Appointment of Trustees, November 2015

BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND HOW TO APPLY

Introduction

Thank you for your interest in becoming a trustee of Alcohol Research UK. We are embarking on an ambitious journey to grow our size and influence and this would be an exciting time to join us.

We are anational charity. We launched in September 2011, taking over the work of the now defunctAlcohol Education and Research Council which had been established in 1982. Our vision is to see “alcohol-related harms reduced because policy and practice are based on the best available evidence.”We work towards this by funding new research and making the findings available to key decision-makers, for example local and national government, other statutory agencies, GPs, advocacy organsiations and other charitable trusts. Sometimes we fund research alone, sometimes in partnership with others.

You can find out more about what we do by downloading our 2014 annual review from

Historically, we have tended to rely on the income from our £15 million investment portfolio to fund our work. However, over the last few years we have started to diversify the range of income sources. We now want to take this to whole new level. We have ambitious plans for raising funds from trusts, foundations, corporates, high net worth individuals and by acting as an intermediary for the research needs of public sector agencies. In so doing, we will be able to fund significantly more research and to raise our profile and influence amongst key decision-makers.

We have already increased our executive staff resource by appointing a Director of Fund Development and a Marketing and Communications Officer and we now want to appoint three or four new trustees who can bring the skills and experience that will help us achieve our ambitions.

Our current treasurer retires in March 2016 and we therefore also wish to appoint a chartered accountant to the board. This is with a view to them becoming treasurer in two or three years’ time.

Previous experience as a charity trustee might be helpful but is not essential.

Details ofour friendly and enthusiastic team of existing trustees can be viewed in the “About Us” section of our website (

The trustees are supportedin their work by a small team of six staff. They are currently based in our rented office on Victoria Street in London. However, we are in the process of using some of our investments to buy a permanent home for the charity.

The Role

A job description and person specification is included with this pack.You will see that we are specifically looking to recruit trustees who can bring:

  • influence amongst potential major donors and funders. That means trusts, foundations, high-net worth individuals and corporates and the networks they operate in
  • influence amongst potential partners in the alcohol/ health/ research fields and the networks they operate in. That means organisations that might be interested in working with us on producing research or the key organisations that we should be influencing with our findings e.g. the UK and devolved governments and their agencies, local authorities, royal colleges and professional bodies

We are also looking to recruit:

  • a chartered accountant
  • an alcohol social scientist

We are keen to hear from individuals who can bring one or more of these skills.

We would particularly welcome applicants who can represent us in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Every trustee joins at least one of our committees or advisory panels. These are ‘Development’, ‘Grants’, ‘Scrutiny and Review’, ‘Finance and General Purposes’ and ‘Nominations’.

We would expect new trustees who bring the skills listed under the first two bullet points above to join the Development Advisory Panel. A new trustee who fulfils the third requirement (i.e they are a chartered accountant) would be expected to join the Finance and General Purposes Committee. A new trustee who is a scientist would be expected to join our Scrutiny and Review Committee.Terms of reference and remit for committees and panels can be found here

The time commitment is about 6 days a year for meetings, training and strategy days plus input into email discussions. Trustees should also bewilling to give occasional advice to staff or fellow trusteeswhen requested. Most meetings take place in London.

If appointed, you would formally take up the role at a time to be agreed with you; however this should be no later than 1st April 2016.

All trustees are appointed for an initial term of three years, after which they may be re-elected for a further three year term. An induction programme is provided.

The role is unremunerated; however travel, accommodation and subsistence expenses can be claimed.

All Trustees receive a handbook that contains key information about Alcohol Research UK and copies of the most important policies and procedures.

How to Apply

To apply, please submit a short CV (no more than two sides of A4) to Dave Roberts, Chief Executive and Company Secretary, Alcohol Research UK, 83 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0HWor to y 7th December 2015. You should focus on demonstrating how you would bring the specific skills, knowledge or experience that we are seeking.

Please make sure you have read the eligibility criteria in Section 4 of the Job Description and Person Specification. If appointed, you will be asked to sign a form to declare that you are eligible to act as a charity trusteeand company director.

It would also be helpful if you could complete and return the equal opportunities form. This will be detached from your CV and will not form part of the selection process.

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview at the above address on 14th January 2016.

For more information please visit Phone Dave Roberts, Chief Executive and Company Secretary, on 07960 055593 for an informal chat. You can email him on

Charity No. 1140827 Limited Company No. 7462605