TWO Wokingham charities looking for new board members will hold an afternoon fact-finding session (with tea and cake) for potential volunteers, in January.
Citizens Advice Wokingham and WADE Day Centre are both looking for new trustees, and would love to hear from anyone interested in finding out more about the role.
They are especially keen to meet people with skills and experience in: human resources, finance, marketing, communications, social media, membership recruitment, retail, fundraising, and horticulture.
“Anyone can be a trustee – it doesn’t matter how junior or senior people are in their career,” said Jan Cameron from Citizens Advice Wokingham.
“In fact trustees don’t need to be in paid employment at all, and there are no bars to entry due to ethnicity, class, gender orientation, sexuality or indeed any other difference.
“What is needed is a diversity of skills, knowledge, age and experience on a charity’s board.”
Trustees are volunteers who lead charities and decide how they are run.
Sometimes called board members, or, the board, they make high-level decisions and ensure a charity’s money is used wisely.
People approaching retirement and wanting to continue to use their wealth of experience after stopping full-time work, may be particularly interested in attending the fact-finding afternoon.
Trusteeship can especially suit recently retired people, and individuals wanting to refresh skills after a career break, possibly as a result of childcare or other family responsibilities.
It can also be useful for professionals wanting to gain board level experience to develop their career.
Citizens Advice Wokingham helps people navigate problems in their lives, and to find a way forward.
Its volunteers deal directly with clients, both at the charity’s Wokingham office and in a Mobile Advice Unit at various locations around the borough.
“Last year we helped more than 5000 clients in Wokingham Borough with almost 22,000 different issues,” said Jan.
“We currently have nine trustees but would like to recruit three more.
WADE Day Centre supports older borough residents, providing a warm and welcoming space in Wokingham where they can meet with friends, take part in community activities and enjoy home-cooked lunches together.
Services such as physiotherapy, chiropody and hairdressing are also available at the centre.
Sandy Sweet, vice chair of Wade, said: “Being a trustee challenges and rewards you in equal measure.
“Your decisions can make a huge positive impact on a charity and that’s what makes it so worthwhile.
“We currently have eight trustees and would like four more: including someone with gardening or horticultural experience to help our gardener with care and management of our garden.
And we’d love to hear from someone with retail experience – preferably with a financial background – to oversee our shop manager and her team, and to sit on our finance committee.
And finally two other people: one possibly with marketing experience, to help grow our membership, and another with HR and/or building services experience, to assist our centre manager with regulatory matters.”
The joint trustee information open event will take place at WADE Day Centre, Reading Road, on Thursday, January 23, from 4.30pm until 6.30pm.
There is no need to book, and people can just turn up.
For information, visit: wadecentre.org.uk, email: sandy.sweet@wadecentre.org.uk or call: 07831 182100
And log onto: citizensadvicewokingham.org.uk, email: jan.cameron@citizensadvicewokingham .org.uk or call: 07775 703220.
