JOIN OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Extended Deadline: Monday 15th August 5pm

Join our call at 6.30pm if you’d like to ask questions, link is towards the bottom of this page.

We are looking for 2 new young (18-25) trustees. As a trustee you will be part of a small group who help make sure that we achieve our mission to:

  • challenge what poetry is and can be,
  • to amplify unheard/ignored voices, and to
  • champion poets and poetry performance.

If you are an artist between the age of 18-25 and passionate about the work we do, then we want to hear from you.

Who we are looking for

We believe that it’s important our trustees reflect the voices, backgrounds and experiences of the artists and communities we serve, hence our search for younger artists. You do not have to be an artist yourself, you can be someone who consumes art. It’s only important that you have an interest in what we do.

We also actively seek applications from people of South, East, West, Central and South East Asian; Middle East and People of African or Caribbean heritage and/or LGBTQ++.

You don’t have to have any specific skills – just a passion for poets, poetry and performance poetry.

What does a Trustee do?

Being a trustee is a real responsibility, but you will be well supported by the other trustees to make sure you understand all aspects of the role and can take part fully.

You will need to attend 4 meetings per year (these are currently held via Zoom, but may require your attendance in person for future meetings) as well as attending our annual ‘Away Day’ where trustees and senior managers spend a full day together thinking and planning our future work.

Access support and expenses

Being a trustee is a volunteer role, so you won’t get paid, but we will cover all your costs and expenses for taking part. We will also cover costs for any access or support needs you have.

How to apply?

Using the prompts below, just tell us about yourself (no more than one page of A4 please).
• Tell us about you and your background
• Tell us what experience, knowledge or skills you think you could bring to the role
• Tell us why you want to be a trustee and what excites you about this opportunity.

You are welcome to apply in another way such as by audio recording or film from your phone – but please keep this to no longer than 4 minutes.

If you’re the person we’re looking for, we’ll arrange a conversation with Lisa Mead, our Artistic Director/CEO, and Chris Elwell our Chairman to talk more about you and the role (this is an informal chat to make sure you’re still interested!). After this, if we’re both still interested, we will invite you to come along to the next Board of Trustees meeting to see how we work, hopefully in September if you’re ready by then.

Got a question?

We’ll be holding an online open chat for you to speak to us and one of our Trustees. You can ask any questions you like to us and find out firsthand what it’s like to be a Trustee. This will take place from 6.30pm on Monday 8th August.

Join here: Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 861 9190 9223
Passcode: 925182

Deadline

Please send your application to Rob Lynden at [email protected] by 5pm on Monday 15th August.

If you’d like more detailed information on being a trustee, the Government’s website contains has a section on what trustees need to do and be aware of here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-essential-trustee-what-
you-need-to-know-cc3/the-essential-trustee-what-you-need-to-know-what-you-need-to-do#s4

If you have any questions, please contact Rob Lynden: [email protected]