Join our Board of Trustees – Finance & Property Expertise Sought

The Elizabeth Fry Charity provides support to women, mostly on licence from prison, who have a range of complex needs. Through our work, we help women to begin to address the issues they face, improve their lives, and reduce the likelihood of further involvement in the criminal justice system.

The Elizabeth Fry Charity provides a 25-bed Approved Premises in Reading, enabling women to access accommodation, support, and monitoring.

As the Charity continues to grow and develop its services, we are seeking to strengthen our Board by recruiting two additional Trustees: one with finance, accounting, or audit experience and one with experience in property, estates, or facilities management.

Trustee – Finance

To achieve our strategic plans, we require strong financial oversight to support sustainable growth, ensuring robust financial management and governance across all activities. We are therefore particularly interested in individuals who can bring:

• Professional experience in finance, accountancy, or audit (chartered or qualified desirable)
• Experience in financial governance, risk management, and internal controls
• Ability to interpret financial statements and support budget setting and monitoring.
• Strategic insight into financial planning and sustainability within a charitable or regulated environment

In this role, the Trustee with finance expertise will support the Board and Senior Management Team in maintaining strong financial oversight, contributing to strategic decision-making, and ensuring the Charity’s resources are used effectively to maximise impact.

Trustee – Property

Our future plans include the acquisition, adaptation, and ongoing maintenance of additional properties, as well as renovation and improvement of existing premises. We are therefore particularly interested in individuals who can bring:

• Experience in property acquisition, development, or refurbishment
• Knowledge of building maintenance and compliance requirements
• Expertise in estates or facilities management
• Strategic insight into managing property assets within a charitable or regulated environment.

In this role, the Trustee with property expertise will support the Board and Senior Management Team in shaping and delivering our property strategy, ensuring that our accommodation is safe, sustainable, and fit for purpose as we expand.

Trustees, both individually and acting together as the Board, use their skills, knowledge, expertise, and contacts to govern the Charity, safeguard its assets, and apply them as efficiently and effectively as possible to further its charitable objectives.

We are interested in hearing from anyone who is passionate about the work we do and feels they can contribute to the success of the Charity.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and particularly encourage applications from people with lived experience of the criminal justice system, people from ethnic minority communities, disabled people, and others whose voices may be under-represented on charity boards.

For further information or to request an application form please contact Fiona Humphreys, Chief Executive Officer on
fiona.humphreys@justice.gov.uk