Artspace Trustee Needed

About Artspace:

We are on a mission to make art and creativity accessible to everyone in our community.

We are an inclusive creative community where everyone learns and participates

together to foster individual and community development.

Artspace Cinderford is a community arts and education charity based in The New Mercury building, Woodside Street, Cinderford.

We specialise in offering creative, inclusive, accessible opportunities for people of any age or ability across the Forest of Dean and Gloucestershire.

Throughout the year, Artspace offers a wide range of in-house based courses and one-off workshops for adults and children in our 3 studio workshops.

Courses include painting, drawing, textiles, ceramics, drama, singing and circus skills. Different themes are followed throughout the year. We also work extensively on an outreach basis in schools, care homes, village venues, festivals and events throughout Gloucestershire. There are a small number of online courses too.

Artspace also offers a range of Art on Prescription projects to people of all ages in Gloucestershire to help them manage their healthcare through creative activities.

Staffing and Trustees:

We have a core team of 9 part-time staff who lead, manage and coordinate our programme on a day-to-day basis.

A team of 30+ professional freelance artists and art assistants deliver our classes, courses and projects.

Volunteers of all ages support activities across Artspace.

The Board of Trustees consists of up to 10 members and is responsible for ensuring that the charity carries out its purpose for the public benefit, overseeing the budget and appointing core staff.

Funding:

Since 2021, we have consistently achieved 50% of our earned income.

The rest is split between grants from trusts and foundations, support from local district councils and public donations.

In 2023/24 our total income was £360,252

A Bit of History:

Cinderford Artspace began in 1988 in a hut left vacant when the Further Education College moved from Cinderford to new premises. A group of artists and volunteers, about half of whom had learning disabilities, started to use the building for inclusive art-based activities and workshops.

 Artspace is now an Independent Charity and a Company Limited by Guarantee and has owned and managed The New Mercury building since 2001.

To find out more about Artspace and what’s happening over the next few months, visit our website.

If you’d like more information please leave a message.

Introduction from the Chair of Trustees:

Thank you for your interest in becoming a Trustee at Artspace Cinderford. Artspace Cinderford is an arts charity supporting diversity and inclusion, and providing accessible arts courses for all ages and abilities throughout the Forest of Dean and Gloucestershire.

Being a Trustee is a rewarding, interesting and challenging role. As a Trustee you play a vital role in the development of Artspace, working with the Artistic Director and Development Director to ensure high-quality and innovative services and projects are available to local communities to enable them to access and enjoy the arts.

As a trustee, I find the role both interesting and rewarding, and I enjoy being part of the charity’s growth and seeing the huge positive impact the work Artspace does has on people’s lives. With a range of new developments planned and opportunities available, this is a great time to become a trustee and support Artspace in its further development.

We are looking to bring on board new trustees with a passion for improving the health and wellbeing of local people and communities through the arts, and enable us to widen our expertise and knowledge, and diversity of people, within the Trustee Board.

It would be lovely to welcome you onto the Artspace board of trustees soon!

Karen Lander

Chair of Trustees

The Role of a Trustee:

Trustees have overall control of a charity and are responsible for making sure it’s doing what it was set up to do. They may be known by other titles, such as: directors, board members, governors, or committee members. Whatever they are called, trustees are the people who lead the charity and decide how it is run.

The Charity Commission for England and Wales.

Our trustees play a vital role in making sure that Cinderford Artspace achieves its core purpose. They oversee the overall management and administration of the charity. They also ensure that Cinderford

Artspace has clear strategic objectives and that our work and goals are in line with our vision. Just as importantly, they support and challenge the senior management team to enable Artspace to grow and thrive, and through this, achieve our mission.

Trustees make decisions about the direction a charity takes and how its purposes will be carried out. They also make sure that the charity has the resources and policies it needs to comply with legal requirements. Despite this sounding very serious (which it is!), being a trustee can be a hugely rewarding and enjoyable way to give back to your local community.

