Volunteer Opportunity!

Volunteer Director of Acts of Random Caring CIC who operate Gatis Community Space and its associated projects.

This is an exciting opportunity to become involved with a vibrant community of individuals who are looking to diversify their Director team and fill in the gaps in their skill base.

Full details below…

Purpose of Role
To support the current Directors and Management Team in the continued development of the community business and site of Gatis Community Space.

About the Opportunity
This is an exciting opportunity to become involved with a vibrant community of individuals who are looking to diversify their Director team and fill in the gaps in their skill base.

The company has multiple projects and takes a people-centric approach to all their work with a core mission of:

  • Our aim is to provide a safe and inclusive centre that puts community at the heart of its diverse projects.
  • Empowering people to be a better version of themselves.
  • Enabling change to a sustainable future.

This role is for a term of 2 years and offers the opportunity to help develop the company in a variety of ways. Our current focus is to:

  • Develop the business trading offers from site to help create financial stability.
  • Explore the potential to create a separate charity arm to maximize our grant funding opportunities.
  • Increase the micro-businesses supported by the centre.
  • Develop the sites multipurpose spaces and grounds with a sustainable future in mind.
  • Explore new ways to connect with the community and allow for greater community involvement in running the centre.
  • Exploring ways to combine arts and nature to support mental health improvement and strengthen community cohesion.
  • Strengthen our policies and procedures and explore appropriate standards marks.
  • Provide support and guidance to the management and volunteering team, help develop them and ensure the legality of all operations.
  • Develop both Environmental and Social Impact policy and procedures.

As an organisation we know that peoples time is precious and to make best use of everyone’s time and to respond quickly to need our constitution allows for us to make decisions electronically. This means that approval for good ideas can be sought immediately and reduces the amount of times people need to meet face to face. This is in the main done through our Gatis Management Team messenger group or our Gatis Directors messenger group. Though can also be done via email or Whatsapp.

The Directors also meet quarterly and there is provision for people to join via Zoom if that is more convenient.

It is entirely up to you how much you get involved with the organization and projects and we will try and be as flexible as possible to support both your needs and the organization’s but as a minimum you will be expected to attend the quarterly meetings and support via online decision-making processes.

About Gatis Community Space
We are a volunteer-run community hub in the heart of Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton. We have a large outdoor space, community garden, play area and Café on site. We aim to bring the community together through skill sharing, food, play and nature and by supporting each other to become all we can be. We have sustainability and people at the heart of all we do. We try to involve the community and our volunteers in how the hub is run and encourage people to take ownership of the site for future generations. We also support people to dream big and offer space for experimentation with career goals and small business start up ideas.

  • Tasks Include:
    Learning about the business and its projects – with opportunity to get involved in any of the projects on a more personal basis
  • Reviewing the financial information to support the building of financial resilience (if this is not within your skill set there is the opportunity to be mentored by other team members)
  • Supporting the Director and Management Teams in the key focus areas detailed in About the Opportunity.
  • Supporting decision making at Director level
  • Attending quarterly meetings
  • Providing support and advice relevant to personal experience and skills set.

Skills Required:
There are only three essential requirements as we are by no means ‘normal’ and we do things a bit different:

  • Passion and excitement about supporting community
  • Willingness to have a go even if it pushes you out of your comfort zone
  • A sense of humor!

However, we would be particularly interested in people with expertise in the following skills:

  • Experience in running a commercial business
  • Experience in developing Environmental or Social Impact policies and procedures
  • Experience in developing green initiatives around community businesses.
  • Legal experience
  • Any experience around asset transfers or community building purchases
  • Financial management experience

 

Benefits:

  • The opportunity to become an important part of a friendly team of like-minded people who are all working towards a common goal and supporting one another (and maybe making lifelong friends.) Our volunteers have a laugh at Gatis, it’s a big part of community work and a real reason why they love coming to Gatis to volunteer. 
  • Gain confidence and experience. We will support you in your capacity at Gatis, not only so you thrive in your role but thrive in whatever you do outside of Gatis too. 
  • Volunteer work is a great thing to add to your CV as it shows potential employers that you have dedicated your time and effort to a role without monetary benefit – this shows dedication. 
  • Gain new skills and training not only for your CV but for your personal self-improvement. Where possible we try and offer training for CPD. 
  • Be a part of your community – It is so important to be making a difference and be an active member of your community. Community groups are extremely important to facilitate individuals to find out and have their say in what happens in their area, connect with others, share and learn, get to know their neighbours and hear the experiences of others. The mental and physical benefits of this are many, including helping with depression, addiction and social isolation. After the closure of many community spaces we now have a responsibility to keep this culture alive!

Date & Time:
We are accepting applications between May and July 2020

How to Apply:
Please apply in writing to Maria Billington – email gatisgardeners@gmail.com

Please include in your application answers to the following questions:

  • Name and contact details including home address
  • Details of any disability that we need to know about and any adaptations that would enable you to engage with us easier
  • A statement on why you would like to become a volunteer Director
  • What skills and experience can you bring?
  • What do you think you would benefit from volunteering with us?
  • Do you have any crazy ideas that you think we could develop with you to improve Gatis? (we love crazy ideas – its how we started in the first place!)
  • What excites you most about Gatis?

Once we have received your application it will be reviewed by both Board and Management Teams and you will be invited to take part in an interview – currently, due to Covid-19 these will be conducted via Zoom

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