Trustee

Keywords

18+ Responsibility Trustee Position

Description

Help shape ARK, Cliftonville’s welcoming cultural space bringing communities together through arts and heritage.

We’re seeking up to three trustees with skills in governance, digital, property or marketing, or valuable lived experience, to guide our next chapter.

First-timers welcome.

We are looking to appoint up to three additional Trustees in autumn 2026, increasing the Board’s capacity and ensuring it better reflects the communities ARK serves.

This is a pivotal moment for ARK. Following major capital works, our beautifully renewed building reopened in 2025 and we are now focused on delivering our 2026–2029 Business Plan. Our priorities include strengthening our creative and community programmes, reaching more local people, diversifying our income and securing ARK’s long-term sustainability. We also hope to raise funding to bring our balcony and basement into greater community and income-generating use.

New Trustees will join as full, equal members of the Board and help shape this next chapter. Working with fellow Trustees, our Director and staff team, they will contribute to strategic decisions about ARK’s programme, finances, partnerships, building and future development. They will help us balance ambition with sustainability, ask useful questions and support the organisation as it grows.

Our Board currently has six Trustees, with the roles of Chair, Treasurer and Secretary all filled. Following induction, each new Trustee will agree their initial contribution priorities with the Chair and Director. Depending on ARK’s needs and their interests, they may also join occasional working groups focused on areas such as the building, finance or fundraising.

The Board meets six times a year, usually in the evening and through a mixture of in-person and online meetings. Trustees also attend an annual Away Day in Thanet and occasional subgroup meetings.

This is an opportunity to help secure the future of a much-loved heritage building while shaping a welcoming cultural space that brings Cliftonville’s diverse communities together through creativity, shared experiences and pride in place.

What rewards come with volunteering, and how does it create meaningful change?

Each new Trustee will add valuable capacity at a pivotal point in ARK’s development. Their contribution will help us make strong, thoughtful decisions as we move from renovating and reopening our building to securing its long-term future as a thriving cultural and community space.

A larger, more representative Board will bring a wider range of perspectives and lived experience into our decision-making. This will help ensure our programmes, partnerships and priorities remain relevant to Cliftonville’s diverse communities, including people whose voices have traditionally been underrepresented.

New Trustees will also help ARK become more resilient and sustainable. Their involvement will support us to diversify our income, strengthen the organisation, develop new partnerships and secure investment in the next phase of our building. This includes the exciting potential to renovate our balcony and basement, creating more space for community activity and generating additional income.

Ultimately, their impact will reach far beyond the Boardroom. They will help ARK protect a much-loved heritage building, create more opportunities for artists and local people, and deliver ambitious, inclusive cultural experiences that bring communities together. By helping ARK grow responsibly and remain rooted in its values, our new Trustees will play an important part in ensuring the organisation continues to foster creativity, connection and pride in Cliftonville for years to come.

Requirements

We are looking for up to three people who share ARK’s commitment to empathy, respect, inclusion, collaboration and open-mindedness.

Most importantly, our new Trustees should care about Cliftonville and believe in the power of arts, culture and heritage to bring people together. They should be willing to listen and learn, contribute to good collective judgement, challenge ideas constructively and support decisions once they have been made.

Trustees must also be able to give the role the time and attention it requires.

We want to recruit a complementary mix of people across the Board, rather than expecting every candidate to meet all our needs. Our current priority areas are:

• Legal knowledge, charity governance and regulatory compliance
• Digital strategy, cyber security, data and insight
• Facilities and property
• Strategic marketing, communications and audience development

Experience in one or more of these areas would be valuable, whether gained through paid employment, volunteering, community activity or personal experience. You do not need to have worked in the charity or cultural sectors.

We also want our Board to better reflect the communities ARK exists to serve. We are especially keen to hear from people of colour, disabled people, and those with lived experience of white working-class, Roma, refugee or migrant communities. We also welcome applicants with close connections to children, young people and families; long-established Cliftonville and Thanet residents; artists and creatives; refugees and asylum seekers; and older volunteers.

Representation is not one person’s responsibility or a box to tick. Everyone appointed will join as a full and equal Trustee, bringing their own perspective while sharing collective responsibility with the whole Board.

Previous Board experience is not required, and first-time Trustees are warmly encouraged to apply. Full induction, support and opportunities for ongoing learning will be provided. We value life experience, local knowledge and different routes into leadership just as much as formal qualifications.