About the organisation
We are Left Bank. A place for connection, art, gigs, workshops and festivals — for everyone to enjoy.
Situated in the heart of Hyde Park LS6, we're the home of an evolving programme of projects, initiatives and creative events.Our café-bar is open every day and has become a meeting spot for locals, freelancers and families as well as an expanding network of artists, innovators and makers.
Left Bank Leeds is a stunning grade 2*former church building on Cardigan Road Leeds 6, just a mile west of the city centre with a growing reputation for its rich diversity of activities promoting creativity, connection, and wellbeing. As a social enterprise it is also a much-loved/sought-after venue for wedding and other celebrations, markets, and corporate events.
Left Bank is owned and run by its charitable trust and subsidiary community interest company. Now in its 20th year, trustees are looking for several new board members to bring their experience, skills, and vision to help shape/develop the next phase of Left Bank’s contribution to its locality and wider city
About the role
Which board might be right for you?
We are hoping to appoint a number of new people to both boards -, the Charitable Trust and the Community Interest Company CIC.
To help you think about which board you’d be interested in joining, have a read through the descriptions below (and objects in the Appendix of this document) to think about where your interests, skills and experience fit best, and what you realistically have time for. If both appeal, you can apply to sit on both boards! Don’t worry if you’ve not done anything like this before, some training will be part of your induction.
The Left Bank Leeds Charity Trustee Board
- Core Purpose: to set and keep under review the overall vision, mission, and strategy for Left Bank. This board receives reports from the CIC on how things are going through the year.
- Time commitment: The Charity board meets for 2 hours, every three months (4 times a year). There are sometimes additional sub-group meetings too. We intend to hold a monthly meeting initially to welcome, induct and train new board members as needed.
- Responsibilities of a Trustee: Follow this link to the NCVO website for information on trustees and their roles.
- Well suited for: If you’re into big picture strategic direction setting, have an interest in one or more of the charitable objects, and can connect Left Bank more widely across Leeds and beyond - the Charity’s board may be more for you.
The Left Bank Leeds Community Interest Company (CIC) board
- Core purpose: to oversee the day-to-day delivery of the business, finances & HR. It supports the staff team in setting the strategy, business plan, and budget for the year ahead in consultation with the Charity board, and then monitors performance through the year.
- Time commitment: This board meets every month. Every third month it meets jointly with the Charity board. There will be some additional meetings initially to welcome, induct and train new board members as needed.
- Responsibilities of a CIC Director: CIC directors are non-executive company directors accountable to their shareholders for how they run the company – in our case, Left Bank Leeds Charitable Trust is the sole shareholder. The CIC is currently the employer of the LB staff team.
- Well suited for: If you’re interested in the more day-to- day side of LB; delivery of activities, supporting the team, keeping an eye on the finances, and have capacity for more frequent meetings - the CIC board may be the place for you.
To find out more and to apply please email leftbankcharitabletrust@gmail.com and we’ll send you an application pack. The closing date for applications is midnight on Monday the 27th of July.
Our ideal candidate
What we are looking for
We very much hope new board members will bring their own skills, experience, and vision to shape the future direction of Left Bank. Here are some of the skills and personal attributes we are looking for in our new board members. We hope to cover these different skills as a team, so no need to have everything listed!
Essential
- Commitment to Left Bank Leeds’ vision, mission and values
- Sufficient time available to contribute effectively
- Willingness to use skills, knowledge and contacts for Left Bank Leeds’ benefit
- Ability to communicate effectively with fellow board members, staff and users of the building
- A basic level of financial literacy (or interest to learn)
- Sympathetic to the object of the Charity to advance the Christian faith (even if personally of different faith/non-faith)
- Interest in the creative arts, and promoting the arts for public benefit
- Connection to communities in Leeds and Yorkshire (or interest to build connection)
- Prepared to assist fundraising through bid writing or personal introduction and influence
- A willingness to undertake training in areas where this would be useful for the role
- Commitment to the principles and legal duties of being a Trustee and/or CIC Director as per Charity Commission and/orCompanies House guidelines
Desirable
To have experience, skills and/or knowledge in one or more of the following areas:
- Arts and creativity
- Community engagement - stakeholder and member engagement
- Creating spaces of belonging, equity and inclusion
- Strategic leadership - change & risk management, strategy development
- Policy development - Safeguarding, Wellbeing, Health & Safety etc
- Charitable business development - business models, commercial planning
- Human Resources and Employment legislation
- Understanding of Charity law &/ Company law
- Event management - particularly within the arts sector. Able to offer strategic perspective based on relevant operational experience
- Fundraising and income generation
- Financial management & accounting - able to monitor and report on finances & create financial forecasts)
- Professional development - can offer coaching or mentoring to staff
- Marketing and communications -able to offer a strategic perspective, based on relevant operational experience
- Digital IT - Data protection, cyber security, strategy, IT systems and networks, file storage and sharing)
- Previous governance experience - service as a trustee or board member of a charity or non-profit organisation
- Faith, spirituality & values based work
- Lived experience - of need or hardship based on youth, age, infirmity or disablement, poverty or social injustice - with a desire to improve the conditions of life for others facing similar challenges
No prior governance experience required! You do not need any previous experience of being on a board as our induction process will identify any training needs you may have, and signpost you to relevant training if needed.
What’s in it for you
What we can offer you
- Experience - Experience running a community arts venue, and shaping the strategic direction of the organisation to serve communities in Leeds and make a difference!
- Network - Expanding your place-based connection to a large network of artists and performers who use the venue.
- Training & skill development - a welcoming place to develop your strategic, operational and leadership skills. We have a training budget available for new Board members as part of the onboarding process, to ensure everyone has the basic training and skills to carry out the role.
- Expenses - Board members normally can’t be paid for giving their time but can claim for reasonable expenses.
- Ongoing support - from longstanding Trustees to build skills of new Trustees stepping in
Apply for the role
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