SWIDN Trustee

The South West International Development Network (SWIDN) are the membership network bringing together people and organisations from the South West who are working towards the SDGs. Founded in 2005 and registered as a charity in 2017, SWIDN have over 120 members and a wider community of 5000 people working in the international development sector in the UK’s South West and beyond. This year, we’ve launched an exciting new strategy and secured three years of funding from the UK Government. We are looking for two new trustees to join our Board for this next phase of our work, to be appointed in early 2025.

SWIDN are committed to ensuring diversity and gender equality within our organisation. We want to increase the diversity of our leadership and particularly welcome applications from people with lived experience from a country considered as ‘lower or middle income’, people identifying as from the Global Majority, from LGBTQI+ communities, people living with disabilities, and people from diverse socioeconomic and education backgrounds.

We are particularly looking for new trustees with any one of the following experiences: 

• Working for a SWIDN member organisation
• Understanding and experience of anti-racism from a governance perspective
• Understanding and experience of working with corporates
• Understanding and experience of digital and AI from a governance perspective

We don’t require applicants with previous trustee experience, applicants with a specific education level or experience of management or leadership. SWIDN work flexibly within our whole team capacity and not all trustees are expected to give the same time commitments. If you have any questions about the role, please contact hannah@swidn.org.uk for an informal chat.

SWIDN’s Board of Trustees

SWIDN is a registered charity and regulated by the Charity Commission. The duty of a trustee is to participate with others in the effective governance of SWIDN. The Board of SWIDN currently consists of:

• Two Co-Chairs
• Treasurer
• 5 further trustees

What is expected from SWIDN Trustees?  Each Trustee should have:

• A commitment to our values
• An active curiosity to engage in the historical harms, current challenges, and future opportunities of ‘international development’ and global solidarity
• A commitment to SWIDN, the South West or the ‘international development’ sector in the UK
• A willingness to commit time, efforts and resources to support SWIDN as a trustee
• Integrity, sound judgment, a willingness to reflect and learn, and to speak their mind
• An understanding of the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of trusteeship which can be found here

What is involved in being  a SWIDN Trustee?

In addition to the legal responsibilities of a charity trustee and those outlined below, we ask SWIDN Board members to attend quarterly online board meetings of 2 hours, including 1 in-person meeting in Bristol each year (March), to stay informed of the activities of the organisation, and to safeguard the good name and values of the organisation.

In addition, most Trustees: 

• Attend at least one Strategy Away Day per year in Bristol
• Attend at least one in-person SWIDN networking event per year (July or Nov/ Dec)
• Contribute to the delivery of the SWIDN Annual Conference, including through supporting content with advice and being ready to chair events where needed.

Renumeration

The SWIDN trustee role is unpaid, but we will reimburse all reasonable expenses incurred in carrying out these responsibilities.

How to apply

Please send a 2-page CV and covering letter to hannah@swidn.org.uk by Monday 13 January 2025. Please include why you are interested in the role and what you would bring to SWIDN. We will respond to all applications sent in.