Join the Oxford Hub trustee board
Oxford Hub continues to grow and develop its work in communities — and we are now looking for new trustees who can help the organisation in that journey. Find out more about what the trustee role means in practice and how you can get involved.
Oxford Hub works every day to make Oxford a more equal, resilient and connected city. We do this with the support of thousands of people who choose to volunteer, take part in our programmes or donate to our work. We also couldn’t do this without our board of trustees.
2022 was our birthday year, marking 15 years since Oxford Hub was set up by a group of students wanting to make a difference in Oxford and beyond. We’ve grown and changed considerably since then — but have also stayed true to our core mission of building a better, more equal and resilient Oxford.
That mission is more important than ever. The past year has deepened inequality and brought huge challenges for Oxford’s communities — but we have also found plenty of energy in our communities for change and social action.
We work every day to make Oxford a more equal, resilient, and connected city. We do this through a wide range of volunteering programmes, and lots of community development activities that focus on the OX4 area. We have a fantastic team of staff and volunteers, but we also work in close partnership with many other organisations, local authorities and the Marmalade network. The best way of finding out more about our work is reading our monthly recap blogs.
Trustees support charities behind the scenes, ensuring that the organisation runs well, that its work has a real impact, and that it has a strong foundation of policies and finances. We have a small board who bring an incredible wealth of experience in the charity sector — including all the key aspects that are so unique to charities, such as fundraising, impact measurement or charity accounts. We have just launched a round of trustee recruitment. In this round we are looking for:
- General trustees, who can bring new perspectives to the organisation. You may be looking for your first trustee role, or you may have had other experiences of charity governance in the past. The most important thing is that you have an interest in the work of Oxford Hub.
- A safeguarding lead for the trustee board. Our trustee lead for safeguarding has recently stepped down from the board. Our policies and processes are up to date, and we have safeguarding experience and skills on our board, but we are looking for someone to take on the lead role at the trustee level. This involves having quarterly meetings with the Designated Safeguarding Lead in the organisation (our CEO), being a sounding board for the staff team when there are any complex safeguarding cases, and leading any reviews of policies or processes at Oxford Hub.
If you are keen to support the work of Oxford Hub, we are keen to hear from you!
Trustee positions are open to anyone over the age of 16, who have a background or identity whose experiences connect with one or more of the following areas:
- Enthusiasm for Oxford Hub’s vision to build a more equal, resilient and connected Oxford.
- Experience of the programmes that we run at Oxford Hub (for example, if you’ve been supported by one of our programmes, or if you’ve participated in any way, such as volunteering with us).
- Knowledge of Oxford and its communities.
- Experience in voluntary sector governance, fundraising, impact measurement, or other relevant professional skills.
In practice, the Oxford Hub trustee board meets six times a year as a team of trustees and senior staff to review the work of the organisation and make decisions about how it can be strengthened or improved. Trustees also review documents and monthly updates between meetings, and may sometimes join working groups for a specific area of work. The role is a great way to learn new skills but also work with some brilliant people and connect more deeply with the mission of Oxford Hub.
You don’t need previous board experience to become a trustee and Oxford Hub is able to provide lots of practical training and mentoring for first-time trustees. The current board is very experienced in charity governance and really friendly — if you are excited about the work of Oxford Hub, but may not have had a trustee role before, this may be the perfect opportunity for you.
Our approach to diversity
Oxford Hub is a local charity supporting a huge range of individuals and communities across Oxford city. As an organisation, we are committed to reflecting the diversity of the communities that we serve, and to sharing power with them through our approach to work.
We have made significant progress in this area through our work with communities and with our staff team, but we have not realised this objective at the governance level yet. This means we are particularly interested in supporting those whose voices are less often heard to be involved in the organisation as trustees.
Find out more about this opportunity
- We are recruiting up to 3 new trustees to join the board and you can find more information about trustee recruitment on the website here. The deadline for applications is the 16th of January.
- We would like to encourage everyone applying to get in touch with any current staff or trustees to find out more about the roles. If you have any questions you can simply email us at hello@oxfordhub.org to find out more. We’d love to meet you and tell you more about this opportunity.
