Board Members – LEVEL Centre, Derbyshire

Board members and specialisms:

Changes to the leadership team and writing a new business plan has prompted LEVEL Centre to review what it does and how it does it. LEVEL Centre is looking to recruit new board members to support its vision and aspirations and provide skills, knowledge and lived experience in areas not currently represented on the board.

We are looking for:

• Financial representative
• Legal/HR representative
• Learning disabled adult
• Carer or support worker
• Digital specialist

We want our board to actively empower, support and challenge what we do. Our board plays a crucial role in supporting staff, providing direction and opens doors to help us continue and thrive.

The current board comprises:

• Stuart Allen (Chair) – Currently Senior Producer at Derby Theatre
• Jessica Ashley (Treasurer) – Currently Assistant Producer at Dance4
• Lydia Leaf (Safeguarding Board lead) – Teacher and independent artist
• Dave Wheeler – Environmental and Operations expertise
• Shirley Stevenson – Visual Artist, SEN advocate
• Joseph Marshall – Academia and tech specialist / University of Nottingham

Board Member Job Description:

The role of the Board is to provide strategic direction and ensure the governance of the company (as required by Companies House) and the charity (as required by the Charity Commission).

• • Volunteers their time to support the development of LEVEL Centre
  • Attends quarterly board meetings
  • Attend the Annual General Meeting
  • Attends extraordinary board meetings in exceptional circumstances in addition to the quarterly board meetings
  • May be asked to join smaller committee meetings on specific areas of development
  • Agrees and signs LEVEL Centre’s safeguarding policy
  • Ensures LEVEL complies with its governing documents and the law
  • Reads all paperwork in advance of attending meetings and is prepared to question the organisation and its practice
  • Understands or willing to learn about governance and the role of an active board member
  • Acts in the Charity’s best interest
  • Reviews and comments on minutes and reports
  • Attends openings and events produced by LEVEL Centre where appropriate
  • To be a champion and advocate for all LEVEL Centre work

• Help LEVEL Centre improve what it does and how it does it

• Periodic development and approval of a business plan
• Monitor LEVEL Centre to ensure it carries out its charitable purpose
• Remuneration for out of pocket expenses to be discussed and agreed

Information for candidates:

After five successful years, in 2020 Andrew Williams stepped down as LEVEL Centre’s Director. Since November 2020, Kerry Andrews has been working as Interim Executive Director and has reviewed the organisation’s outputs, programmes and needs to develop a business plan for 2021/2022 towards 2023 and beyond. LEVEL Centre will recruit a permanent Executive Director in 2021 to drive forward the organisation, planting more seeds for a healthy and sustainable future, increasing its reach and partnership potential.

In February 2020 Stuart Allen was appointed Chair of Level Centre. With Board and leadership changes, LEVEL Centre is using this time as an opportunity to review its programmes, projects, remit, staffing needs, board requirements and vision for the future. LEVEL Centre is currently undergoing a period of transition and change, considering its relevance to its community and its impact on the arts nationally.

To date, LEVEL Centre has produced programmes and projects for learning disabled adults and will continue to do so but now aims to broaden its reach and engage with more disabled artists and artists who make work digitally.

LEVEL has pioneered the transformative power of the arts to enrich the creative lives of learning disabled adults. A clear focus on developing the creativity and artistic potential of learning disabled adults, investment in digital research and specialist purpose built facilities have placed it at the leading edge of contemporary practice within the learning disabled community.

MISSION (why we exist): 

LEVEL creates, promotes and celebrates the art that ‘difference’ makes.

VISION (what we want)

To embrace creativity and present contemporary work visually, performatively and digitally for, by and with disabled adults and beyond.

Organisational details

LEVEL Centre is is a company limited by guarantee (No: 06323704), which is registered as a charity (No:1124419)

Memorandum of Association & Articles of Association

A copy is available upon request.

LEVEL Centre – about Matlock and Derbyshire

COVID-19 has made us all consider how we work, whilst meetings can take place online remotely, meetings and supporting LEVEL Centre projects on site at LEVEL Centre will be required from time to time(Covid-19 dependent).

The LEVEL Centre is an award-winning purpose-built contemporary art space located at the edge of the Peak District in Rowsley, Derbyshire.

A short drive from the LEVEL Centre is the historic riverside market town of Bakewell (famous for its puddings). We are also a stone’s throw from both the world-renowned Chatsworth House and Estate with its fantastic landscaped gardens and the intriguing Haddon Hall Estate, one of the oldest Tudor properties in the UK. Haddon has featured as the backdrop for a number of historical dramas.

The Spa Towns of Buxton and Matlock Bath are also in close proximity, the latter just a short drive from LEVEL and boasting the Heights of Abraham, a set of dramatic cable cars soaring over the Derwent Valley.

Matlock is the perfect starting point to explore the Peak District National Park, popular for its stunning viewpoints and outdoor activities such as walking, cycling, rock climbing and caving. The Park boasts a number of caves and caverns, dams and reservoirs, its own ancient stone circle, and Kinder Scout – the highest point in the Peak District.

Mostly covering northern Derbyshire, the National Park also includes parts of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, West and South Yorkshire and has great links to Sheffield, Derby, Nottingham and Manchester, for an urban experience right on the doorstep.

Person specification:

Essential:

• Expertise or lived experience in the board remits advertised
• Passion, commitment & self motivated
• Understanding needs of learning disabled adults
• Listening & communication skills
• Problem solving
• Willingness to work with LEVEL Centre staff and board
• Positive attitude
• A desire and ability to propose and contribute to implementing change
• Collaborative and flexible approach

Desirable:

• Knowledge of the Creative Case for Diversity and the Arts Council Let’s Create Strategy
• Understanding of promoting diversity, access, inclusion and representation
• Knowledge of the East Midlands and Midlands in general

If you would like an informal chat with the Chair of the Board about any of these roles then please contact LEVEL Centre and arrangements can be made by emailing info@levelcentre.com or calling 01629 734848.

To Apply

Please complete our online form here. This form will capture your contact information, details of two referees and equal opportunities monitoring.

You will be asked to upload the following:

• A CV ( this is optional for the learning disabled board member)
• A covering statement which should outline your suitability for the board position. LEVEL will accept the following formats for the statement, please clearly label your files with your name:
  • Written statement that is no more than 2 sides of A4* demonstrating your suitability, experience and interest in the role
  • Video submission that is no longer than 5 minutes- BSL, Makaton, spoken
  • Audio submission as an MP3 or WAV file, that is no longer than 5 minutes

*for those applying for the learning disabled Board Member role we will accept a covering statement of up to 500 words

Deadline for applications:

Monday 24th May 2021 at 9am

Interviews:

Times and dates TBC in consultation with candidates (interviews will take place via Zoom)

Appointed board members will be required to attend a LEVEL Centre board meeting on Wednesday 16 June 2021 as an observer from 3 – 5.30pm.

Application form at:
https://levelcentre.com/about/opportunities/