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Finance Director
Road Farm Countryways CIC is looking for a Director/Trustee to join the existing leadership team of 5. This important role will ensure the efficient delivery of wellbeing and skills to a wide community of ages, including those with learning, physical and mental health challenges. We are keen to encompass diversity and we would find it especially beneficial to have someone experienced in health and disability or social care. We’re entering our 10th Year and have a new Business Plan to deliver.
What will you be doing?
Road Farm Countryways CIC is looking for another Director /Trustee to join the existing leadership team. We normally have 4-5 voluntary Directors and have an additional group of volunteers more involved with our regular farm helpers on a daily basis.
This vital role includes:
Where and how?
What may also be helpful?
What are we looking for?
Vital qualities of our preferred candidate:
Additional experience or skills in the following would be helpful:
What difference will you make?
Having worked with young adults with learning difficulties for the past 10 years, we have now improved our facilities and can include physically disabled people, those retired for health reasons, as well as provide space for addressing the mental health needs of many people impacted by anxiety or bereavement, especially through Covid-19. We can also provide more specific skills training to a range of ages, including school age, as well as environmental benefits and engagement with nature through wildlife and active conservation on the farm.
These are critical growth points and your involvement will have direct impact on many, helping us have a clear focus and giving us the energy and man-power to deliver. It will help people of all ages, with a range of needs, to learn new things and be able to interact more easily in an everyday environment, having a huge positive impact on their families and beyond. Your help in guiding the organisation will enable people to learn new skills, feel included and better prepared to face the day ahead. Bonus...we're excited and hope you will be too.
What's in it for the volunteer?
The setting of Road Farm in the midst of the Chiltern Hills is fantastic and inspiring, especially if you love animals and wildlife. Enjoy being part of a team and making a massive difference to many different ages - we have school groups, Scouts, Guides, Cubs, WI, Rotary, Colleges, U3A. You will meet many different kinds of people both within our organisation and around the Networks we have with other local and national organisations. We encourage training and have a brief induction programme to follow. If you feel stressed, just sit and talk with the turkeys, hug Joey the donkey or bask under blue sky!
A few more details
Whilst we are looking for a further Director, we also have roles for Fundraising, Online Engagement (e.g. social media, editing/film You Tube), Ambassador, General Helpers. Do contact us if you can help us deliver better.
Objectives
Road Farm Countryways CIC is committed to enabling farm and countryside interaction to improve well-being, self-worth and promote learning, especially for those rarely able to access it. We work with people with many different life challenges and educational interests including those with learning difficulties, complex needs, physical and mental health problems, providing active Care Farming involvement with animals and learning life skills to help maintain our countryside. Many of our farm helpers cannot cope in large social settings or corporate establishments, but here feel part of a real working environment and become more confident, capable of interaction, self-control and independence, amongst many other positive things. They know that here, they matter. They develop greater independence and improved work and social skills as well as better physical health which impacts their whole wellbeing and indirectly influences their home and family setting for the better.
We also provide educational and special interest group visits, enabling people of all ages to actively learn more about farming and biodiversity interactions, helping develop a love of the outdoors and sustainability. There are opportunities to cook farm field to fork and get involved with crafts too, with an excellent wood-work shop to include all levels of skill. Everyone can do something well and need to know they can, so we try to help this happen!
Activities
By interaction and care with animals (donkeys, goats, hens, turkeys, sheep, cattle etc) and maintaining the countryside (eg coppicing; woodland maintenance, work on bee-hives & bird boxes) in a beautiful, non-threatening place, our service users get involved, learn skills and feel a sense of purpose and inclusion. These can be one-off visits or structured programmes over many months or years with supported learning and reflection built in. All visits are strictly pre-arranged and vary according to individual needs.
Other information
Where
Great Missenden, HP16 9LS
Mainly at home
Travel limit
Volunteers should preferably be within 15 miles.
Meetings can be online.
Time
Mostly outside office hours.
Estimate of time needed: 1-3 hours / week. Meeting monthly or every 6 weeks for approx 2 hours. We would hope for an involved Director to give a few hours per week, albeit often homebased.
Deadline
9th May 2024
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.