Join Greener Kirkcaldy’s board of trustees

Greener Kirkcaldy is looking for volunteers to join our board of trustees (management committee). This is an exciting time to help lead our charity and shape our direction and development.

About Greener Kirkcaldy

Greener Kirkcaldy is a community-led charity working locally to bring people together, take positive action on the climate emergency and support people through fuel poverty and food insecurity. We deliver a range of projects, events and skills training to achieve the needs and goals of local people – building resilience as a community and working towards a future where everyone can live better and tread more lightly on our planet.

Based in the heart of Kirkcaldy – with a community building, training kitchen, bike shop and garden – we carry out activities across Kirkcaldy and work with partners to deliver projects across Fife. We currently employ around 40 staff and have around 150 regular volunteers.

We want our town to be a good place to live and work. We believe in a future where everyone has a say in what happens locally, people are working together to protect our environment and those in hardship are supported to live well.

We recently launched our Strategic Plan for 2023-28 – A Greener and Fairer Tomorrow, Starting Today. The plan was developed in consultation with our community. It describes our aims to:

• Strengthen projects that support our values and vision
• Develop new ideas to meet the needs and aspirations of local people
• Broaden and deepen our community engagement
• Create a financially sustainable future for Greener Kirkcaldy

Now is a great time to join our board and help shape this important work.

About you

We’re looking for people who will help us stay true to our values, speak their mind, challenge us to improve our services and identify new opportunities. Trustees share our values of protecting the environment, social justice and community-led development. No in-depth or technical environmental knowledge is required. Just a desire to support your local community.

We welcome anyone with a passion for making Kirkcaldy a greener and fairer place. Knowledge or experience in any of the following areas would also be of particular interest, (but is not essential):

• Financial management
• Funding, income generation and social enterprise
• Legal and HR strategy
• The private sector
• Working with young people
• Chairing boards

We’ll expect you to attend board meetings every six weeks and contribute a few additional hours of your time each month. You’ll get the opportunity to help bring real benefits locally, apply your experience to exciting projects and develop new skills within a friendly and committed team. Our management committee members are unpaid, but we do pay reasonable out-of-pocket expenses and invite volunteers to social activities and celebrations. We will provide full training, including training on the climate emergency and the duties of a trustee.

More information about the role

How to apply

Please send a CV and covering letter, giving us a sense of your skills and background, to Lauren Brook, Chief Executive, by emailing lauren@greenerkirkcaldy.org.uk. The closing date for applications is 5pm on Monday 18th March 2024.

We encourage everyone who wants to apply to get in touch for an informal conversation with our Chief Executive. Call 01592 858458 or email the above address.

You can also find out more about Greener Kirkcaldy, the role trustees play in the organisation and ask any questions at our online information session. Join Chief Executive Lauren Brook and our Acting Chair, Pat Crosbie on Wednesday 6th March, 5.30pm – 6.30pm. You must book a free place.

A sub-group of the board and the Chief Executive will consider CVs. We will invite shortlisted candidates to an informal in-person interview.

Successful candidates will have the opportunity to attend one or two board meetings to see how things work, before being officially invited to join the board. Final appointment as a trustee is subject to a vote of the whole board.

Equal opportunities

We want Greener Kirkcaldy to be an inclusive and diverse charity where everyone feels supported, valued and able to be themselves.

We take part in Fife Centre for Equalities’ Equality Pathfinders programme. We also take part in the Race Equality Environmental Programme facilitated by CEMVO Scotland. Our Equalities Action Plan sets out the steps we are taking to improve diversity and inclusion.

To achieve our vision of Kirkcaldy as a greener and fairer place to live, we need a diverse team. We encourage applications from people of any background. We know that in our sector we particularly lack staff and volunteers with Minority Ethnic backgrounds and disabled people. If you identify as Minority Ethnic and/or disabled, we are particularly interested in receiving your application. Please contact us to discuss any additional support you may need to complete your application or take part in the recruitment process.