Trustee facts:

 Being a trustee is a voluntary role

 Anyone aged 18+ can become a trustee

 Anyone from any background and skill set can be a trustee

 There are one million trustees in the UK

96% of trustees said they had gained new skills through the role (Charity Commission)

 84% of trustees said being a trustee made them happier (Charity

Commission)

 Most trustees are male, white and retired from a professional career.

We need more diversity of trustees for charities to be stronger and more representative of the communities they serve.

At Artspace Cinderford, the everyday running of the organisation is delegated to a small team of staff, with the trustees (also known as board members) having responsibility for the overall governance of the charity. For example, trustees discuss and decide on how money is spent or saved and that projects meet our remit.

To make the charity robust, a strong and diverse board of trustees is needed, which we are lacking at the moment. At Artspace Cinderford, we particularly need more people who:

 identify as male

 are under retirement age

 come from different cultural backgrounds

 have knowledge and skills in marketing, fundraising and finance.

You don’t need to have any specific qualifications or experience at trustee level before. We are looking for people who have a passion for the arts and the positive impact the arts have on people’s health and wellbeing, and the desire to help Artspace to continue and develop its work in the local community.

To be a trustee you must be happy to have a DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check and not have any “disqualifying reasons” applying to you.

Being a trustee doesn’t involve a huge time commitment (see Commitment section below), but you can make a huge impact, meet like-minded people and have a key role in supporting the health and wellbeing of communities in the Forest of Dean and Gloucestershire through the arts.

The commitment:

There are a few major set commitments, and these are as follows:

 We hold 4 board meetings a year, of approximately 2 hours in length. These are held either during the daytime, or early evening, by agreement of members, and may be attended on Zoom, if necessary.

 We hold an ‘Away Day’ in the summer, when we meet up for lunch

(somewhere nice) with the whole team and discuss plans and exchange ideas for the upcoming year, and review projects from the past year. It is a great way to get to know the team, and to make connections - besides being good fun!

 The AGM is held at the beginning of December in the early evening. This is followed by refreshments, before the Annual End of Year Show performed by students from the singing, dance, performance, and circus skills/ acrobatics classes to showcase their work, and a great way to see what has been achieved, as well as a delightful way to end the year.

 Mandatory safeguarding training needs to be updated every few years. This can be done online at a time to suit you.

 Some of us elect to help support the team in other ways, by volunteering with researching particular areas (such as sustainability goals, safeguarding, and development) and sometimes attending relevant meetings, and training courses. or volunteering to help in other ways, These are not obligatory but are interesting and rewarding when taken up.

Support and Training:

Induction:

Before your first board meeting, you’ll be offered the opportunity to have an informal chat with our Chairperson, Karen Lander, and to visit Artspace to look around and meet staff. It’s a good chance to ask questions, meet some of the team and find out about what we do.

You’ll also be offered a ’buddy’ who is a member of the board and who will be a point of contact for any questions and concerns you may have.

All new trustees will receive an Induction Pack which includes important information to help you in your role of trustee eg guidance on the trustee role and responsibilities, the current Artspace programme, policies, business plan and financial reports. This is a good way of getting to know more about Artspace and

particularly useful if you haven’t been a trustee before.

Training:

In the first few weeks, there is mandatory online Safeguarding and Prevention training which can be done in your own time.

Once a year we have an Away Day training day with staff dealing with a topic relevant to the development of Artspace.

Additional online training courses are available on a number of topics which you can choose to do and can be completed in your own time.

Application, Interview and Appointment process:

To apply to be a trustee at Artspace, please write us a letter (up to 2 sides of A4), or send us a video (up to 5 minutes long) explaining:

 Why being a trustee at Artspace appeals to you

 Your interest in the arts and how the arts has a positive impact on the wellbeing of individuals and communities

 Any relevant skills you have (for example marketing, fundraising, finance, community work)

If you are interested please send us a message leaving your name and your email address and we will get back to you.

Deadline for applications is May 30th 2025.

Interviews for those shortlisted will be held in mid-late June.

Appointed trustees will then be required to undertake a DBS check and safeguarding training and will be welcomed to their first board meeting by autumn 2025.