We are delighted to announce the appointment of the new Governance Board for Dorset’s Voluntary and Community Sector Assembly. This special milestone marks the fulfilment of almost a year of co-production with representatives of the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) and colleagues from the public and private sectors in Dorset.
The appointment process was delivered by an Independent Appointments Panel (IAP). These experts from outside Dorset brought decades of experience of working collaboratively within the voluntary and community sector in the UK to this process. Their mission was to help to create an initial Board of Members who can establish the values and ambition of the Assembly, and assure the foundation of trust that has been placed in the Assembly and its representatives by the wider VCS.
The Governance Board’s role is to oversee and ensure that the values for the Assembly, that were identified by the VCS in the co-production process, are woven into the work of the Assembly. The Panel looked for people who are committed to and experienced in supporting these founding values. They were also sought to identify a blend of skills and experience, across the Board’s composition, to meet the needs and demands of the Governance Board’s role.
The Board will not only be responsible for developing systems to help the Assembly to function, but will also hold the Engagement Group* to account for the work they will be doing on behalf of the Assembly.
The total membership of the Governance Board will comprise 11 Members. The IAP have appointed 7 people to the Board at this point. One of the activities of the Board will be to design the process for including further people on the Board to reach the full complement of 11 Members. This is in line with the Terms of Reference that were approved when the Assembly was founded.
The appointments to the Board, in alphabetical order, are as follows:
Zoe Bradley – Chief Executive, Citizens Advice Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole
Daniel Cadisch – Chief Officer, Citizens Advice Central Dorset
Charlie Coward – Deputy Chief Executive, Active Dorset
Peter Green – Trustee, Dorset Race Equality Council
Ken Heap – Chair, Dorset Mind
Mark Sharman – Chief Executive, Help and Care
Martin Yelling – Chief Executive, Stormbreak
We will be working with the new Board Members to produce a short biography of each of them by way of introduction, and will publish these on our websites soon.
The Board will be meeting twice within the next two months. The first meeting will be a briefing session to bring everyone up to speed with the development of the Assembly so far, and the immediate tasks that need to be addressed. The second meeting will be a chance for the Board to start to establish a work programme, and identify the next steps for them and the Engagement Group.
If you have any questions about the Assembly, we are happy to receive them. If appropriate, we would like to publish them on a VCS Assembly FAQ page on our websites. This will hopefully help keep the work of the Assembly clearly accountable and transparent as it develops. This is a core foundation of the values and accountability of the Assembly’s Governance Board and Engagement Group on behalf of Dorset’s VCS.
The formation of the Governance Board is a huge cause for celebration and excitement.
We are enormously grateful to everyone who applied for these roles. Each one of you is valued and important, and will continue to play an important role in the life of the Assembly, whether that is in the Board, or in other aspects of the Assembly’s work.
We are also thankful for the work of the IAP who carried out their role with real imagination, passion, thoughtfulness, and sensitivity.
We wish the new Board every success in helping to create and develop this amazing new Assembly for Dorset.
Jon Sloper, CEO, #HelpAndKindness
Emma Lee, Partnerships Manager, Community Action Network
* Dorset Voluntary and Community Sector Assembly Engagement Group, or the Engagement Group, initially comprises Community Action Network and #HelpAndKindness.
