2nd December 2025
Trustees & Chair Designate (Deputy Chair)
Location: Plymouth (meetings held in person and via Teams)
Salary: Voluntary (expenses covered)
Closing date: Midday, Thursday 8 January 2026
Trustree Recruitment Overview Pack Trustee Recruitment Specification Pack
Havencare is a long-established, dynamic charity providing homes and support for people with learning disabilities and autism. We currently provide support to 87 people, providing 6,468 weekly support hours. As our housing aspirations grow, we also act as a landlord for 45 people ensuring they have a safe, secure and affordable home.
As we enter a new chapter – shaping a modernised mission, strengthening governance, and expanding our housing and support across Cornwall, Devon and Plymouth – we are seeking several exceptional Trustees, including a Chair Designate (Deputy Chair) to succeed our long-standing Chair in 2026.
As a Trustee at Havencare, you will contribute to an organisation that is small enough for your impact to be felt and ambitious enough to drive system-level change. You’ll work with a values-led CEO and Executive Team, and a committed Board who believe deeply in transparency, engagement, and quality. We’re embarking on the next stage of our journey with ambitions to grow our housing offer and to support more people across all three regions. 2026/7 will see us developing our next strategic plan and increasing our approach to co-production.
This is a rare chance to influence a charity undergoing meaningful, positive transformation.
We are looking for individuals who share our passion and commitment to delivering person-led, high-quality support and housing solutions. As an incoming Trustee, your skills, experience, and passion will be instrumental in ensuring that we focus on what we do well, supporting people to support people. We have identified priority areas to complement our existing strengths. In our Deputy Chair / Chair Designate, we are seeking someone who brings experience of chairing boards, ideally in a charity setting. More broadly, we are seeking Trustees with experience in strategic roles in one (or more) of the following areas:
We are dedicated to Board diversity and equal opportunity and welcome applications from leaders who have the experience and passion to join our team. We are also keen to add people to our board who have lived experiences that may reflect the lives of those we support.
Support the Chair, strengthen governance, and prepare to lead the Board from Oct 2026.
Provide strategic leadership, oversight, and challenge to ensure Havencare fulfils its mission: helping people live their lives through opportunity and choice.
For a confidential conversation, contact our retained recruitment partner:
Anna Jay, MD, Public Leaders Appointments
anna@publicleadersappointments.com
07904 236 348
Your application should consist of a CV supported by a covering letter outlining your motivations for applying and highlighting how your skills, knowledge and experience meet
the requirements of our new trustees.
Applications should be submitted to applications@publicleadersappointments.com – with the reference: ‘Havencare’
Deadline: Midday, Thursday 8 January 2026
Interviews: 27th / 28th January – Plymouth
Trustree Recruitment Overview Pack Trustee Recruitment Specification Pack
Learn about life at Havencare and how we make a difference.
