Details

The Special Educational Needs Advice Centre is seeking to appoint a Trustee with legal experience to join its Board of Directors. 
This is a great opportunity to share your talents and expertise, and to help make a positive, long-lasting impact on the lives of children and young people with special educational needs in Northern Ireland.

SENAC is a charity that provides confidential, independent advice and advocacy for children and young people with disabilities and special educational needs (SEN) who attend schools in Northern Ireland up to the age of 19 years.
Since its inception in 2003, SENAC has helped thousands of children to receive a standard of education that would not otherwise have been available to them without intervention. The charity has been supporting and advising parents on how to access education support for children with additional needs through a range of regional services which include an Advice Line, Advocacy and Appeal services and Community workshops.
Demand for our services is extremely high. We receive referrals from over 100 different organisations, agencies, and professionals, and on average, we support over 850 families each year. Demand for all of our services is growing and, given planned changes to SEN provision in Northern Ireland, we anticipate demand will continue to grow for all of our services.
 

We are currently seeking a volunteer from a legal background to join our board. As a member of the Board, you will play an integral part in the good governance of the charity - not only ensuring that the organisation remains viable and sustainable, but ensuring that it follows its mission and continues to work in the interests of children and young people, and their parents. More specifically we need legal skills to help with (i) Supporting, advising and developing our Appeals function; (ii) Ensuring the charity operates within the legal framework for charities in Northern Ireland; and (iii) General legal advice pertaining to operating the charity. 

Requirements

  • Previous experience as a Management Committee member or Chair would be useful but not essential.
  • The Board meets online 10 times per annum and our meetings typically last 1.5 hours.
  • There is also a requirement to do typically 2-3 hours of work per month to support ongoing initiatives.


To find out more, please visit www.senac.co.uk. If you feel you have skills and experience that would add value to SENAC’s work, please get in touch by emailing our Chair, Mark McCusker mccuskermark@hotmail.com.