurous outdoor play site, in Twickenham. Our chair steps down at the beginning of 2025. We are looking for a new chair to help us maintain our success and work towards new objectives.
At our fiftieth anniversary, we are proud of our flourishing charity that we consider to be needed more than ever, to provide adventurous outdoor play to children no matter their ability or circumstances. Our board has good stability and low turnover, with current trustees bringing energy, enthusiasm and diverse skills. They are looking forward to fresh leadership and supporting the new chair in any way they can. Core Responsibilities of the Chair: - Taking a leadership role in the organisation along with the Playcentres manager and with support of the other trustees - Ensuring the board agrees the purpose and core values of the organisation, ongoing - Ensuring decisions that are made advance the purpose and values of the organisation - Creating productive relationships with and among individual board members - Creating the environment for a high-performing board team - Ensuring high-quality relationships with key staff, volunteers, our landlord, our licensee, and other stakeholders to enable the work of the organisation to be delivered effectively - Leading/ steering the board in identifying the relevant decisions to be made - Ensuring decision-making is well-informed and appropriately considered - Managing potential conflicts of interest to ensure probity and transparency
Trusteeships & Committees
Evaluating & Reviewing, Organising & Planning, Reading & Writing, People Skills
Altruistic, collaborative and empowering Committed to organisational values and purpose Able to see the bigger picture Able to handle contentious issues and clarify complex situations Willing to devote time within the organisation to identify issues and improve understanding Able to build supportive relationships, and use positive influence to benefit MHPC Calm and confident Reflective and open to different ideas At ease with people of all life experiences Flexible and pragmatic Organised Experience of committees or boards, as a trustee, director or advisor Some knowledge of charity governance /law preferred
This is an opportunity to make a genuine difference, by leading a much-loved small charity to ensure it remains resilient and thriving for the next generation of children to call this amazing and inclusive parkland space their own. Marble Hill Playcentres is true local institution, and the chair of trustees is a key role, bringing rewards, challenges and plenty of motivation to learn and develop, whether you are new to charity boards or already a seasoned trustee. Guiding the board to make good decisions, staying focused on the aims of the charity and keeping in mind the big picture are very important at MHPC, when trustees can get involved in the detail too. You will find that discussions are wide-ranging and draw on many parts of your life experience, often unexpectedly, from childhood play to gardening to DIY. Meanwhile stakeholder relationships will provide many reflections on your own style and attributes that will help you grow in confidence in this role and elsewhere in your life. You will also have the chance to contribute more practically and creatively from time to time - eg. dressing up as a ghoul at Halloween, making bunting or wheelbarrowing woodchip. Visibility of the chair along with other trustees on site give a tremendous sense of united purpose, and staff are always happy to see the chair taking an interest in the sessions they run, and chatting with families. This is a rare opportunity from which you will take many personally fulfilling moments as well as professionally valuable examples of diverse transferable skills, whilst making a significant impact on a small charity.
The time commitment for the chair position is around 1-3 hours per week. Board meetings are monthly, in the evening, held in Twickenham or online. Individual and adhoc meetings, emails and phone contact makes up the remainder of the expected time, which is flexible.
TW1 2NL
Marble Hill Playcentres, Marble Hill Park, Richmond Road
All bus routes between Richmond and Twickenham stop outside the park, and the H37 and 110 are a short walk away. Twickenham and St Margarets rail stations are within 15 minutes walk.
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