About the organisation
Sussex Pathways is a criminal justice charity based in Lewes and working across East and West Sussex, as well as parts of Kent and Surrey. We work within prisons and in the community to reduce reoffending behaviour and to empower ex-offenders to make positive life choices. Our staff and volunteers undertake a wide range of activities with offenders and victims, including intensive prison-based programmes, delivery of Restorative Justice, and mentoring of prison-leavers in the community. Much of our mentoring is carried out by volunteers and we were awarded a Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in recognition of the impact our work has made both on individuals and on the wider community. We provide an essential service in what is often a chaotic and underfunded space and are inspired by the results we can achieve in assisting offenders to turn around their lives. As a result of our success, our funding income has more than doubled in the last 5 years and we are now expanding to provide accommodation for up to 6 months for up to 5 prison leavers.
About the role
As a relatively small charity the oversight of financial controls has until now been the overall responsibility of all Trustees. However, with a continued increase in funding and an expanding range of projects, including the recent acquisition of a property for HMO use, we now seek a Trustee with a finance background to assist our CEO and Board with budget setting and financial control processes. As an initial step this would involve working to support the charity's Admin Officer, who has day to day responsbility for budgets, with better financial profiling across our projects, and to continue to offer ongoing advice and guidance as required. The Board is experienced in a number of areas and has good oversight of finances, but the addition of a Trustee with specific finance experience would be an asset as we develop and grow.
Board meetings are held every 3 months and last for 4 hours, with some preparation required in advance of each meeting. While we have no standing sub-committees, many Trustees get involved in ad-hoc project work as required but this is voluntary. In addition, there are opportunities to visit various projects and to attend regaular staff training sessions.
Our ideal candidate
Our Board is diverse in its background and in its experience and skills, and while this generates lively discussion we all work well together. No background in criminal justice is required but we are looking for someone who is inquisitive, challenges what we do and how we do it and who is adept at quickly understanding how an organisation works. We are very open to anyone who feels inspired by reading about what we do as a charity. For this role we are ideally seeking some form of finance background and associated skills, but that can be someone who is formally qualified or someone who has undertaken a similar role elsewhere and who has the skills required.
What’s in it for you
Although a small charity, we make a big impact and a real difference to people's lives. This could be helping an individual to move away from what is often a prolonged period of persistent offending, to arranging and delivering a restorative justice session between an offender and their victim. We work on the front line of the criminal justice system, with real people, using a combination of staff and volunteers from the community, and we believe we can be more successful than statutory organisations. Despite declining donations and funding across the charity sector, we have not only maintained our funding but have more than doubled it in the last 5 years. A recent significant donation has enabled us to purchase a House of Multiple Occupancy to accommodate prison-leavers and assist them in reintegrating back into the community. Our Board work collaboratively to support and lead the charity's work and its growth, and have contact with an extensive list of external organisations and agencies. Each Trustee is usually paired with a specific project or area of our work and acts as a mentor for staff working there and as an advocate for the project.
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