We are seeking new Trustees

CYMDEITHAS ERYRI SNOWDONIA SOCIETY

Registered charity number 1155401

BOARD RECRUITMENT PACK FOR TRUSTEES 2025

Are you passionate about the landscapes, culture and heritage of Eryri? Join our Board of Trustees of Cymdeithas Eryri as an independent voice for the conservation, protection and enjoyment of Eryri.

Welcome

Would you like to make a difference to Eryri?

The landscapes of Eryri are wide and varied, ranging from Celtic Forest to soaring peaks and quiet valleys and rivers, all of which are threatened by climate change and nature depletion.  Cymdeithas Eryri is a campaigning and advocacy charity which influences positive change, as well as practical action delivered mainly through volunteers who plant trees, restore peatland, tackle invasive species, educate the public, litter pick and maintain mountain paths.

We are a small charity that in almost 60 years has inspired many to join our actions to make Eryri a better and more nature-rich place.  We embrace inclusion and diversity and people from all walks of life whatever their background.

We are seeking new Trustees

If you want to help tackle these important issues, we welcome candidates who can bring one or more of the following to our Board of Trustees:

• Passion and a commitment to our vision of a nature rich Eryri for all
• Nature conservation including practical action and wider policy
• Strategic financial planning and management
• Fundraising and/or communication

New Board members will be signposted to key induction materials and previous experience of the Trustee role is not required.

About Cymdeithas Eryri Snowdonia Society

 Our values. We are:

• open and honest about decisions and actions we take, accountable to Society members
• informed of issues affecting Snowdonia and new opportunities to deliver our purpose
• respectful of others’ views and encouraging of discussion and cooperation
• bold and standing up for Snowdonia

 Our ways of working

• we are an independent and well-informed voice for Eryri
• our Helping Hands programme is the largest volunteering programme in Eryri National Park
• we work with partners on long term goals that make a difference
• we invest in young people of all backgrounds, from volunteering to accredited training and paid traineeships

Our vision

To inspire more people to act sustainably in support of a more nature-rich Eryri that everyone can connect with, celebrate and appreciate

Make Eryri an exemplar of sustainable management of designated landscapes, where people of diverse backgrounds are active ensuring that landscape, culture and historical landscape are valued, protected and enjoyed.

We want to lead efforts to enrich nature in the Eryri National Park.  We want to inspire those who live in, work in and live in Eryri to value what they have and play their part in looking after it. We will work with the Eryri National Park Authority, other partners, voluntary organisations, and our own members, staff and volunteers, businesses and the wider public to bring about the action we need to protect and enhance Eryri. We will evaluate the difference we make through appropriate measures and narratives that explain what we have achieved.

Mission

• Educate and inform in the interests of a more nature-rich Eryri
• Champion and advocate for the protection of nature and heritage across Eryri
• Identify areas where Cymdeithas Eryri can have the greatest positive impact over time

Our Goals are to

• inspire more people to participate and support a more nature-rich Eryri.
• focus practical action on nature recovery by prioritising more rigorously what we can do to enrich landscapes.
• influence and hold to account national and local government policy change and challenge planning applications that are detrimental to protecting and conserving landscapes.
• strengthen and develop more strategic partnerships to our mutual benefit and develop our operational team through training and skills development.

 How the organisation works

We are a small organisation with a relatively small team of staff led by Director Rory Francis which undertakes work to realise our goals, mainly through practical volunteering action, campaigns and advocacy. We are funded by those who choose to become members of Cymdeithas Eryri, fundraising including the Big Give, donations and legacies.  In recent years we have been successful in securing grants from a wide range of funders and used these for our Caru Eryri work of litter clearance and path maintenance, gorse clearance in the Carneddau that has revealed evidence of ancient heritage, tree planting and the tackling of invasive species, especially of Himalayan Balsam and Rhododendron ponticum.  Advocacy efforts have focused on policy consultations regarding the Sustainable Farming Scheme, hydro-electric projects that could impact important habitats, transport solutions for hotspots such as Yr Wyddfa, and suggesting alternatives to proposed pylon routes across Wales.

