Chair of Trustees

Organisation: SPORTSAID TRUST
Salary: Voluntary
Location: SportsAid Head Office in London (near London Bridge)
Contract type: Volunteer
Closing date: 5 September 2025
Job Description: Helping young people to reach their personal best

“SportsAid believed in me when I was just a young, inexperienced racer. As a self-funded teenager travelling the world with my Mum, financial challenges were a constant hurdle. Funding my passion was daunting until SportsAid alleviated that burden, enabling me to pursue what I loved and take my passion to the next level. Without SportsAid, I would never have gone from the little girl you invested in, to the Paralympic and World medallist I became.”
Millie Knight, Paralympic medallist & World Champion

COULD YOU HELP SPORTSAID AS THE CHAIR OF TRUSTEES?
SportsAid’s Mission is to encourage, enable and empower the next generation of athletes to achieve their ambitions in sport and life. Since 1976, we have been side-by-side with Britain’s greatest emerging sporting talent – from Mo Farah to Jessica Ennis-Hill, from Ade Adepitan to Ellie Simmonds – and so many others. SportsAid provides vital support to young sports people at a pivotal moment in their development. HRH The Princess of Wales is the charity’s Patron.

We are looking for a trustee to join our board as Chair of Trustees. With our five-year fundraising strategy underway, this is an exciting time to join as we develop new, impactful partnerships to deliver our mission for young sports people towards and beyond SportsAid’s 50th anniversary in 2026.

As the Chair of Trustees you will lead and support an effective, diverse and committed Board. The Chair will provide inclusive leadership to deliver the charity’s vision and mission, ensuring that each trustee enjoys fulfilling their duties and responsibilities for the effective governance of the charity. The Chair will also support the Chief Executive to ensure that the Board functions to best effect in supporting the executive team to achieve its objectives. He or she will act as an ambassador and be a public face of the charity in partnership with the Chief Executive.

You will have significant Board experience, ideally at Chair or other senior level, in the public, private or voluntary sector; or substantial Board experience as a member of a National Governing Body of Sport or Charitable Trust. You will be familiar with partnership working and engaging with a complex stakeholder mix. You will have strong financial and commercial acumen and a genuine passion and personal connection to the core purpose and mission of SportsAid.

This is a vital role offering the opportunity to join a committed and driven charity at an exciting time. You do not need to be a sports expert, but you will have a desire to help young people and a willingness to get stuck in. You can make a difference.
You will join a board of eight trustees (more details at www.sportsaid.org.uk/who-we-are) in working with an effective executive team to support the charity’s work.

The minimum commitment as a board member will be to attend four board meetings per year (typically held in London but with the facility to join remotely if necessary) plus two half-day induction sessions and at least one half-day strategy planning session. There will likely be an additional time commitment to attend events representing SportsAid. Board positions are unremunerated but reasonable travel expenses will be reimbursed.

SportsAid recognises that certain sections of the community have been affected by structural inequities and may be denied the opportunity to participate equally and fully in sport at all levels. SportsAid as an organisation believes our role is to remove the barriers that our most under-served, at risk and minoritised groups of young people experience when trying to access sport and physical activities.

SportsAid therefore positively welcomes, and seeks to achieve, diversity in our workforce and that all job applicants, volunteers and employees receive equal and fair treatment. We positively encourage applications from all candidates regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, disability, marriage and civil partnership status, gender identity, background, religion, faith, sexual orientation, maternity status, pregnancy, belief or nationality.

A role description is available on request from trustees@sportsaid.org.uk .
How to apply: A role description is available on request from trustees@sportsaid.org.uk . Please apply by emailing your CV with an outline of how your skills and experience meet the specification of this Chair of Trustees role and why you are interested in joining SportsAid to trustees@sportsaid.org.uk by 5pm Friday 5 September 2025. On receipt of your application you will be sent a confidential equal opportunities form which all applicants will be asked to complete.