A Trustee position

The Sponne and Bickerstaffe charity is an almshouse charity (originating in the mid 1400s) which:

• Owns and manages 12 residential bungalows at Moorfield in Towcester
• Offers the bungalows for use by the elderly of Towcester who are in need but, are capable of independent living
• Owns a couple of parcels of farmland in the district from which it derives a small income stream

The charity has a (part-time) Clerk and two (part-time) site supervisors.  The charity retains the services of various contractors to undertake site and grounds maintenance.

In addition, the charity maintains a "Relief in Need" fund which distributes small grants to people in Towcester in specific need,  (for instance a victim of domestic violence moving into the town in need of a cooker or fridge).

The Role

The role of a Trustee (or "Feoffee"as they are referred to in the charity), is a part-time volunteer role.  Feoffees form the managing body of the charity.  Feoffees come from all walks of life and use their own life experience and skills for the benefit of the charity.  Typical topics that require management by Feoffees are:

• Resident welfare
• Financial (budgets, investments and monthly income/expenditure reports)
• Grounds management (providing a pleasant environment for residents is very important)
• Site management
• Staff management
• Health and Safety
• Special projects (solar panels, replacement heating systems etc)

Time Commitment

Preparation time for the meetings will vary from zero to maybe thirty minutes.  Occasionally individual Feoffees will accept actions to progress issues outside of the meeting, (for instance a policy review).  Feoffees joing committees (which is optional) may meet at an additional evening per month, and/or carry out work between meetings.

Outside of the meetings there are the occasional e-mails to consider but these will typically be less than two per month.

Skills

Prefer some knowledge of Finance or Human Resources, but not essential