Volunteering Opportunity: Trustee with RSPCA Stort Valley Branch

We would like to recruit several additional Trustees. We’ll define and re-balance the roles of all the Trustees once our new Trustees have settled in, so we’re not necessarily looking for you to select a specific role at this stage. The opportunities could include taking the lead on fundraising, overseeing our clinic or shop, increasing our local outreach and education activities, enhancing our online presence and recognition, and more. Ideally, for some of the roles, you’ll be relatively local to the branch area; others can be done remotely.

Opportunity Type: Long-term Commitment

District: Broxbourne, East Herts

Location: From your office, From home, Online

Time of day: Casual or Intermittent, To Be Discussed

Practical Considerations: No

Requirements: Will require a criminal record check (DBS)

Suitable for: 18 – 25 year olds, Aged 26 and over, Older People, People with restricted mobility

Suitable for volunteers interested in: Animal Welfare, Trusteeship & Governance

Does this opportunity provide wheelchair access?: No

Download Full Role Description

Full Description:
RSPCA Stort Valley Branch - Branch Trustees – multiple opportunities

Help us make the world a better place for animals

RSPCA Branches rescue, rehabilitate and rehome those animals most at risk through clinics, animal centres, boarding and fostering facilities; offer advice and education on animal welfare; and support with microchipping, neutering and subsidised animal treatments for animals owned by people in financial difficulty.

Each RSPCA branch (of which there are approx. 150) is a separately registered charity, operating at a local level across England and Wales. Branches did 78% of the rehoming activity across the RSPCA network in 2020, and took more than 31,000 animals into their care. There are also over 300 RSPCA charity shops, all of which are run by RSPCA branches. The RSPCA has been at the forefront of animal welfare since 1824 when we were founded in a London coffee shop, and we’re proud to be the oldest animal welfare charity around.

What does RSPCA Stort Valley Branch do?
We cover an area either side of the M11 from Saffron Walden in the north to Harlow in the south and fundraise and offer welfare services within this area.
The animal welfare services that we offer are centred around our busy clinic in Harlow and include:
● Subsidised routine veterinary treatment and microchipping for owned animals - in 2024, we made over 2,200 consultations at our Harlow clinic and administered more than 500 vaccinations and 250 microchips.
● Advice and education
● Community outreach
We operate a charity shop in Bishops Stortford town centre, selling clothes, books, games and other items to help with our fundraising.

In addition to our Harlow clinic, we work closely with RSPCA animal centres and inspectors to support their work and to look after and re-home animals rescued in our branch area. We also support neighbouring branches by seeing some owned animals from their nearby towns at our clinic. We are working to improve our fostering network to help with rehoming, and are keen to step up our fundraising work to enable us to provide additional welfare support to the community.

What do RSPCA branch trustees do?
RSPCA branch trustees are volunteers who shape the work that the branch does, and are collectively responsible for governing and managing the affairs of the branch. “Trustees have overall control of a charity and are responsible for making sure it’s doing what it was set up to do.” “Trustees are the people who lead the charity and decide how it is run.” “They may be known by other titles, such as: directors, board members, governors, committee members” - Charity Commission. At Stort Valley, we have a lovely team of staff and volunteers with experienced, capable people managing our shop and clinic day-to-day. Trustees will set the strategy, make the big decisions and lead on new initiatives.

This guidance page explains what trustees do. You can find more about RSPCA branch trustees and do a short session on 'Becoming a Branch Trustee' on the RSPCA website.

Stort Valley Branch is presently in the process of converting to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (‘CIO’), the modern legal form for many charities - loosely equivalent to a Limited Company. We expect to complete the change in the second half of this year (2025).

Who are we looking for?
We are looking for applications from people from all social and cultural backgrounds, who are passionate about improving animal welfare. It doesn’t matter whether you are an experienced trustee or not, as trustee training and induction will be provided. If you can bring relevant skills and experience from other aspects of your life, that’s great, and we’re pretty sure you’ll learn some new ones here!

Right now, we would like to recruit several additional Trustees. We’ll define and re-balance the roles of all the Trustees once our new Trustees have settled in, so we’re not necessarily looking for you to select a specific role at this stage. The opportunities could include taking the lead on fundraising, overseeing our clinic or shop, increasing our local outreach and education activities, enhancing our online presence and recognition, and more. Ideally, for some of the roles, you’ll be relatively local to the branch area; others can be done remotely.

We hold monthly Trustees’ meetings, which last 1.5~2 hours. We ask for Trustees to join as many of these meetings as possible. You’ll also need to allow time to prepare for meetings - creating or reading through any relevant documents in advance – and of course, for the specific activities you take on. We normally meet in the evening, online (Google Meet), at times chosen to suit Trustees’ availability.

Trustees are elected or re-elected for a 12-month term at the branch’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). Between AGMs, branches have the ability to co-opt an additional three trustees who serve until the next AGM and can then be elected.

What’s in it for you?
There are lots of benefits to becoming an RSPCA Branch Trustee, including:
● induction and trustee training
● the chance to meet like-minded people who share your enthusiasm for animal welfare
● the opportunity to gain new skills and develop existing ones
● the ability to use your skills to improve the wellbeing of animals in your local area, and make a real difference to the lives of animals
● the capacity to shape innovative projects, and be part of the RSPCA’s ten-year strategy - “Together for animal welfare”
● access to our learning hub, which contains training materials and courses on a variety of subjects
● the chance to shape the services in your local area
● volunteering is good for your wellbeing.

How can you find out more and apply?
If you would like to find out more about the role before applying, please contact us recruitment@rspcastortvalley.org.uk and one of the current Trustees will get in touch. We’ll be happy to have an informal chat to help you before you apply.

The process is simple - we’ll ask you to complete an application form, send us your CV, and to meet with a couple of the current Trustees and possibly our RSPCA Branch Partnership Manager. If it feels like we’re a good match, we’ll invite you to join a Trustees meeting as an observer before making your final decision – hopefully to join us!