Trustees – Finance & HR

The Community Forest Trust (CFT) supports, enables and champions England’s 15 Community Forests, creating a strong and resilient network of woodlands that enhance the environment for people, wildlife and the wider planet.

• Location: England wide
• Salary: Reasonable expenses paid
• Closing date: 9 a.m. Monday 29th April

Who we are.

Community Forest Trust supports, enables and champions England’s network of Community Forests so that they have an increasing and positive impact on people’s health and happiness and the environment – improving the agriculture, commerce, and climate of derelict or harmful sites.

Community Forests ensure urban areas are economically, socially and environmentally more sustainable and resilient for everyone. They support the regeneration of local communities and create better places. They also educate and empower people about environmental matters and transform places for the social and economic well-being of the community.

About the role.

CFT  is a registered charity with a Board of Trustees and has a small but dynamic team.

They are currently looking for two new Trustees to join the Board with Finance and HR skills.

This is a great opportunity to contribute to a high-profile agenda and support the delivery of national programmes of tree planting.

All trustees must be committed to helping take the organisation through the next few years of dynamic and exciting change, evolution of operations and on-the-ground delivery.

Who are we looking for?

CFT is looking for a Finance and HR Trustees. They need to be aligned with CFT’s values and able to bring the skills listed below.

Strategic Finance & Risk Trustee:

CFT is seeking a finance and risk Trustee who has a background as a Chief Finance Officer or senior Finance Director who can offer strategic guidance to a multi-faceted, multi-million-pound charity at this pivotal time in their growth.

This individual needs to be a qualified accountant with significant experience in operating at a strategic level. A person who appreciates the needs of a complex and growing organisation with diverse income and expenditure is needed for this role. CFT’s finances are multi-faceted because they apply for funding, distribute grants and are also developing their Green Finance work so that they can monetise the outputs of England’s Community Forests, as appropriate. They are also diversifying their income including through fundraising.

The new trustee will also Chair the quarterly Finance & Risk Committee for CFT and attend the quarterly Board meetings. They will work with the CEO and Finance Manager as well as the external auditors concerning all financial matters and relevant reporting cycles.

Human Resources Trustee:

CFT needs a senior HR professional with Organisational Development experience who can offer strategic advice and support to their People Strategy and Plan. CFT, also, have a multi-faceted people management model with a small team of direct employees and a much larger pool of people who are employed by partners such as ECF and Local Authorities. They work with external professional HR support but want to develop a proactive People Strategy and monitor its operational implementation so that they can ensure all people working across the forests are aligned to the shared ambitions and purpose of England’s forests and are offered a rigorous career pathway.

CFT want to inspire people from diverse and under-represented communities to get involved in forests and to establish and champion working with trees and in forests as the attractive profession that it is.

They, also, want to embed best practices and policies into their People strategy and to ensure EDI, Learning & Development and Safeguarding are key parts of this. This new Trustee will Chair the HR Committee.

Please click 'Apply’ to be redirected to the Peridot Partners website, where you can find full details of the candidate profile and register your interest to apply.

Applications for this role close at 9 a.m. Monday 29th April.