Greenwich Hospital is a unique Crown Charity and the oldest Royal Navy charity, providing support to serving and former Royal Navy and Royal Marine personnel and their families for over 325 years. It aims to make a real and lasting difference to the lives of those in need of support. Last year, it spent over £5m in grants and other charitable activity in areas including education, housing and employability.
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Greenwich Hospital is looking for three new Advisory Board Members.
One will have leadership experience in the charity sector, specifically in the area of grant-making.
Two of the new Advisory Board Members with experience of property investment and / or property development as it looks to make best use of its c. £300m property portfolio. One of these new Members will also sit on the Hospital’s Advisory Panel (which acts as the Investment and Finance Committee) and both on its Property Committee.
Deadline: 26th September 2022
Greenwich Hospital is a unique Crown Royal Navy Charity founded by the Royal Charter of William and Mary in 1694, to support retired, wounded, and needy Royal Navy personnel and their widows and to educate their children. It occupied what is now the Old Royal Naval College site in Greenwich from 1702 to 1869.
Today the charity supports all serving and former serving personnel of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines and their families through benevolence, grants, education, housing, employability, financial resilience, health, and well-being, and much more. In 2020-2021, Greenwich Hospital spent over £5m on charity projects and has supported many tens of thousands of beneficiaries over the three-year period from 2018-2021.Greenwich Hospital promotes initiatives which assist veterans in charitable need as well as those which will help to set serving personnel on a secure and stable path throughout both their service and subsequent civilian careers.
To support its charitable objectives the Hospital seeks to maximise the return on its investments (quoted investments and property portfolio in Greenwich, Northumberland, and Suffolk, whose total value is c. £400m) to provide the funds to meet its long-term commitments. These include regular charitable payments and grants, both direct and through other naval and service charities; bursaries for the education of eligible seafaring children at the Royal Hospital School which is part of Greenwich Hospital (founded in Greenwich in 1712 and later moved to Holbrook, near Ipswich); and sheltered housing for elderly seafarers and their spouses in Greenwich, Portsmouth and Plymouth.
The Hospital is working with the Royal Navy towards a transformation of its governance and charitable output so as to best meet the increasingly complex needs of both serving and retired seafarers. To this end, it is looking at the strategic aims of increasing cooperative support to naval charity and exploring its future governance relationship with the Royal Hospital School.
Since 1964, the Secretary of State for Defence has been responsible for the governance of Greenwich Hospital on behalf of the Sovereign and as a representative of the Crown, supported in these duties by the Admiralty Board. Although members of the Greenwich Hospital’s Advisory Board discharge many of the functions of the Trustees of a registered charity, responsibility in law remains vested with the Secretary of State and day-to-day responsibility rests with the Director. This role is therefore purely advisory.
Advisory Board Member (Charity):The new Advisory Board Member will ensure that Greenwich Hospital gains valuable external perspectives on all aspects of charity and grant-giving. They will provide support and constructive challenge to the Advisory Board and executive team and will use their specific skills and expertise to help the Advisory Board reach sound decisions. This includes leading non-executive advice and input on current and developing charity policy and good practice, contributing to wider discussions, scrutinising and evaluating board papers and providing guidance on new initiatives and governance requirements following review.
Advisory Board Members (Property): The new Advisory Board Members will ensure that Greenwich Hospital gains valuable external perspectives on all aspects of property management. They will provide support and constructive challenge to the Advisory Board and executive team and will use their specific skills and expertise to help the Advisory Board reach sound decisions. This includes leading non-executive advice and input on property policy and good practice, including development, ESG and zero-carbon challenges, contributing to wider discussions, scrutinising and evaluating board papers and providing guidance on new initiatives and governance requirements following review.
Advisory Board Members will help ensure that Greenwich Hospital complies with its governing charter and all other relevant legislation or regulations, and that it uses its resources exclusively in pursuance of its objectives, and in doing so fulfils its purpose for the benefit of the public. The new member will also act as an advocate and ambassador for Greenwich Hospital, supporting its aims and charitable objectives.
Greenwich Hospital is looking for a new Advisory Board Member with leadership experience in the charity sector, specifically in the area of grant-making.
Applicants should have:
Experience with public sector charitable institutions and / or grant-making charitable trusts and foundations would be an advantage. Knowledge of at least one of the military charity sector, sheltered housing and the independent schools sector would also be relevant.
Candidates should be able to think strategically, work effectively in a small team and provide constructive challenge. Importantly, the new Advisory Board Members will express empathy with and belief in the values and mission of Greenwich Hospital and the Royal Navy.
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Greenwich Hospital is looking for two new Advisory Board Members with experience of property investment and / or property development as it looks to make best use of its c. £300m property portfolio. One of the new Members will also sit on the Hospital’s Advisory Panel.
The successful candidates may be drawn for a wide range of backgrounds but will have one or more of the following:
Candidates should be able to think strategically, work effectively in a small team and provide constructive challenge. Importantly, the new Advisory Board Members will express empathy with and belief in the values and mission of Greenwich Hospital and the Royal Navy.
Diversity
Greenwich Hospital is committed to strengthening the diversity of its Advisory Board and Panel to better reflect the nation and Royal Navy it serves and to broaden the thinking that inspires its work. It therefore warmly welcomes applicants for this role from all backgrounds and who bring different perspectives.
Terms of appointment
This position is unremunerated, but Greenwich Hospital will pay for reasonable travel expenses for duties carried out on behalf of the charity. The role is for an initial term of three years, extendable by mutual agreement.
The Advisory Board Member (Charity) is expected to attend three Board and 4 Sub-committee meetings per year; meetings last around two hours. There may also be ad hoc meetings with the Hospital and with partner charitable organisations as required, perhaps twice per year.
The Advisory Board and Panel Members (Property) are expected to attend c. 10 meetings per year of the main Board, Property Board, and Advisory Panel, each of which lasts for approximately two hours.
Location
Meetings will usually take place at Greenwich Hospital’s Head Office in the City of London, but Greenwich Hospital is open to remote attendance where necessary or appropriate. There may also be occasional travel to other Greenwich Hospital or Royal Navy locations such as Portsmouth, Plymouth, Suffolk, and Northumberland.
The deadline for consideration is 26th September 2022.
If you would like to register your initial interest, please fill in the form below.