Our Regional Advisory Boards give you that chance to support the work the Trust does in your local area.
East Midlands Regional Advisory Board Opportunities
Yorkshire & North East Regional Advisory Board Opportunities
South West Regional Advisory Board Opportunities
East Midlands Regional Advisory Board Opportunities
The Canal & River Trust is a waterways and wellbeing charity that seeks to transform places and improve lives. The Trust is recruiting additional Regional Advisory Board members for the East Midlands. Members of the Regional Advisory Board play a critical role in delivering the wellbeing agenda of the Trust at Regional Level. Members should have appropriate skills, experience and connections at senior level and enthusiasm to make a difference.
Message from the Regional Chair
Thank you for your interest in becoming a member of the East Midlands Regional Advisory Board.
The main purpose of our Regional Advisory Board is to connect people and communities with the local canals and rivers here in the East Midlands region.
As the Canal & River Trust transitions into a waterways and wellbeing charity, Regional Advisory Board members collectively play a vital role to give local people:
- A voice in developing and improving their waterways
- A chance to connect with their waterside communities
- An opportunity to help guide Regional and National decisions and strategies
- The ability to support and champion the waterways in this region
We are very keen to reflect diversity of the communities of the East Midlands with board members with appropriate skills, experience and connections.
From historic canals to tidal rivers, within the East Midlands we have waterways that run through stunning open countryside as well as densely populated urban areas. In the East Midlands there are 750,000 people living within 1 kilometre of one of our waterways and 60% of these households are classified as being in deprivation. It has therefore never been more important for the Trust to deliver wellbeing outcomes within the region whilst also continuing to maintain and care for our waterways so that everyone can use the water and towpaths for their enjoyment and pleasure.
Anil Majithia, Chair East Midlands Regional Advisory Board
Terms of reference for the Regional Advisory Board
The Regional Advisory Board supports the Canal & River Trust to achieve their strategic objectives and programmes. The Trust's key themes are:
- Health, Wellbeing & Happiness
- Engaged People & Cohesive Communities
- Learning & Enhanced Skills
- Prosperous & Connected Places
- Green & Blue Futures
- Cultural & Environmental Assets
The role of the Advisory Board is to:
- Provide ‘Reach' – utilise local knowledge, ideas and capacity to build new relationships, including to enable more people to use and enjoy the waterways; actively seek to ‘reach' the diverse local communities that the Trust serves
- Act Local – translate national priorities into local initiatives, feeding into the Trust's integrated business planning process
- Advise – inform the Trust's strategic planning and thinking, help the Trust remain relevant by proactively gathering and feeding back on local ‘outside world' priorities, opportunities and risks
- Connect and Influence – identify, engage with and enable access (‘open doors') to relevant local and regional decision-makers and policy formers, across all sectors; broaden the Trust's engagement with local ‘power bases'; help the Trust grow its supporter base, including helping to raise awareness of the Trust in the local community
- Be Pioneering/Pathfinding – identify and trial new ways of delivering Trust ambitions and priorities and meeting objectives
The full Terms of Reference can be found here.
Skills, knowledge and experience
The key qualities the Trust is looking for are enthusiasm and an understanding of the Trust's aims and ambitions. Key skills include:
- Locally-based, credible, and respected locally/regionally
- Good contacts with key stakeholders in the East Midlands
- Capable of working at a strategic level
- Approachable with good interpersonal skills
- Experienced in partnership working and a team player
- Availability of time and energy to commit to the Regional Advisory Board
In addition, knoweldge and experience in any of the following areas would be beneficial:
- Health and wellbeing
- Community or youth engagement
- Volunteering
- Learning & Skills
- Regeneration
- Tourism
- Navigation and Boating
- Environment and Heritage
- Funding
Commitment
Members of the Regional Advisory Board agree to attend meetings, represent the Board as required, and contribute to the Board's work programme by undertaking practical action to deliver agreed objectives. This is a volunteer role which is not remunerated. Reasonable expenses will, however, be reimbursed. It is expected that the role will require around 1-2 days per month, with part of this likely to be during the working day. Appointments are normally made for a 3-year period with the possibility of this being extended.