About our Board

Every charity has a Board – a group of volunteers that ensure that the organisation is effective in carrying out the purpose for which it was established. Board members (Trustees) have responsibility for overseeing the work of the charity, ensuring it is financially stable and sustainable, is well run and full the charity’s objectives as set out in the constitution.

We have a strong team of Trustees whose skills include strategic and financial planning, advocacy and planning, education, volunteering and working for a charity. Our Chair is Sue Beaumont who has been interested all her life in the outdoors, inspired by her mother and grandfather by nature. All love Eryri and are motivated to ensure the best outcomes possible for that help current and future generations conserve, protect and enjoy Eryri.

Following their recruitment new trustees shall be elected by the decision of members at an AGM and may serve for a period of three years. Trustees are appointed for a three-year term, with the opportunity to for re-appointment up to a maximum of 9 years.

Trustee role description

This is a voluntary position and therefore unpaid. Trustees work with others on the Board which meets through a combination of face to face and online meetings, four times a year.  Trustees are encouraged to join one of two other groups, one on advocacy, the other on finance and governance.  Each of these also meet quarterly.

Trustee objectives

We are seeking Trustees with a passion for Eryri and who can bring different skills and life experiences to our Board.

The core functions of the Trustees are to provide the vision, strategic direction and governance of the charity.  A helpful summary of trustee roles and responsibilities can be found in Charity Commission guidance:  The essential Trustee:  what you need to know, what you need to do (CC3) – GOVE.UK (www.gov.uk).

Our governing document is our Constitution on our website Snowdonia-society@org.uk. Trustees are responsible for controlling the management and administration of Cymdeithas Eryri Snowdonia Society (CESS).

Principal responsibilities of Trustees

• always ensure compliance with charity law and any other relevant legislation or regulations
• ensure that CESS pursues its objects as defined in the Constitution
• to maintain proper financial control and ensure that CESS applies its resources exclusively in accordance with its objects and not spend money outside of these
• to set and maintain the vision, mission and values
• to agree strategy and overall policy and evaluation of performance against agreed targets
• to ensure accountability of all the charity’s resources including human, financial and assets
• to set up employment procedures for staff and volunteers
• to support the Director in the operational management of the charity
• to ensure internal policies and procedures are up to date
• to safeguard the good name of the charity
• to act in the best interests of the charity, never in the interests of yourself or another organisation

Skills and aptitudes being sought to strengthen the current Board of Trustees

As mentioned above these are:

• passion and a commitment to our vision of a nature rich Eryri for all
• youth outreach and engagement
• strategic financial planning and management
• charity fundraising
• marketing and social media outreach
• a willingness to devote the necessary time and effort to the Board and any sub-group or committee
• good independent judgement
• an ability to think strategically
• an ability to speak your mind
• an ability to support and create a Board culture of inclusion and equality
• an ability to work effectively as a member of a team
• an ability to speak Welsh welcomed although not essential

Key documents about CESS can be found on its website Snowdonia-society@org.uk under the section ‘About Snowdonia Society/documents’, such as the Constitution, Strategic Action Plan 2025-27 and Annual Report 2023/24.

We realise that being a Trustee can incur financial expenses such as travel or the cost of covering care.  We are committed to ensuring that these costs are not a barrier to the application or to carrying out the Trustee role but as a reminder the role itself is unremunerated.

If you would like to discuss applying for this position, please email sue.beaumont@gmail.com.

 How to Apply

If you are interested in becoming a Trustee of CESS please send us a CV of no more than two pages long that summarises your work experience and qualifications, lived experience relevant to this position, and which explains in detail which of the skills and aptitudes you would bring to the Board of Trustees, referring to the above information. Finally, write a paragraph about your motivation for becoming a Trustee and how you consider you can contribute to the work of the Board.

In addition, there is a legal requirement to sign, date and return with your application a Declaration of fitness to be a Trustee Form

Timetable

Applications to be addressed to info@snowdonia-society.org.uk and received by close of play Tuesday, 30 September 2025.

Face to face interviews of shortlisted candidates to take place in the week beginning 13 October 2025 and candidates informed a week beforehand.