Become a trustee
Are you looking for a new opportunity in which you can offer your energy, time, skills and talent to support and drive forward a local independent charity?
Are you passionate about improving the lives of people living with sight loss?
If you have some time to share with us, we would love to hear from you!
Introduction from our chair
Thank you for taking an interest in becoming a trustee of iSightCornwall, a charity with a rich 169-year history of helping blind and partially sighted people in Cornwall.
Our vision is that people with sight loss are supported to live a life without limits, empowering them to achieve their goals and live the life they want. We do this through delivering high quality, practical services within an emotionally supportive community.
We are looking for two to four trustees who can set and support our strategic direction and maintaining good governance arrangements. You would be joining us at an exciting time with several trustees completing terms over the coming year.
I shall be stepping down as Chair of iSightCornwall after seven eventful years, and it has been a privilege and a pleasure I would wholeheartedly recommend. The Board is committed, enthusiastic, and determined to make a difference, much like our incredible team of employees. This is a truly unique charity, with a community of people who care deeply about what they do. If you believe you have the experience and qualities we’re looking for, then we would love to hear from you.
To understand more about our work, please continue reading and consider applying.
Ian McCormick, chair of the board of trustees
About us
Founded on 17 September 1856, the charity aimed to support Cornish miners many of whom lost their sight due to mining accidents and the hazardous working conditions of the time.
The most recent transformation happened on 17 April 2015 with the introduction of a trading name iSightCornwall to better reflect the views of local people with sight loss, many of whom did not identify themselves as being blind.
Whether sudden or gradual, loss of sight is a major life event resulting in a significant impact on the lives of those who experience it as well as on their families, their friends, and society and is often a barrier to work, education, travel, leisure and the built environment. Our services help to tackle the issues that impact significant significantly on independence, choice, inclusion, wellbeing and achievement personal goals.
Our experienced chief executive leads a team of 11 employees, supported by around 150 volunteers. The Sight Centre in Truro serves as our organisational base, and we operate throughout Cornwall via clubs, local drop-in events, and appointment centres. We support around 4,000 local people with sight loss every year.
Our average income over the last 5 years is around £350,00 a year. With average expenditure around £421,00 a year. Funding comes from a range of sources including NHS contracts, grant funders, chargeable services, donations and legacies.
We are working on developing our ambitious new strategic plan for 2026 onwards – and we are keen to ensure we are responsive to the changing needs of existing and new generations of people with sight loss. Rising demand and costs and a more challenging income generation environment is starting to put more pressure on our finances although our current position is relatively stable – and we will need to think about how we continue to adapt.
How we are governed
Our trustees form the board of iSightCornwall and, as such, have ultimate responsibility for the charity. It is their responsibility to set the charity’s strategic direction, culture and oversight to ensure the charity’s continued growth and success. To achieve this, they work closely with the chief executive to support the management of the organisation and to ensure that we deliver our objectives.
The trustees are appointed for a three-year term that may be renewed once. Our board has an AGM and meets four times a year, either virtually or in Truro, from 5pm to 7 pm plus, if a member, attendance at four meetings a year for the risk and audit committee.
Our trustees
Ian McCormick, chair – Ian runs his own management consultancy business.
Clare Green, finance trustee – Clare is Finance Director for Cornish Mutual.
Kerry Eldridge – Kerry has held senior HR director roles in private, charity, and public sectors.
Stephen Holyer – Steve is a creator and inventor of disabled devices and equipment.
Marcus Slater – Marcus is the owner and director of Reynolds & Slater Opticians.
William Westlake – William is a Consultant Ophthalmologist at Royal Cornwall Hospital.
Our patron
Colonel Sir Edward Bolitho – Edward is the Lord-Lieutenant of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The Bolitho family have been involved with the charity ever since our foundation in 1856.
Charity organisational structure
The Cornwall Blind and Partially Sighted Association is a charitable business, which means it is an incorporated body with limited liability and separate legal status from the people who run it.
The Cornwall Blind and Partially Sighted Association is registered with both Companies House (as a company) and the Charity Commission as a separate charity.
As an incorporated charity, the Cornwall Blind and Partially Sighted Association owns the Sight Centre premises in Truro.
In addition, the charity is a limited company with directors and members; the directors also serve as trustees of the charity under the Charities Act.
The trustees have day-to-day control over how the charity operates. Meanwhile, in governance terms, hundreds of our constitutional members have a specific role to participate in and vote at our Annual General Meeting and have powers to elect, remove and replace trustee and amend constitutional documents.
In 2015, the charity registered the company name iSightCornwall, which it uses on a daily basis to expand its reach beyond people who told us they did not associate themselves with being blind.
What makes a good charity trustee?
To be a good trustee, you don’t necessarily need specialist skills, but you do need commitment, generosity of spirit and a willingness to ask questions.
People are often passionate about the services being delivered, which is great, and hearing about the good work being done is always interesting. However, the trustee board delegates running the charity to the chief executive and team of employees, so rather than the discussion becoming embroiled in interesting, but operational detail – the focus is on the big picture.
We are looking for both proven trustee applicants and first-time trustees who will bring a lot of useful knowledge, skills, and passion, as well as a new point of view.
Role descriptions
We have a number of excellent opportunities to join our charity. Our chair, treasurer and other trustees are due to complete their terms later this year. The following role descriptions open as PDF documents in a new tab. If you would prefer to have these documents in a standard or large print word document, please contact marketing@isightcornwall.org.uk.
Please also read the trustee code of conduct.
How to apply
If you are interested in this opportunity, we encourage an informal discussion with the chief executive, Carole Theobald before you apply. To arrange a mutually agreeable time please email business@isightcornwall.org.uk or call 01872 261110.
Your application should list your previous employment and voluntary experience and any relevant qualifications. Please outline your motivations for applying and any achievements you are proud of. We’d like to know what skills and experience you will bring and how they will help us deliver our work.