Place2Be believes that no child should have to face mental health problems alone.

With a mission to improve children and young people’s mental health, which it does through schools, Place2Be works across four areas:

1. School services: Providing high quality mental health services in schools, backed by research
2. Learning for school staff: Building confidence and knowledge in schools and with families, to promote a better understanding of mental health
3. Training and professional qualifications: Building a diverse and inclusive mental health workforce that can support children and young people
4. Building understanding of children and young people’s mental health: From government to the general public, Place2Be is the organisation behind Children’s Mental Health Week, launched in 2015

One in six children and young people have a diagnosable mental health issue, and 50% of those with lifetime mental health problems first experience symptoms by the age of 14. Place2Be’s support has therefore never been more needed. Since 1994, its expert teams have worked within school communities across England, Scotland and Wales, supporting children with their mental health and emotional wellbeing. The charity currently provides an embedded mental health service in over 500 primary, secondary and high schools, which covers a school community of around 243,000 children and young people. It also supports hundreds of thousands more through universally available services and resources.

Place2Be’s vision is for all children and young people to have the support they need to build lifelong coping skills and to thrive. In the coming year, it will focus on maintaining and building on recent momentum, with specific focus on attracting more professionals to train and join the mental health workforce and to increase knowledge and understanding of children’s wellbeing. The charity also now has a national footprint of almost 1,500 schools and it aspires to reach 10% of schools across the UK by 2025.

You can read its Impact Report for 2022 here.

Trustees play an important role, working together to set Place2Be's vision, values, mission and strategy. They review progress quarterly and the Board receives regular updates; in this way, the purpose of the organisation is kept in focus and activities to increase both its reach and impact are planned as well as monitored.

More broadly, the Board is responsible for:

• Ensuring the effective and efficient running of Place2Be in accordance with its strategy and charitable objectives
• Making sure that the charity remains financial stable and sustainable, as well as complying with its governance framework and relevant legislation / regulation
• Protecting and managing the charity's assets, ensuring their proper investment
• Acting, where appropriate, as an advocate and ambassador for Place2Be
• Maintaining the reputation and values of the charity
• Ensuring that a satisfactory framework of consents, controls, policies and reviews are in place for safeguarding the vulnerable children and families which Place2Be supports
• Acting as a sounding board and, where necessary, mentor members of the Executive Team on any specific areas of expertise 

All members of the Board are committed to Place2Be’s aims and values, with an understanding of  their role as the charity's strategic leaders.

As it continues to grow and support even more children across the UK, Place2Be is looking for a new Trustee who has a proven track record of developing and delivering persuasive messages to business and / or consumer audiences. This could have been gained in sales and marketing, advertising or broader business development.

Given the diverse audiences with which it engages, across government and schools as well as teachers, mental health practitioners and parents, candidates will ideally have a varied background in both a B2B and B2C context. They will be able to support the charity with developing propositions and messaging for each audience, ensuring that its brand identity is clear. This could have been gained either through leadership of a marketing or sales function, or in an agency setting. The successful candidate's expertise will ultimately guide the charity to getting cost-effective and clinically-proven resources, services and know-how to make a difference for even more children and young people, particularly those who need it most.

Applicants will be engaged, willing to roll up their sleeves where needed, and bring a real empathy with the important issues of mental health which Place2Be is tackling. Above all, they will share the charity's core values of perseverance, integrity, compassion and creativity.

Simon Mackenzie Smith, Chair
Adrian Levy
Aamir Ahmad
Sandy Begbie CBE
HHJ Anuja Dhir KC
Richard Douglas
Liz Greetham
Siân Hill
Prof Osama Khan
Elpha LeCointe
John Murphy
Dr Margaret Murphy
Tim Robinson CBE
Prof Stephen Scott CBE

Dame Benny Refson, President
David Weaver, Adviser
You can find out more about the Board here.

This role is unremunerated, and reasonable, pre-agreed domestic travel expenses will be reimbursed. The Board meets four times per year and are hybrid, with in-person attendance preferred. Each Trustee joins one of the Committees, which also meet four times per year. The appointment is for a four-year term, which can be renewed twice at the discretion of the Board. The timetable for upcoming Board meetings is below:

Monday 11th December 2023: 3.00 - 6.00pm
Monday 11th March 2024: 3.00 - 6.00pm
Monday 3rd June 2024: 3.00 - 6.00pm
Monday 16th September 2024: 3.00 - 6.00pm
Monday 2nd December 2024: 3.00 - 6.00pm

Location

This organisation is based in London and meetings will ideally take place in person. Candidates will therefore be UK-based.