Trustee with Experience of Disability at Harrow Cycle Hub : Voluntary Action Harrow

Role Description: Trustee with Disability Experience

Direct Report Works with the Chair, staff and other volunteers

Type of Experience Lived and/or professional experience of disability; strategy,

local knowledge, cycling

Introduction

Harrow Cycle Hub is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) which aims to enable

more people to cycle in Harrow.

The preamble to Trustees’ Vision for the Hub, agreed in 2023, is:

‘In five years' time, we envisage the Harrow Cycle Hub as a thriving, inclusive, and

sustainable community hub dedicated to transforming Harrow into a cycling-friendly

borough. Our vision is to see Harrow as a place where cycling is not just a mode of

transport but a way of life, positively impacting the wellbeing, environment and connectivity

of our community.’

We need a Trustee with lived or professional experience of disability to add their skills to

the Board. This is an exciting time to be joining the Hub, as our Development Committee

works towards building a new cycle hub for Harrow, with the support of Harrow Council.

Trustees will need to protect the charity’s interests and ensure that we create the best

cycling centre for all residents, within a budget.

Our 50 volunteers, and one part-time staff member, offer the following services and activities:

• Teaching people to ride and maintain a bicycle

• Wheels For All, enabling people who find two-wheelers difficult to enjoy cycling, using

adapted cycles

• Supporting led rides in Harrow around beyond

• Providing information on obtaining, riding and maintaining cycles

• Working in partnership with other organisations who share our aims

We plan to do more of the following as resources allow:

• Repairing donated cycles and teaching people to repair them

• Advising local authorities and employers on ways to enable more people to cycle

Harrow Cycle Hub is a multicultural and community-based organisation which welcomes all

people irrespective of ethnicity, culture, religion, age, gender, gender identity, disability or

sexual orientation. We rely heavily on volunteers and seek to follow best practice in all that

we do. As a charity, as well as raising money by trading, we need grant funding; impeccable

charity governance is required to manage the charity and to raise funds.

Our Wheels For All programme, funded by John Lyon’s Charity until end 2027 and

supported by Harrow Public Health, is key to our commitment to inclusive cycling. Wheels

For All has a fleet of 25 adapted cycles of various types to enable people to cycle, even if

they find standard two-wheelers difficult. Our part-time paid Project Manager and volunteer

Inclusion Manager, with 15 trained volunteers, deliver sessions twice a week to people who

normally come with community groups or families. We are exploring extending the service

to people with health conditions such as stroke and dementia, subject to funding.

Statutory Duties of a Trustee

• To ensure that the organisation pursues its objectives as defined in its Constitution

• To support, and help develop, its current Vision and Mission

• To contribute actively to the Board of Trustees' role in setting overall policy, giving

strategic direction to the organisation, defining goals and setting targets, and evaluating

performance against agreed targets

• To safeguard the good name, values and resources of the organisation

• To ensure the effective administration and financial stability of the organisation

Duties of the Trustee with Disability Experience

• In addition to general trustee duties, to be the Trustee Lead for the Wheels for All

service and provide support and line management to the Project Manager

• To report on Wheels for All to trustee meetings

Qualities of the Trustee with Disability Experience

Essential

• Commitment to the vision and mission of Harrow Cycle Hub

• Lived and/or professional experience of disability

• Experience of managing people

• Analytical and evaluation skills, demonstrating good judgment and strategic vision

• Acceptance of the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of trusteeship

• Good communication skills

• A team-oriented approach to problem solving

• Willing to speak their mind, even on a difficult topic

• Committed to equality, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of the charity’s work

Desirable

• Willing to act as the charity’s public face to external bodies, charities and companies

• Skills and experience in other relevant areas e.g. strategic planning; organisation

development; HR and volunteering; marketing; fundraising; cycle mechanics; equality,

diversity and inclusion

Time Commitment and Location

• The Board of Trustees currently meets six times a year and the Trustee would ideally

attend every meeting, including the Annual General Meeting in March

• Trustees are asked to attend at least one evening meeting a year of the Hub Steering

Group which is responsible for day-to-day management

• Regular meetings with the Project Manager, Wheels for All on a mutually convenient

schedule

• Trustees are asked to support the charity’s work by attending activities and events

where possible

• Board meetings will be held in Harrow, normally at Harrow Council Hub which is

accessible; or online if necessary

• Trustees should be committed to serving for a three-year term

Procedure

Prospective trustees will meet informally with a trustee tasked with recruitment and be asked

to complete an application form. Harrow Cycle Hub works with children and vulnerable

disabled adults. Prospective trustees are asked to provide two references and undergo an

Enhanced DBS check at the Hub’s expense. All are asked to take online Safeguarding training.

Trustees may be co-opted at any time of year and will need to be elected by Members at the

following Annual General Meeting according to the provisions of the Constitution.

Trustees must be Members of Harrow Cycle Hub, having paid the required subscription,

currently £6.

To find out more and arrange an informal chat, please email [email protected]

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