The full Role Profile can be found here.
How to apply
The Trust has recently restructured its regional boundaries and as such there are currently a number of opportunities on the East Midlands Regional Advisory Board. A rolling application process is being undertaken with candidates being considered as they apply. To apply, please complete an application form and send to [email protected] along with a short CV.
Arrangements for interviews will be agreed with shortlisted candidates.
If you wish to discuss this opportunity further, please contact Anil Majithia, Regional Advisory Board Chair East Midlands, on [email protected] or Phil Mulligan, Director, East Midlands Region, on 07484 912994 or [email protected]
Please visit our website page here to find out more.
Please pass on this information to any others who may be interested in this role.
Yorkshire & North East Regional Advisory Board Opportunities
Do you have a passion for your community and an interest in how our waterways can support wellbeing and the local environment? Are you willing to share your ideas and challenge thinking?
The Yorkshire & North East Regional Advisory Board are looking for new board members. An exciting opportunity to be part of a vibrant charity that combines management of waterways with a commitment to wellbeing and transforming lives in everything we do.
The Regional Advisory Board works with the regional team to advise and drive regional and national objectives to give local people:
- A voice in developing and improving their waterways
- A chance to connect with their waterside communities
- An opportunity to help guide decisions and strategies
- The ability to support and champion the waterways in this region
We are very keen to reflect diversity of all the communities in our region. We want to attract people with appropriate skills, connections and experience of working at a strategic level as well as those who can challenge our thinking and bring a different perspective. You do not have to be an expert on boating, managing canals or mending locks but we do want you to have an interest in the waterways and what they provide. There is no need for previous Board experience.
The waterways in our region travel through a rich range of landscapes and communities, from deeply rural to highly populated cities, with over 1m people living within 1km of our waterways. We have many famous landmarks such as Bingley Five Rise and Standedge Tunnel and hundreds of miles of towpath which provide beautiful and interesting places for exercise, enjoying the environment, or simply getting from one place to another.
Being an Advisory Board member brings you into the fascinating world of a charity that has huge enthusiasm and commitment, a complex range of responsibilities and a genuine ambition to improve the health and quality of people's lives. Advisory Board members are not trustees but have a very significant part to play in influencing and supporting what the Trust does.
The full Terms of Reference can be found here and the full Member Role Profile can be found here.
We are looking for people who have an enthusiasm for and an understanding of the Trust's aims and ambitions. Ideally you will be locally based with good contacts across the region. We would be particularly interested in receiving applications from those with experience in the following three sectors
Connections to the health and wellbeing sector
An individual who has strong connections in the health and wellbeing sector/primary care network who can help us better ‘market' our waterways as an opportunity for groups/individuals/professionals to improve their health and wellbeing or to give them the knowledge to guide others to us. With a focus on West Yorkshire this individual can help grow and sustain our existing work through health and wellbeing public sector funding
Expertise to help us grow our education model
Our current educational delivery model is strong but limited by capacity – with additional resource we could deliver more and deliver better. Additional funding for staff would enable us to expand our current offer to schools at our educational flagship site, Tees Barrage. This resource would also support volunteer growth, teacher training, STEM delivery and employer partnerships. Additional funding for resources could improve the quality of the experience. An individual who has a background in public sector funding opportunities or strong links to potential corporate partners in the North East would be useful.
Improving the diversity of our visitors, volunteers and colleagues
Someone to help guide us to develop better approaches to reaching out to a wider audience and build connections to existing diverse networks/groups across West Yorkshire. A West Yorkshire focus would enable us to look at diversifying volunteers and participants in our priority area of Leeds, grow delivery in Kirklees and Calderdale and tap into future opportunities around Bradford City of Culture 2025.
