Trustee

Trustee

Job Description

An opportunity to step into a high-impact charity leadership role and to shape the charity’s future during an exciting phase of evaluating a potential merger as a pathway to organizational growth.

Mavar is currently seeking to strengthen the Mavar Trustee Board with an additional Trustee. This is of course a pro-bono role. Working with our Board and CEO, you’ll bring experience, insight and strategic guidance to help with Mavar’s governance and with the development of the charity.

Founded in 2014, we are a still relatively small charity, with less than £100k in annual income. The day-to-day operations of Mavar are conducted by staff and volunteers under the leadership of our CEO and with the oversight of the Trustee Board.

We recruited a seasoned CEO earlier this year and we are nearing completion of a back-office overhaul, having matured the charity’s financial management, governance and administrative infrastructure. We are now shaping the strategy for the next phase of the charity’s development.

Mavar’s Mission

Founded on the belief that everyone has the right to choose their own path in life, Mavar’s central mission is to empower individuals who choose to explore opportunities beyond the strictly orthodox (Charedi) Jewish community to develop and fulfil their personal goals. Mavar supports the efforts of its members (i.e. service users) to achieve independence, live authentically and cope with the obstacles they may encounter as they explore options to live, work or study in the wider world.

Mavar is not associated with any faith-based community or organisation. Operating across the UK, our service is confidential, impartial and free. Mavar neither advocates leaving nor remaining - we assist without judgment. That said, most members will have made the choice of leaving the Charedi community.

Mavar helps by offering confidential, one-on-one mentoring and guidance to those who turn to us in desperate need of support and advice. We assist on all aspects of life – first and foremost education, but also legal advice, housing, referral to counselling and financial assistance. 

Role

Mavar’s Trustees are legally responsible for the governance of the charity. Trustees have a collective responsibility – they work together for the best interests of Mavar and its members (i.e. service users).

Key Responsibilities

• Help set the strategy for the organisation and ensure implementation and progress are monitored.
• Provide input and advice throughout the current discussions about a potential merger with another charity in the sector.
• Provide advice and support on fundraising strategy, ensuring income generation is planned and executed in alignment with Mavar’s budget framework and objectives.
• If you have personal networks with fundraising potential, utilise them to support the work of the charity.
• Act as an ambassador for the charity, promoting its work and helping to raise its profile.
• Use your skills, knowledge and experience to further our work, putting aside any personal interests, and declaring any conflict of interest if/ when they arise.
• Identify any risks to Mavar and ensure they are mitigated and monitored.
• Contribute towards an annual review of the CEO’s and the Board’s performance.
• Help to identify, recruit and induct new Board members and the Chair.
• Attend and contribute to meetings of the Board as relevant, and undertake agreed tasks between meetings.
• Ensure that Mavar acts in accordance with its aims and objectives as set out in the governing document and operates in compliance with its policies, including confidentiality, safeguarding and data protection.
• Ensure that Mavar operates in line with any relevant laws, particularly the Charities and Companies Acts.

Time Commitment

• You are expected to give at least one day per month to your role.
• Board meetings take place four times a year in London, with a mixture of online and in-person meetings, and are complemented by occasional online or in-person feedback meetings with the CEO, the Treasurer and some or all Board members.

Person Specification

Essential

• Commitment to the charity’s mission and values
• Familiarity with the Jewish cultural context
• Understanding of the legal duties and responsibilities of charity trusteeship
• Strategic thinker with sound judgment
• Ability to balance long-term planning vs. tactical priorities
• Strong communication and networking skills
• Ability to understand and constructively challenge the way the charity operates

Desirable

• Experience as a charity Trustee
• Experience with charity mergers
• Existing networks that could support the charity’s fundraising efforts
• Lived experience in the Charedi community

Next Steps and Timeline

If you are interested in this role, please contact the Board at recruitment@mavar.org.uk to arrange an informal chat. Recruitment for this role will be open until Friday, 20^th November 2026.

If you would like to make a formal application, please send a CV and cover letter outlining your qualifications, relevant expertise and interest in Mavar’s mission to the above email address. Please put your name and the role you are applying for in the subject line.

Even if you’re not ready to commit to joining Mavar’s Board of Trustees, but still want to support us, please feel free to make a donation via https://www.totalgiving.co.uk/charity/mavar. Thank you.

Context: Mavar’s Service Users

Some men and women who have grown up in the closed world of the Charedi community hold personal and religious values that are not in line with the rest of the community. Attempts to follow their own path often bring them into direct confrontation with family, friends and neighbours who regard expressions of individualism or self-determination as heresy.

• These individuals fear that the community will ostracise them, leaving them feeling trapped, isolated and helpless.
• Some may simply wish to explore options for obtaining a general education or improving their access to employment opportunities whilst wishing to remain within the Charedi community; others may look to leave the confinement of strict orthodoxy and to lead a more mainstream lifestyle.
• They all typically lack the everyday life skills to cope with the challenges of the secular world, which appears to them as a confusing, frightening and alien planet.
• Any effort to integrate with the outside, secular world is hampered by limited English language skills, cultural disorientation, lack of basic education or job qualifications and negligible skills for employment.

When a new member comes to us for help, it is highly likely that they do not have any foundational or basic education. Some may have one or two GSCEs, but most have none. It is also highly likely that they speak very little or broken English – if they do, it will be their second or third language.

New members come to us with very few skills that allow them to function in the secular world – lack of time keeping, budgeting and prioritisation skills as well as unfamiliarity with societal norms are basic obstacles for them to creating a life of their choosing. Members need to learn all this, and quickly.

What Next?

Almost all new members have a strong and overwhelming desire for secular education – this is often their primary motivator for not being fulfilled within their community, and the first door to unlock for achieving self-determination.

This is where Mavar steps in with one-to-one mentoring, education pathway advice, hand holding and tutoring. Supporting members on their educational journey is something that Mavar prides itself in.

We also offer support with mental health, alongside counselling and early interventions – trauma and undiagnosed psychological issues are common.

The strictly orthodox population in the UK is estimated at ca. 76,000 (Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR), 2022). With a high birth rate, it is the fastest growing and the youngest of any Jewish denomination: 56% of strictly orthodox Jews in the UK are under 40 and the annual leaving rate from this group is 11% (JPR, 2024). There is huge demand for Mavar's services.

Further Information

• https://mavar.org.uk/
• https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/5044926

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

This role is advertised as part of TPP's Free Giving Back Services. This volunteer advertisement copy has been supplied to TPP and applicants apply direct to the organisation. Please contact the organisation directly if you have any questions about this volunteer role.