Treasurer - Volunteer

Championing volunteering in Kensington & Chelsea for over fifty years, VCKC is looking for a new trustee to serve as our Treasurer, the primary advisor to the Board on finances and financial policies.

What difference will you make?

This role is central to the effective financial management of a range of funding streams to deliver work with

• The local community
• People living with health issues, including poor mental health
• Long term unemployed
• Offenders and ex-offenders

VCKC is a highly regarded local charity, which has been championing volunteering in Kensington & Chelsea for over fifty years. The organisation promotes the power of volunteering as a way of enabling people to change their lives, the lives of those around them, and the places in which they live.

Although Kensington & Chelsea is known as a desirable and prosperous Borough, there are neighbourhoods which count amongst the poorest and most deprived in the country. This diversity of circumstance and experience is reflected in our work and those we work with. VCKC is open to anyone who wants to volunteer. The heart of the Centre is our volunteer brokerage service which supports more than 300 volunteering programmes to enable more than 1,200 to give their time and develop themselves each year.

Our brokerage service is enhanced by our specialised programmes which offer one‑on‑one support for those who face specific barriers to volunteering, including disabled people, those with poor mental health, criminal records, and experience of long‑term unemployment.

In addition to the qualities needed by all trustees, the Treasurer will require

• Experience of successful financial oversight, including budget‑setting, monitoring and reporting
• The ability to analyse proposals and evaluate their financial consequences accurately
• The ability to present detailed financial information intelligibly to people from non‑financial backgrounds
• Experience of making sound, but challenging recommendations to decision‑makers in difficult circumstances

VCKC’s Board of Trustees is responsible for the overall governance and strategic direction of the charity, ensuring the organisation’s aims, objectives and goals are fit for purpose in accordance with the charity’s governing documents, and legal and regulatory obligations. The trustees are also the company’s directors. Trustees are also responsible for taking reasonable safeguarding steps to protect from harm people who come into contact with VCKC, including clients and staff (whether paid or unpaid).

Day‑to‑day management responsibility is delegated to a Chief Executive Officer, supported by a Deputy CEO, an Operations Manager and an external Finance Consultant.

In addition to the responsibilities common to all VCKC trustees, the Treasurer will have particular responsibilities

• Serve as the primary adviser to the Board on financial policies and the financial implications of work undertaken by VCKC, in particular financial risk
• Chair the Finance Subcommittee

• Oversee the development and presentation of the annual budget, regular monitoring and reporting of performance against the budget (elucidating the key points), with forecasting of performance as appropriate

• Ensure that the accounts are audited and prepared in accordance with accounting standards and regulations in force
• Make a formal presentation of the accounts at the annual general meeting
• Ensure that any auditors’ recommendations are implemented

• Ensure that all of the VCKC’s financial operations are in line with its charitable objects and all relevant legislation and regulation
• Ensure that VCKC has transparent financial procedures and that all staff and volunteers are trained and supported to adhere to them

• Make recommendations to the Board to ensure VCKC maintains appropriate reserves to meet its obligations as a charity and a company
• Monitor any investment activity by VCKC to ensure its consistency with VCKC’s policies, charitable objects and legal responsibilities
• Contribute to VCKC’s fundraising strategy, usually as a member of Funding Development Subcommittee