What will you be doing?
Vocal was founded nearly 30 years ago by local health care professionals, (one of whom is still on the board today) concerned that the people they worked with in long stay hospitals or residential care, had virtually no control over their daily lives. With community care, and supported independent living, much has changed over the years, but much sadly remains the same. Marginalisation, discrimination, and lack of control are still fundamental experiences for the people we work with.
For Vocal as a small organisation, sustainable funding has always been a challenge, given that advocacy must be free at the point of delivery: we can’t charge people! Most of our funding has historically come from local authority contracts, which have been subject to ongoing cuts and are increasingly restrictive about the kind of work we can do. We have historically supplemented this funding with grant applications but these are very competitive and essentially short term solutions.
Our board has become increasingly concerned about long term sustainability, particularly as our main local authority contract is soon out to tender again. Without this income Vocal’s future would be at risk. We need to develop and implement a long term income generation strategy. For help with this and the resources to make it happen, we recently applied to the Lloyds Bank Foundation of England and Wales. We were successful in the bid; they are offering us an exciting programme of advice, consultancy and mentoring over the next two years. And coincidentally at the same time, we became one of only 16 organisations in the Uk to be awarded a 3 year grant from the Henry Smith foundation for Learning Disability Advocacy. This is a critical point in the charity’s development. We plan to use the support from Lloyds to redevelop and redefine our business to ensure our long term funding and sustainability as well as strengthening our governance.
We currently have a small board, predominantly with experience in learning disability or social care but in order to take full advantage of the opportunity, we need to expand both in size and skill set. There is also an issue of succession planning given the board’s current age profile. Our board needs to encompass a wider range of skills, especially around strategic planning and marketing in order to drive the success of our development project..
What are we looking for?
We are looking for professional people to join our small board of trustees. Whilst you don't need to have a background in health and social care or in supporting people who have a learning disability, a passion for ensuring peoples rights are upheld is a must.
We particularly wish to broaden our skill base of the board to support our Chief Officer through the development of the organisation, assisted by Lloyds. Key areas are skills in income generation, strategic and business planning, marketing and communications. We would welcome a board member with finance/ accountancy background to take on the Treasurer role in due course.
In terms of planning for the future, our Chair would like to have a succession plan in place, should she decide to step down in a few years time, and it would be good to recruit trustees who might be interested in and be suitable future leaders for the charity.
What difference will you make?
As part of our board you will support and shape our work and strategic direction, as well as help us achieve our purpose to ensure wide ranging and easily accessible advocacy is available to people with a learning disability in South Devon and Torbay. As a trustee, you will have a real opportunity to offer your unique skill set to help the strategic progression of the charity.
You will become part of a warm friendly and inclusive organisation where staff trustees and our ‘experts by experience’ (people who’ve used our services,) work supportively and enthusiastically together to a common end. Everyone contributes in their own way, and is valued for what they bring. Vocal is a great network to belong to, and our in person or virtual meetings involving all the different groups are stimulating but also fun!
How to apply ...
Please apply or express an interest to Our Chief Officer (Catherine Mundy) or Chair (Janet Regan) at [email protected]. We are happy to offer informal discussions about the opportunity. Potential Trustees are invited to attend our quarterly ‘Network meetings with staff , members (people with a learning disability who have used our services) volunteers and other trustees. This gives people an idea about the way Vocal works and what it’s like to be involved in it.