With the Zero Carbon Guildford Annual General Meeting (AGM) coming up (March 26th - save the date!), the window to join the ZCG board of Trustees is now open!
This is a way to contribute directly to the strategic direction and success of the charity.
Our Trustees are volunteers who oversee the strategic direction of the charity. The role of Trustee is an important position of responsibility, but previous board / trustee experience is not needed, and you will be supported to understand and carry out these responsibilities.
We have three specific roles open this year; HR Trustee, Fundraising Trustee and Youth Representative Trustee; if you think you may be interested, please carefully read the role descriptions below, and then follow the ‘how to apply’ instructions at the end of this email.
Requirements of a Trustee
ZCG trustees perform a strategic role in the governance of the charity. For applicants successfully voted in by the ZCG membership at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) in March 2025, the role involves:
Actively and proactively guide the direction and decisions of the charity in support of the charitable purpose, with a particular mandate on finance, objectives, conflicts, and accountability.
Practically, this involves attending the approximately 5 Trustee meetings a year, and being active on an ongoing basis on the collaboration platforms in use by the charity. We use Slack to chat and make decisions which are needed throughout the year, and Google Drive to share and review documents. Our meetings are usually in person in Guildford.
Trustees may hold roles / strategic positions - see below for the three specific roles we are looking for this year.
Trustees may have more general volunteer roles at ZCG, supporting charity activity or projects. This is encouraged as it supports effective decision making on behalf of the charity.
Trustee roles we are looking for
We’re looking for some specific key skills and experience for our Board this year, and have the following roles open:
HR Trustee: As a relatively new charity, ZCG has expanded its paid staff team to five, in addition to a large network of dedicated volunteers and contractors. We are seeking an HR Trustee who can provide strategic leadership on how to support our people, develop robust HR policies, ensure proper safeguarding processes, and create a positive, supportive workplace culture. Your leadership in HR will be instrumental in helping the charity scale effectively while staying aligned with our values and long-term goals.
Fundraising Trustee: As a charity, we rely on raising funds to support our activities and projects, which could not continue without this vital funding. ~The charity approach to fundraising to date has been a combination of donations, crowdfunding, successful grant applications and a small number of fundraising events. We are seeking a Trustee with experience in fundraising for charities, which may include corporate fundraising, community fundraising and grant applications to help us manage and secure the resources to progress our charitable aims.
Youth Representative Trustee: We want our board of Trustees to represent the Guildford community as much as possible, including all ages. We are looking for a Trustee between the ages of 16 and 22, who could be at school, college or university. Your role will be to represent your age group, supporting our approach to engaging younger people. Since this is the first time we are specifically recruiting for this role, you will have the opportunity to help us shape exactly what it means to be a Youth Representative Trustee.
How To Become A Trustee
To apply to become a new trustee, you need to email the following address: recruitment@zerocarbonguildford.org no later than 5pm on Wednesday 12th February 2025.
Please include your name and address, the specific role you would like to apply for (HR, Fundraising or Youth Representative Trustee) and a little detail about who you are, your background, and why you would like to be a trustee (this only needs to be a few paragraphs so we can get to know you a little).
After you send your application you will receive an email response from the Charity Chair with documents to read and sign, and further requests of information, including your confirmation that you understand the eligibility criteria and requirements of the trustee position,
Your application will be reviewed by representatives of the Trustee board, and some may be selected for an informal interview, which will be used to select our proposed new Trustees. We will aim to complete this process by no later than February 24th 2025, so that we can propose these new Trustees to the membership ahead of the AGM. It is the member vote at the AGM which will confirm acceptance of proposed Trustees.
Eligibility
To be eligible to stand as a ZCG trustee you must:
Be a natural person (ie. an organisation cannot be appointed trustee. An individual can be appointed who represents an organisation).
Be at least 16 years of age.
Not be disqualified from acting as a charity trustee by virtue of section 178-180 of the Charities Act 2011 (or any statutory re-enactment or modification of that provision).
All ZCG trustees must be a member (i.e. sign up to the pledge on the website - this can be done after a potential Trustee is selected).
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