Chair of the Board, The Choir with No Name

The Choir with No Name runs choirs and builds joyful singing communities with homeless and marginalised people, around the UK. Currently, there are six choirs: in Birmingham, Liverpool, London, Coventry, Brighton (run in partnership with BHT Sussex) and Cardiff (run in partnership with The Wallich).

How it works...

We were founded on the premise that singing makes you feel good; it distracts you from all the nonsense in life and helps you to build confidence, skills and genuine, long lasting friendships. Our choir members are people who have experienced homelessness, or who are simply going through a tough time in their lives. We aim to help members to build their confidence and skills, and make genuine life long friendships, so that they are in a better position to tackle the other challenges in their lives, and move away from homelessness in the long-term.

What we do...

What we do is simple: our choirs meet once a week for a cuppa and a catch up, we then sing our hearts out for an hour and half, and sit down together afterwards for a hot meal cooked by volunteers. We perform regularly at a whole load of different places, from local homeless hostels to the Royal Festival Hall and everywhere in between. Our choirs are a supportive, safe space for people going through a tough time to be among friends, where they can experience the joy of singing together, have fun, build confidence and skills, and feel more able to tackle life's other challenges, such as securing housing or finding work.

We are at an exciting stage as an organisation, and we are keen to bring in new trustees to build and diversify our board’s experience and skills as we redevelop our strategy and plans. We are currently recruiting for a new Chair and two new trustees. Board meetings are once a quarter, we ask that you attend some gigs and occasional rehearsals, and there are additional sub-committees that you can also volunteer to be part of. This is an open call for trustees, but we are particularly interested in the following skills and experiences:

• People with lived experience of homelessness
• HR
• Fundraising
• Strategy and business development
• Arts/choral music and arts and social change/health

Trustee is an unpaid voluntary role. Out of pocket expenses can be covered and all trustees will be given a full induction. Previous board experience is not necessary, and we welcome applications from all ages and backgrounds. We particularly welcome applications from people of colour, people living with disabilities or health challenges, people with lived experience of homelessness or living outside of London, as we want our board to be more representative.  

We are specifically recruiting for a Chair of Trustees

For more information, to arrange a discussion with our current chair or CEO, or to visit one of our choir rehearsals, please drop us an email at info@choirwithnoname.org.

To apply, please send a CV and covering letter FAO Kate Wareham to info@choirwithnoname.org. Closing date is 12pm 30th October.