We have set ourselves a five-year challenge to double the number of women we help, extending our service into more London Boroughs. We want to become known as the leading charity on domestic abuse and mental health, increasing our profile and influencing policy at a national level.
Woman’s Trust is a specialist mental health charity that provides free counselling and therapy for women who have experienced domestic abuse.
Over the last 25 years, we have supported more than 18,000 women and delivered around 60,000 sessions of free mental healthcare.
All aspects of our service are client-led, and this is central to the ethos of Woman’s Trust. Working in a consultative and person-centred way helps promote positive messages about the capacity of women to take control over their lives and the lives of their children with the right support.
Our Chair is responsible for providing effective strategic leadership and management to the Board of Trustees, enabling the Board to fulfil its responsibilities for the governance and strategic direction of Woman’s Trust and to deliver the objectives of our Governing Document.
You are, at all times, a spokesperson and representative of our organisation. This includes being an accessible and engaging ambassador for Woman’s Trust with national bodies and local statutory and voluntary sector organisations.
You will be expected to hold firm to Woman’s Trust’s ethos, ensuring that the Board works within our values and our constitution and help the Board, in this most challenging of financial environments, to find creative ways to deliver our vision of ‘a world where women have the resources to stop domestic abuse damaging their future.’
This post is open to female applicants only as being female is deemed to be a genuine occupational requirement under Schedule 9, Paragraph 1 of the Equality Act 2010.
We welcome applications from candidates with past experience of domestic abuse within their family or friends, but please do not apply if you are currently experiencing abuse.
The above list is indicative only and not exhaustive. As our Chair, you will be expected to perform all such additional duties as are reasonably commensurate with the role.
Expectations are high. As our new Chair, you will need to evidence and demonstrate commitment and be fully engaged and motivated by our vision for Woman’s Trust and bring the necessary experience, expertise, and energy to ensure we achieve our vision.
Candidates must also be legally eligible to serve as a registered Company Director and Charity Trustee.
Woman’s Trust is a woman-only, woman-led, vibrant, and energetic charity. We were founded in 1995 to address the long-term mental health consequences of domestic abuse through providing high-quality, free counselling and support services.
Our counselling is trauma-informed and person centred, enabling women to make their own choices in their own way. It is open to all women regardless of race, religion, class, or culture and is rooted in a specialist understanding of the dynamics of domestic abuse, its effects on mental health, and on women’s and children’s lives.
We are recognised by other domestic abuse agencies as a provider of high-quality mental health services, and of training for front-line workers. We have strong links with the London Violence Against Women and Girls Consortium and other domestic abuse and women’s service providers across London, including Women’s Aid, the Metropolitan Police, healthcare providers and the Domestic Violence crisis line. All these agencies refer to Woman’s Trust.
We currently have 37 (31 FTE) staff working in the office and providing our services. Our employed counsellors are supported by volunteer counsellors (some in training) and some sessional workers. They include Black, Asian and Muslim counsellors offering counselling in Bengali, Urdu, Hindi, and Spanish. We provide specialist domestic abuse training, support and supervision for counsellors, and opportunities for further professional development in this field. We also benefit from a number of volunteers who are involved with administration and other aspects of management support, all of which helps to build our capacity.
Our turnover last year was £1.1m, and we helped over 800 women. Sadly, due to a lack of resource, we turned away more than 1,000 women.
Woman’s Trust remains one of the very few specialist domestic abuse mental health services offered to women in London and indeed, the UK.
If you would welcome the opportunity to apply, please forward:
Please also provide us with the details of two referees and let us know if you require any special provisions should you be called forward for an interview.
Your application, including your completed equal opportunities monitoring form, should be sent to our advising consultant, Philip Nelson, at philip.nelson@thehiringdept.com.
Closing Date: Sunday 21st May
Preliminary Interviews: Friday 2nd June and Tuesday 6th June
Final Panel Interviews: Thursday 6th July
For an informal and confidential discussion, to ask a question on any aspect of the appointment process, or for additional information, please contact Philip Nelson on 07771 953959 or via email at philip.nelson@thehiringdept.com.
For more information about Woman’s Trust, please visit our website, www.womanstrust.org.uk, where you also will also find our latest Annual Report and Accounts.
The Hiring Department LTD © 2023
by Loom of ideas LTD
Company number: 13800171
Registered office: 13 Tavistock Place, London, England, WC1H 9SH
