Volunteer We are seeking a new Trustee to join the Board as the Trust Secretary. | Newtown Textile Museum

This small Museum in Mid Wales, run by volunteers, is looking for a keen Trustee to ensure we fulfill our legal responsibilities, a core part of the new Trustee’s role and the Museum’s future success.

What will you be doing?

iA group of volunteers took over the running of the Museum from Powys County Council in 2016, under the umbrella of a local charity. A CIO was set up in 2020 and is now totally responsible for all aspects of running the Museum. There is considerable goodwill among the Trustees but as a new group we are still learning how to be an effective Board particularly in developing the strategic direction of the Museum. Currently there are 5 Trustees plus the co-opted Curator. Four, including the Curator are also members of the Management Committee and these include the Trust’s Chair and the Treasurer. The two Independent Trustees include the curator of a large LA Museum and a teacher with expertise in craft skills. The Board needs to strengthen the input from experienced external people to contribute to the general running of the Museum. The particular role sought is the Trust Secretary to take responsibility for the Trust’s compliance with the Charity Acts and to ensure that the Museum is managed in accordance with its constitution. We are seeking someone who is interested in the Museum and committed to its development and success. General administrative/management experience is needed and a degree of computer literacy. No particular knowledge of textiles or of the history is needed and no legal experience is required.

What are we looking for?

The specific key tasks are outlined in the uploaded file in the previous section. The Trust wants the Museum to be run professionally but with a very light bureaucracy, given its small size. We seek someone who is happy to fit in with this. The ability to work with others in a relatively informal way, in a team and more generally, are the key skills and qualities that are needed. This includes the capacity to work easily within a small volunteer-run organisation. Flexibility, enthusiasm and good humour are important. Experience of general management at a relatively senior level is required. Many areas of the Museum’s work could be strengthened, for example publicity and promotion; the creative use of digital technology; and developing projects within the community. People with these skills would be very welcome but they are not core components of the role.

What difference will you make?

The new Trustee will be expected to play an important part in shaping the future direction of the Museum and its consequent growth and success. In addition to ensuring legality, support for the development of new directions would be welcome. If of interest, there is also considerable scope to help with areas like fund-raising and data management on the administrative side or contributing to aspects of the Museum’s focus, such as industrial history or craft skills.

Before you apply

There is no application form but if interested, and arranged via Reach, a letter providing why you are interested in the role and your relevant experience would be helpful. This is likely to be followed by an informal chat with the Trust Chair then an interview with a panel, at a mutually agreed time and place. We have no deadline.

Causes

• Museums / heritage

Organisation type

Charity

The Museum is open to all and visitor numbers are growing gradually. Pre-Covid, around half of the visitors came from Newtown and the surrounding areas and half from elsewhere including the USA…