Experience in the subjects of fundraising and efficiency would also be beneficial.
To apply, please complete an application form and send to Sean McGinley, Regional Director for Yorkshire & North East at [email protected] or contact Sean initially for an informal chat.
South West Regional Advisory Board Opportunities
The Canal & River Trust is a waterways and wellbeing charity that seeks to transform places and improve lives. The Trust is recruiting additional Regional Advisory Board members for the South West. Members of the Regional Advisory Board play a critical role in delivering the wellbeing agenda of the Trust at Regional Level. Members should have appropriate skills, experience and connections at senior level and enthusiasm to make a difference.
Message from the Regional Chair
Thank you for your interest in becoming a member of the South West Regional Advisory Board.
The main purpose of our Regional Advisory Board is to connect people and communities with the local canals and rivers here in the South West region.
As the Canal & River Trust transitions into a waterways and wellbeing charity, Regional Advisory Board members collectively play a vital role to give local people:
- A voice in developing and improving their waterways
- A chance to connect with their waterside communities
- An opportunity to help guide Regional and National decisions and strategies
- The ability to support and champion the waterways in this region
We are very keen to reflect diversity of the communities of the South West with board members with appropriate skills, experience and connections.
Terms of reference for the Regional Advisory Board
The Regional Advisory Board supports the Canal & River Trust to achieve their strategic objectives and programmes. The Trust's key themes are:
- Health, Wellbeing & Happiness
- Engaged People & Cohesive Communities
- Learning & Enhanced Skills
- Prosperous & Connected Places
- Green & Blue Futures
- Cultural & Environmental Assets
The role of the Advisory Board is to:
- Provide ‘Reach' – utilise local knowledge, ideas and capacity to build new relationships, including to enable more people to use and enjoy the waterways; actively seek to ‘reach' the diverse local communities that the Trust serves
- Act Local – translate national priorities into local initiatives, feeding into the Trust's integrated business planning process
- Advise – inform the Trust's strategic planning and thinking, help the Trust remain relevant by proactively gathering and feeding back on local ‘outside world' priorities, opportunities and risks
- Connect and Influence – identify, engage with and enable access (‘open doors') to relevant local and regional decision-makers and policy formers, across all sectors; broaden the Trust's engagement with local ‘power bases'; help the Trust grow its supporter base, including helping to raise awareness of the Trust in the local community
- Be Pioneering/Pathfinding – identify and trial new ways of delivering Trust ambitions and priorities and meeting objectives
The full Terms of Reference can be found here
Skills, knowledge and experience
The key qualities the Trust is looking for are enthusiasm and an understanding of the Trust's aims and ambitions. Key skills include:
- Locally-based, credible, and respected locally/regionally
- Good contacts with key stakeholders in the South West
- Capable of working at a strategic level
- Approachable with good interpersonal skills
- Experienced in partnership working and a team player
- Availability of time and energy to commit to the Regional Advisory Board
In addition, knowledge and experience in any of the following areas would be beneficial:
- Health and wellbeing
- Community or youth engagement
- Volunteering
- Learning & Skills
- Regeneration
- Tourism
- Navigation and Boating
- Environment and Heritage
- Funding
- Commitment
Members of the Regional Advisory Board agree to attend meetings, represent the Board as required, and contribute to the Board's work programme by undertaking practical action to deliver agreed objectives. This is a volunteer role which is not remunerated. Reasonable expenses will, however, be reimbursed. It is expected that the role will require around 1-2 days per month, with part of this likely to be during the working day. Appointments are normally made for a 3-year period with the possibility of this being extended.
How to apply
There are currently a number of opportunities on the South West Regional Advisory Board. A rolling application process is being undertaken with candidates being considered as they apply. To apply, please complete an application form and send to [email protected] along with a short CV.
Arrangements for interviews will be agreed with shortlisted candidates.
If you wish to discuss this opportunity further, please contact Anna Finn ([email protected])
Please visit our website page here to find out more.
