Make every moment matter for babies, children, young people and their families across the West Midlands and Gloucestershire by becoming the new Chair of Acorns Hospices.
* Location: West Midlands & Gloucestershire
Who we are.
Since 1988, Acorns have been bringing lightness into the dark for babies, children, young people and their families through Three Children’s Hospices in Birmingham, Black Country & the Three Counties.
Acorns support children who are life-limited or life-threatened and they support their families. They have seven crucial services, which include:
* End-of-life and after-death care
* Rehabilitative respite stays
* Symptom management
* Specialist family support
* Therapeutic services
* Commissioned beds
Between 700 and 800 children are supported at any one time at Acorns, and 1,000 families, including those who are bereaved, making them the biggest children’s hospice in Europe.
Acorns services are holistic, designed and delivered in response to individual needs with care tailored for each child and family. They include medical, emotional, cultural, religious and spiritual support, provided in the hospices and in the wider community, including a family’s home.
It is essential for Acorns to support families from all backgrounds, with 39% from Black and Asian minority ethnic backgrounds.
Acorn’s hospices are purpose-built with specially decorated bedrooms, designed to be a homely environment where children can enjoy their stay and make the most of every day. This includes:
* On-site hospice facilities including hydrotherapy pools and spas, multi-sensory rooms, complementary therapies, play and activity areas with up-to-date IT equipment and landscaped gardens.
* Adolescent wings ensure privacy and a managed level of independence for older children.
* Separate on-site accommodation for families allows them to stay with their children if they wish.
* ‘Special bedrooms’ in a separate area within the building where children can stay after they have died until their funeral.
* Support for children and families in their homes through outreach and family support services.
People at Acorns
Children and families come first at Acorns and their voices are amplified through the group of Young Ambassadors and Parent Carer Champions.
Media and social media interest in Acorns is significant, supporting the raising of £13 million a year that the charity needs to run. 85p in every £1 raised is spent on care services.
360 staff work at Acorns, supported by 1,260 active volunteers.
Acorns is in the UK’s top 100 employers after ‘remarkable’ success in creating a welcoming workspace for everyone.
Acorns live by their values
Caring: We are passionate about getting it right, actively responding to individual needs to deliver the highest quality of care and service. We are determined to achieve our goals and take accountability for our results. We build effective relationships based upon trust by consistently being open, honest and transparent, delivering what we commit to. We actively work together with colleagues and build external partnerships that help us deliver our mission.
Courageous: We are brave in challenging the status quo, embracing difference and change.
Curious: We are inquisitive and empathetic, putting ourselves in the position of others. We seek to understand the why, exploring different ways to succeed.
The Chair and Board of Trustees
Mark Hopton has been a remarkable Chair for Acorns and now that he has come to the end of a successful full-term, we are looking for his replacement. The new Chair needs to be highly motivated by Acorn’s purpose and bring excellent governance and skill as a Chair, helping to ensure Acorns meets the growing needs of babies, children and young people with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions and their families across Birmingham, Black Country and the Three Counties.
Acorns is held in exceptionally high regard, and the new Chair will recognize the value of this and build upon it to ensure the organization can continue to grow and be there for children and families in the decades to come.
They will understand how to motivate fellow board members and the CEO and team. They will be active and empowering of others, bringing the ability to be objective, strategic and focused on what matters most and where they can add value as Chair and Ambassador.
Given the scale of Acorns’ impact on children and families and the limited statutory support available, financial management and fundraising will always be a crucial area for the Chair and Board to be supportive of and alert to. An understanding and track-record of significant financial oversight will be essential.
As Chair, you will make a long-term commitment to serving at least two of the three-year terms, subject to board approval at the end of the first three-year term.
The Board role:
The Chair is responsible for leading our Board of Trustees in providing governance and oversight of all areas of Acorns. The Chair must ensure that the Board fulfills its legal and regulatory obligations and all roles and responsibilities set out in the different elements of the Governance Framework.
The Board provides strategic direction and leadership and approves the three-year strategy and an annual operational plan and budget.
Acorns has a positive and inclusive board culture and encourages open debate. It is a complex organization, with a large retail offering, a fundraising operation and the management of three different hospices from which it fulfills its key activity of delivering care, so the Chair needs to have experience of leading complexity.
Learn more about Acorns Children’s Hospice
For further information about the role or to arrange a confidential discussion, please contact our advising consultants at Peridot Partners:
If you would like to know more about this role, please contact Marie McQuade.
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