TRUSTEE

ROLE BRIEF
WELCOME
Dear potential Trustee

Children never belong in orphanages. Orphanages don’t protect

children, they harm them. Put simply: the last thing an orphanage
can provide is the first thing a child needs - someone to love them.

The vast majority of children in orphanages aren’t orphans at all -

80% of the 8 million children confined to orphanages have at least
one living parent or close relative who could care for them with
the right support. And for children without family, there is always a
better option than an orphanage.

Science shows what we all know, that the bond between a child
and their family is vital for their development. Decades of evidence
proves that orphanages harm children, subjecting them to high
levels of sexual and physical abuse, extreme neglect and stunting
of their physical, emotional and psychological development. Some
children in orphanages will never even learn to talk or walk.
Children always belong in families. They need protection,
encouragement, play, laughter and love. They need somewhere to
call home and someone who will always look out for them.

The support and expertise of our talented and committed group of

Trustees is vital to leading and supporting our 250 strong global
staff teams, volunteers, supporters and partners. You will be
joining an exceptional group of individuals with experience from a
wide variety of backgrounds and sectors.

As a finance professional, you will share your track record of

international financial management and expertise with the board
and our executive team.
WELCOME
This is a deeply rewarding time to be joining us. As the world
responds to the current Covid-19 crisis, there are even more
children at risk of being abandoned into orphanages and more
orphanages could be created. There is vital work to be done in
ensuring this does not happen.

If you believe every child belongs in a family, join us as we consign

orphanages to history. We hope you feel excited about the
challenge. If so, we would be delighted to hear from you.

With very best wishes

Richard Greenhalgh
Chair of Trustees
ABOUT
Our mission is to be the catalyst for global elimination of
institutional care of children. We have set ourselves ambitious
targets. Our ten-year aim is that by 2027, worldwide, orphanages
will no longer be an acceptable way to look after children.

OUR VALUES
Our values are excellence, courage and integrity. These determine
how we approach the delivery of our strategy and the execution of
our annual business plans. They bring our culture as an
organisation to life and help us to provide all those we interact
with and who support our work to have positive dealings with us.
Our values matter because they are shared by all our trustees,
staff and volunteers. Most of all, they reflect our experience of
how children want us to be.

OUR IMPACT
We have proven our approach to be effective across a wide variety
of contexts. In Romania we have contributed to the reduction of
children in institutions by 94% and galvanised government
commitment to close all remaining institutions by 2026. We have
played a leading role in the systemic reform of childcare protection
in Bulgaria, leveraging EU funding for the closure of 13 institutions
for children under three. In Rwanda, we provided strategic
direction for the first closure in the country which led to the
government agreement of a national strategy to close all
institutions.
In delivering our model we have signed a number of national level
agreements that are steering funding away from institutional care
into the provision of sustainable family-based care. We have also
supported partner governments to secure additional funding for
the transition to family-based care, usually at ratios of over 1:12.
ABOUT
This means that the people who fund us obtain huge value for
their money and are able to contribute to a permanent and
sustainable solution.

OUR TRACK RECORD

2019 was our 25th year and a momentous one in growing a global
movement to eliminate orphanages and ensure children grow up
in a loving family. Our achievement can be summarised as follows:

• We closed orphanages in Romania, Bulgaria and Rwanda and

we progressed closure plans in Moldova and Transnistria, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Uganda, Sudan, South Africa, Nepal and
India. We provided training for over 6,900 child protection
professionals, supported 750 children to leave orphanages and
prevented 95,000 children from being institutionalised.

• Our Advocacy team influenced governments on a new

Resolution on the Rights of the Child, which led to 193 member
states of the UN agreeing that for the first time in history
orphanages need to be eliminated. We also received special
consultative status from the UN’s Economic and Social Change
Council. In the EU, we secured draft commitments on childcare
reform and support through aid funding and in the UK, through a
Private Sector Taskforce, we strengthened the government’s
commitment to promoting reform internationally and especially
with the Commonwealth.

• We fundraised nearly £9 million. Our highlights include

delivering our most successful event ever, the Boodles Boxing Ball;
exceeding our fundraising target with our corporate partner Allen
& Overy; securing major new grants from Postcode Equality Trust
and our longest standing supporter, the St James’s Place Charitable
Foundation and delivering new events, including a Canary Wharf
Rowathon.
ABOUT
LOOKING AHEAD

Our progress in 2019 shows that momentum is building, and the

vital tipping point is approaching when orphanages are an
unacceptable way to care for children. Looking ahead, we will:

• Drive regional reform by closing four institutions in strategically

important locations, and by setting up essential services to keep
families together, to reunite families and to build new families.

• Catalyse global reform with the Commonwealth and the EU,

and ensure that 193 countries follow through on their
commitment to the landmark UN resolution to eliminate
orphanages.

• Raise the money and awareness needed to drive reform and

see necessary changes made to childcare and policy legislation by
developing new strategic partnerships and launching a global
public awareness and fundraising campaign.
THE ROLE
The Board of Trustees is legally responsible for ensuring that the
organisation achieves its mission. As a Board, the members provide
strategic guidance to the organisation, using their skills,
backgrounds and contacts to assist the organisation in continuing
to make a real difference to the lives of young people.

