The Gurkha Welfare Trust (GWT) is a registered UK charity that aims to alleviate hardship and distress among Gurkha veteran communities in Nepal. With an investment portfolio of c. £86m and annual expenditure of c. £22m, it operates 20 outreach centres spread across traditional Gurkha recruiting areas. GWT provides welfare, financial and medical assistance to a population of c. 24,000 Gurkha veterans, widows, and dependants, as well as some community programmes for the wider population. The executive and fundraising components are based in the UK, whilst the fieldwork is delivered in Nepal by a complement of around 500 local staff.

GWT aims to ensure that Gurkha veterans, widows and wider communities are able to live with dignity. It achieves this primarily through the provision of financial, medical and community aid in Nepal. In the UK, in conjunction with other service charities and government bodies, it offers advice and support to help the thousands of retired Gurkhas and their families who choose to settle here.

The successful candidate will be one of 10 Trustee-Directors on the Board governing GWT and will play a part in important decisions for GWT as a whole. The Trustee-Director will also be invited to join the Audit and Finance Committees.

The Committees (run back-to-back during one session) are respectively responsible for GWT’s audit and risk management procedures and the review and approval of GWT’s finances and oversight of all staff terms and conditions of service. This individual will also be instrumental in preparing the Trust for its upcoming quinquennial strategic review in 2025. 

In addition, the Trustee will advise on policies, plans and practices relating to HR, culture and leadership of the organisation. They will support and challenge the Board as it seeks to maintain and further build a robust HR function and bring a strategic mindset to the charity as it continues to serve Gurkha veteran communities in Nepal. 

To guide the Trust as it looks to best support the Gurkha veteran communities in Nepal, GWT now seeks a new Trustee-Director from a broad range of professional backgrounds. The successful candidate may be from an HR background, such as Director of HR or Director of People, but may also have senior experience in a range of professions. The successful candidate may come from a corporate background, but could equally have come from a large organisation in the public or not-for-profit sectors.

As a Trustee-Director, the successful candidate will work effectively as a member of the Board and make decisions for the good of GWT, by virtue of:

• An empathy with the values and ethos of GWT with a corresponding commitment to its mission; and
• A thorough understanding and acceptance of the legal duties, responsibilities and liabilities of directors under company law, and ideally also of those of a trustee

To enable full interaction with the Audit and Finance Committees, and to attend Committee and Trustee meetings in person wherever possible, the candidate should be UK-based. However, there will also be the opportunity to travel to Nepal to support their education. 
GWT is open to applications from candidates who have not previously held any trustee or non-executive positions. However, as sitting on a trustee board requires the ability to take a more advisory approach than in executive roles, candidates should demonstrate a track record of influencing the direction of an organisation at board level. Candidates should detail if they already have significant trustee or non-executive experience.

Lieutenant General Richard Wardlaw OBE, Chair
Patrick Grant
Major (Ret’d) Hemchandra Rai MBE BEM
Dr John Keeling
Ann Levin
Colonel David Robinson
Stephen Cooper
John David
Colonel Dan Rex MVO

You can read more about GWT's Trustee-Directors here.

The Audit and Finance Committees meet three times a year in London or Salisbury, augmented occasionally by extra meetings as required whether in person, by telephone or video call. The Board of Trustees also meets three times a year. The Trustee-Director will be appointed for an initial three-year term, with the potential to extended to a maximum of nine years.

This role is not remunerated. However, all domestic travel expenses, travel to Nepal, and in-country expenses in Nepal will be covered by GWT. 

Board meetings are usually held in London but occasionally in Salisbury or Winchester. The Trustee-Director should expect to make a trip to Nepal as an integral part of understanding the organisation better.

GWT welcomes applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or disability. As women and those from a BAME background are currently under-represented on the Board, applications from those candidates would be particularly encouraged. All appointments will be made on merit, following a fair and transparent process. In line with the Equality Act 2010, however, the organisation may employ positive action where diverse candidates can demonstrate their ability to perform the role equally well.