Financial Trustee

We are looking to appoint a Trustee whose portfolio will focus primarily on Finance. The appointee will be a Finance professional. As well as being on the Board and Finance Committee, we are looking for someone to become actively involved in our Audit Committee and to work closely with our Management Accountant.

We are looking to strengthen the Board by recruiting a Trustee with strong financial skills to help with the next stage of our strategic development. Previous experience of operating in the charity sector would be an advantage but not essential. As a conservation led charity, we would expect trustees to have a desire to help develop an important part of the natural landscape at Cotswold Lakes for the benefit of wildlife and people.

What will you be doing?

The full Board meets quarterly, usually via Teams, with monthly Finance Committee meetings. Other committees such as Governance, Nominations, Remuneration and Audit meet periodically as and when needed.

Our current trustees have a broad skill base but recognise the need to add further expertise to help steer the future development of this small but environmentally important charity.

The Trust employs a small but dedicated team of 12 staff who manage conservation and estates, nature recovery, fundraising, management accounts, sport and event development and marketing.

Trustees are expected to interact with the employed team and their trustee colleagues so that they can benefit fully from their role and are therefore able to contribute to the successful future of the Trust.

As such, strong interpersonal skills are important as we are very much a people organisation where interaction amongst the various disciplines is encouraged.

Who are we looking for?

Ideally, we are looking for candidates who live in or close to the Cotswold Lakes area and who have a genuine appreciation of the natural landscape and the benefits that can be derived for both wildlife and people.

You should possess the desire to help the team in a collaborative way and contribute in areas that are not directly within your core areas of expertise.

Apart from the specific skills noted above, it is important that candidates have a broad background and are willing to become involved in contributing to the success of the Trust.

Time requirements for Trustees is quite limited, depending if they would like to join any of the committees; if you wish to have a deeper involvement in certain areas that will be encouraged.

What difference will you make?

The Trust does not receive any local or central government funding and therefore relies solely on its own income generating capabilities.

We are endeavouring to develop a main source of sustainable income focusing on our prime location of Cleveland Lakes. We aim to make this a flagship site which demonstrates how nature and leisure can successfully coexist to the benefit of both. Current plans include open water swimming, paddleboarding, rowing, canoeing, rough cycling and triathlons. Limited facilities are currently available including grant funded welfare and boat storage units, but these need to be expanded in the future in order to attract a larger income generating customer base. This venture is being managed by our Development Manager. New Trustees who have an interest in any of these activities will bring much needed experience to this important project.

Recently we have been successful in obtaining significant grant funding and the recent appointment of our Fundraising Manger will reap further rewards in the future. There is more to do and therefore guidance from a Trustee with relevant experience will be very beneficial.
Oversight of our financial situation by a Trustee would be very useful as they can influence how the charity develops in a sustainable manner.

The Trust utilises various social media channels but this needs to be exploited further to ensure that the important conservation work of the Trust reaches a wider audience. We are a financially small charity but with big ambitions and this message including our significant achievements needs to be better understood by a wider community.

Each Trustee, irrespective of their individual areas of expertise, will contribute as part of a team to manage the charity in a way that it can achieve its objectives.

Full details about the charity including our most recent Impact Report can be found on our website.

How to apply

For further information and to apply, please contact Cotswold Lakes Trust Executive Chair Paul Hazel (Paul.Hazel@cotswoldlakestrust.org).

We aim to be as flexible as possible when arranging initial interviews which will be held using Teams and attended by probably two Trustees from our current Nominations Committee.