Chair

Chair

Youth First was formed in September 2016. Youth First is the UK’s first independent employee and young person,mutually owned, youth service organisation. Formed from what was formerly Lewisham’s Youth Service, it sustains and extends youth provision, firstly for Lewisham, but could in the future, go beyond these borders.

Our mission is to support and improve young people’s lives and develop their self-confidence and life skills through social and team activities, adventure play, the provision of safe spaces and the support of professional youth and play workers.

We are a non-profit social enterprise, formally constituted as a Community Benefit Society. This allows it to operate flexibly with the benefits of both a charity and a business. As a mutual company we are owned and run by our members with control split between employees (70%) and young people (30%). Our governing board consists of six Non-Executive Directors, one of which is the Chair, our CEO and four staff members elected by employees; four young people elected by their peers in Lewisham, a local elected member and a community representative.

We are now at an important stage in our journey and we are seeking a new Chair (Designate) to replace our current Chair, Sir Ian Mills, who is standing down from July 2019.  Building on our successes to date, we want a new board leader to steer us through the next exciting phase of our journey. We are inviting applications from energetic, inspirational and experienced candidates.

You will have a strong background and track record of providing leadership at board and/or senior executive level. You will have a passion for community action and enterprise and want to make a difference, with creativity and stamina. You should have the judgement and vision to operate effectively at strategic level and you should demonstrate the skills and expertise in one or more of the following areas:

• Contracting and commissioning of front-line services
• Fundraising and marketing
• Employee and youth engagement

If you think you can make a difference to the lives of 30,000 young people, we would love to hear from you. Details of the role and person specification can be found at our website.

If you’re ready to apply please send a covering letter outlining your suitability for the role alongside your CV by an email via the button below.