The recruitment of new trustees will help to strengthen the Board

in certain key skill areas. While it is expected that all trustees will
contribute to the future sustainability of the Charity, the Board
would like to appoint one new trustee with the following
experience at a senior level:

A finance executive with experience of financial management in an

international environment. The candidate will have
• A rigorous understanding of financial management, reporting
and systems
• Experience of financial controls, risk management and
governance
• A well-established network across relevant areas of finance, IT
and information management in order to help the Board
benchmark performance and direct the charity

Previous experience, or sound awareness, of these issues in a not-

for-profit organisation is desirable.

The candidate will be a member of the Finance, Audit and Risk

Committee.
.
COMMITMENT
Term of office
This appointment is for a three-year term, renewable for a further
three years. This role is non-remunerated although expenses are
paid.

Time commitment
Approximately 1-2 days per month to include quarterly board
meetings, committee meetings, away day and ad hoc events.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
• To determine the overall strategic direction and development
of Hope and Homes for Children, by
agreeing organisational policies, budgets and objectives, and to
ensure targets are set and performance measured against such
targets.

• To safeguard and promote the good name, reputation, vision,

mission and values of Hope and Homes for Children and
to ensure the charity complies with its governing documents,
relevant legislation and regulatory requirements.

• To take collective responsibility for Board decisions, including

the avoidance of any personal conflict of interest and to
hold the Executive to account.

• To contribute any specific skills, knowledge or experience which

they may have to help the Board of Trustees reach
sound decisions.

• To ensure the effective and efficient administration of Hope and

Homes for Children and its financial stability.

• To represent Hope and Homes for Children at functions and

events, to lead or be a member of committees/taskforces
as appropriate and help identify fundraising opportunities as
they arise.

• To engage with international stakeholders to keep informed

about the organisation's activities and wider issues that affect
the Charity's work.
.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
• Brings us closer to our mission of eliminating orphanages.
Commitment to the ethos, purpose and role of Hope and
Homes for Children and empathy with the core mission

• An understanding of the role of governance of organisations,

whether in the private, public or voluntary sector

• Skill and sensitivity in dealing with people at all levels, both

internally and externally

• Ability to act as a sounding board for the Executive on relevant

issues, specifically liaising with the Chief Operating Officer on
key matters relating to finance, IT and risk, including financial
performance, budgets and forecasts

• Providing insight which helps the Board and the Executive to

benchmark performance in these areas

• Intellectual capacity to grasp issues outside personal experience

and to take a strategic view

• Ability to inspire confidence and build positive relationships

with Hope and Homes for Children’s principal stakeholders

• Ability to work effectively as a member of a team

• Strategic vision coupled with the ability to focus on practical

issues

Hope and Homes for Children actively encourages equality and

diversity and we look to recruit across age, gender, ethnicity and
background. We are keen to see a diverse membership of both the
Trustee body and Committees as we believe diversity brings us
closer to our mission of eliminating orphanages.
APPOINTMENT PROCESS
Application Closing Date:
Wednesday 5th August 2020

Interview Dates with Hope and Homes for Children:

w/c 31st August 2020

Your CV and supporting statement combined should not exceed

five sides in total.
Your supporting statement should

• Outline how you meet the criteria as detailed in the person

specification.
• Include why you are interested in working for us.
• Provide details of what you would bring.

On appointment, we will take your references and ask you to

complete a DBS check in accordance with our safeguarding policy.

We will keep your personal data carefully and within the

requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations. Our
Privacy policy is available here:
https://www.hopeandhomes.org/privacypolicy/

Please send your CV and supporting statement to BAME

Recruitment at: https://apply.workable.com/bame-recruitment-
limited/j/093CBBD5CB/

For any inquiries about the role before applying please contact
BAME Recruitment: +44 (0) 20 3857 5415.

We look forward to receiving your application.

CASE STUDY
Joseph’s story

And, finally, this is why we are doing what we do.

Joseph was born with cerebral palsy and abandoned as a baby. He

was taken to an orphanage and spent most of the first nine years
of his life lying in a cot or on the floor, unable to move.

No one cuddled him, played with him or sang to him. No one

believed he had a future. He was fed liquid food through a tube.
Joseph was kept physically alive, nothing more. But when Hope
and Homes for Children closed the orphanage where Joseph lived,
we found a wonderful foster family to care for him.

We provided his new parents, Faith and Albert, with the training
they needed, we invested in their home to make it suitable for
Joseph and we supported them to welcome him into their family.
Today, Joseph can sit unassisted, he can look around and eat
normal food with the rest of the family. His foster sisters have
helped him to learn to turn the pages of picture books with his
feet. Joseph has a cheeky sense of humour and he makes his family
laugh. Their nickname for him is “Blessing”.

Our work in Rwanda proves that all children, whatever their needs,
can lead fulfilling lives if they have the love and protection of a
family.

We are on track to close all institutions in Rwanda in the next five

years. And that’s just one place where we are having an impact.
Find out where else at www.hopeandhomes.org.