If you’re looking for a New Year’s resolution that will make a real impact, why not join us as a Trustee?
We are LCR Pride Foundation, Liverpool City Region’s LGBT+ charity. We’re working to make Liverpool City Region the most LGBT+ friendly region in the UK. We champion the rights of LGBT+ people living in and visiting the region. We fight to highlight the daily barriers they face and create an inclusive culture for all to enjoy and participate in, through a diverse programme of events, initiatives and campaigns.
Where We Are Now?
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a tremendous effect on society as a whole and a profound impact on the LGBT+ community. Loneliness and isolation are even harder to deal with if you don’t feel safe, or if you feel like you can’t be your authentic self.
The pandemic has also been incredibly difficult for us as an organisation. Our core purpose as a charity is all about:
- bringing people together,
- providing safe spaces for fun, culture and activism
- celebrating the very best of our community
- amplifying the voices of community groups and individuals
This has been incredibly difficult to do over the last 2 years, but we’ve achieved a lot in difficult circumstances, including:
- Hosting two online March With Pride events with over 2 million people’s reach and submissions from organisations and individuals across the whole City Region.
- Establishing our Community Panel, a group of community voices providing a place for consultation on activities and policies.
- Launching our Community Fund, providing £20k of grant funding to individuals and grassroots community groups to carry out projects in their local area.
- Supporting Cheshire and Merseyside Adult Gender Identity Collaborative (CMAGIC) in the development and delivery of their specialist Gender Identity Clinic pilot and counselling services in Cheshire and Wirral.
- Bringing together community groups, MPs and Political Leaders to lobby on changes to the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) and other legislative issues.
- Assumed custodianship of the NAVAJO Chartermark, with a view to diversify, grow and develop the grass-roots initiative to benefit more employers across the region,
- Developing and Delivering the ‘You’re Safe Here’ safe spaces programme and training funded by Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner to create safe spaces across the Liverpool City Region
- A continuing partnership with Homotopia and Liverpool City Council in response to a series of hate crime incidents in 2021.
We’re immensely proud of what we’ve achieved in recent years, but we’re only just getting started.
Where We’re Going
The Foundation continues to grow and develop and is entering our most ambitious phase yet. We are developing a 10-year strategy that will ensure we are fit for the future and continue to deliver on the needs of our communities for the next decade and beyond.
Our priorities over the next few years include:
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- Doing More Across the Region: Embarking on new projects, events and collaborations in each of the boroughs of LCR.
- Coming back with a bang: Ensuring a safe, fun and ambitious return to physical events post-covid, ensuring we have a vibrant and diverse offer across the City Region.
- From Now On: Embedding Community Activism in everything we do going forward and providing support, resources and solidarity to grassroots organisations and individuals.
- Fit for the Future: Embedding financial resilience and high standards of governance to ensure the organisation has the resources it needs and manages them appropriately.
- Bringing people together: Working closely in partnership with other organisations to amplify the voices and impact of LGBT+ charities and voluntary organisations.
- Doing things differently: Seeking out new sources of income, through grant applications, tendering and developing social enterprises and other commercial activity.
- Understanding our community: Researching, engaging and listening to voices across the Liverpool City Region and using our influence to make change and improve people’s lives.
This is an incredibly exciting time to be involved in the organisation, but if we’re to achieve the goals we set ourselves, then we need your help!
Who We’re Looking For
We are particularly interested in hearing from people with experience in any of the following areas:
- Finance (ideally with, or working towards, an accountancy qualification)
- Governance and Company Secretarial (ideally ICSA or working towards)
- Marketing and Communications (ideally CIM or work(ed) in a relevant professional role)
- Digital Services and Media
- HR/People Services
- Philanthropy & Giving
- Social Enterprises and trading companies
- Sales and income generation
Although this represents a ‘wish list’ of experience which will help us grow, we value professional and lived experience equally and are keen to hear from as wide a range of people as possible.
We know that our leadership team does not yet fully reflect the diversity of the LGBT+ community in Liverpool City Region and so we are particularly keen to hear from people from groups that are not yet represented, or are more under-represented – including: Trans, People Of Colour (POC), people with disabilities and LGBT+ people and allies from the wider region.
While Board members do not have to identify as LGBT+, it is vital that they have a good understanding of the challenges faced by LGBT+ people in the Liverpool City Region today and share our passion for improving the lives and experiences of all in the community.
What’s Involved?
Our role as Trustees is predominantly to:
- Ensure the Foundation is properly run and on a strong financial footing
- Developing business plans and strategies which allows us to grow, prosper and reach more people
- Developing policies which protect and support our staff and beneficiaries.
- Making the tough calls and big decisions that come to define our organisation.
At the same time, we are currently a very small team supporting our Chief Executive and so you will get involved in some ‘business as usual’ operational activities, depending on your interests, skills and backgrounds. As a minimum, you will be expected to commit to:
- Bi-Monthly Board Meetings, which usually take place on Monday evenings for 1.5 hours.
- Bi-Monthly Project Meetings, which are 30 minute catch-ups with the CEO on current projects and actions.
- Representing the Foundation on an ad hoc basis at events run by other organisations (typically once or twice per year).
- Regular input into discussion and decision-making outside formal board meetings where absolutely necessary.
- Attending Foundation events, providing support where needed and enjoying them!
What’s in it for me?
Being a Trustee is hard work, but it can also be very rewarding. In addition to working to make LCR the most LGBT+ friendly city in the UK, you’ll also be able to:
- Enhance your CV: Trustee roles provide you with direct leadership experience which can be hard to get through ‘traditional’ career routes.
- Make Connections: Expand your network by meeting new people from across a wide variety of organisations
- Learn new things: Trustees of small charities are rarely specialists. Although you’ll bring your own skills to the table, you’ll also learn new ones by getting ‘stuck in’.
- Have fun! All of our events are about celebrating the very best of our communities and so, they are also an awful lot of fun!
The role of trustee is unpaid, but we do pay reasonable travel or subsistence expenses.
How do I apply?
Firstly, send recruitment@lcrpride.co.uk an email expressing your interest, with your CV (or up-to-date LinkedIn profile link) and a very brief description of why you’re interested in becoming a Trustee. We are happy to accept video submissions. This should be before 11:00am on Monday 28th February 2022.
Our Trustees will set up a 30 minute informal video call with you (via Zoom) to get to know you a bit better. This will likely be in early March.
You will also be invited to an in-person open day at the end of March, where you can get to know what it’s like to be a Trustee, meet the wider team and decide whether it’s for you. There will also be some group activities on the day, designed to see whether you would be a good fit, however it is important to stress that this is not an ‘assessment’, there are no scores and you will simply need to be yourself.
If you’re happy to take part and it’s a good fit for you, you will get the chance to shadow a board meeting before signing up to make sure you’re still happy and comfortable.
