trustee

We are currently looking for more carers, or those that have recent experience of caring, who would like to be trustees or carer representatives.

Carers Support Centre – Bristol and South Gloucestershire (CSC) is a local independent charity that supports unpaid adult and young (children) carers and we are committed to being carer-led. This means that we want carers to be an integral part of our staff team, management and board of trustees.

In an increasingly challenging environment for carers, with social care and healthcare services facing difficult times, it is more important than ever that unpaid carers have an independent organisation to champion and support their needs.

Carer representatives have the opportunity to ensure that carer’s voices are heard by key decision makers both locally and nationally to make services work better for all carers. As a carer representative, you would be trained and supported to ‘get involved’ in a way that works best for you and your caring situation. For example; attending meetings, focus groups, providing feedback on consultations (either over the telephone or online). We work flexibly with carer representatives to find the best way of being involved that works for the individual, to ensure that the views of carers are heard by service providers.

We need your help to identify where we can make the most difference to carers’ lives and ensure that carer’s voices are heard.

Trustees are responsible for the governance of CSC and play a pivotal role in working alongside the Chief Executive and Senior Management team to ensure that that the organisation achieves its aims and objectives.

Trustees come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences and you do not need to have been a trustee before in order to apply.

We would like to invite you to our ‘Get Involved’ event to meet some of our current trustees and carer representatives, find out what’s involved and how you can apply.

• Thursday 16 November 6pm – 7.30pm
• Carers Support Centre, The Vassall Centre, Gill Avenue, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 2QQ
• All welcome – call 0117 939 2562 or email CarolineM@carerssupportcentre.org.uk to book a place, or just turn up.

What level of commitment does being a Trustee or Carer Representative require?

There are a minimum of six trustee meetings a year with the possibility of some additional meetings. This commitment is likely to be a maximum of one day per month on average, dependent on the role.

Carer representatives normally attend around eight meetings a year which will need some preparation time too (with our support) before meetings. The time commitment is about half a day a month, dependent on the role.

We can also offer support and development opportunities in a range of skills for both Trustees and carer representatives.

Next steps

Please contact Keith Sinclair (Chief Executive Officer) email: KeithSinclair@carerssupportcentre.org.uk  if you’d like to discuss the trustee role and/or receive an information pack, or Caroline McAleese (Carer Engagement and Involvement Lead) e-mail: CarolineM@carerssupportcentre.org.uk if you are interested in the carer representative role.