Could you be a Trustee for OCM?
OCM's mission is to develop and present exceptional new music and sound-based live events, by bringing artists and audiences together in ways that create memorable and meaningful experiences for all.
We are recruiting for voluntary trustees and we really want to hear from you.
We want to reflect a greater diversity of lived experience within our governing body, as we think this will lead to a greater variety of ideas, voices and perspectives that represent the communities that we serve. With this in mind we recognise that our governing body is under-represented in a range of ways and would welcome interest from:
Young Adults
Women
People from the Global Majority
People with a disability or/and with lived experience of disability
People from lower socioeconomic backgrounds
Neurodivergent people
LGBTQI+ people including those who identify as non-binary or gender non-conforming
The current trustees are arts professionals, artists and audience members and have a range of valuable skills and experience to offer the organisation. The additional areas of expertise we would benefit from include (but are not limited to):
Fundraising, especially private donors, trusts and sponsorship
Working with Young People
Environmental issues (data, impact and creative projects)
If you have a passion for helping an arts charity, and an area of expertise that you feel can contribute to OCM’s work, even if it is not listed above, we'd like to hear about it.
Who we are
We believe that music can empower people and communities through self expression and by allowing people to question, imagine, challenge and dream.
We want to make sure our activities and events are welcoming and relevant to a wide range of different people and that everyone wanting to be involved, either as a participant, an audience member or an artist, feels OCM is an organisation they can connect with.
OCM is a charity funded by the Arts Council, PRS Foundation, Oxford City Council and others, with a relatively small staff team and a board of trustees. We currently have 5 trustees and space to involve 3 more, so we would like to hear from anyone who may be interested in joining us.
Being a Trustee
Working as a trustee involves reviewing and helping the management team to shape policy, finance and strategy. Board members are responsible for ensuring the smooth and safe running of the organisation, value and relevance for beneficiaries and welfare of staff and volunteers. We typically meet 4 times a year to discuss a variety of topics and sometimes support the management team with advice and decisions when needed between meetings.
Meetings can be a combination of in-person and online, and we’re open to having hybrid meetings too (ie, a board member joining an in-person meeting virtually). Any in-person meetings take place in Oxford.
We can cover a range of out-of-pocket expenses associated with attending the quarterly meetings, such as transport, access costs, child care costs etc and we can discuss those on a case by case basis.
We would love to hear from you if you:
Believe in the value of OCM’s work
Have a passion for music and art
Can contribute ideas as well as challenge the status quo
Are keen to be ‘noses in, fingers out’, asking questions, challenging, offering alternative perspectives but happy to leave the detail to management
Have time to be involved and plenty of curiosity
Are able to advocate and be champions for OCM as well as critical friends
Can attend 4 quarterly board meetings per year
Benefits of being a Trustee
And if you’re wondering what the benefits might be in volunteering to be a trustee, here are some examples:
Adding experience to your CV of governing a charity
Meeting and networking with other people working in the arts, charity and business sectors
Gaining access to valuable training (for example: how to lead an arts organisation, how charities work, working with funders etc)
Contributing to your local community by supporting a charity giving young people and communities across the city access to music
"I've always worked for charities but being a board member gives a new and fulfilling perspective. It is great to be able to support OCM in this way and to develop and learn as I go. A friendly team make it a very rewarding experience."
Ruth Cadiot (current OCM trustee)
If you are interested, please send a brief description of yourself, your skills and how you can contribute to OCM as a Trustee to our Deputy Director, Rachel Capell rachel@ocmevents.org. Expressions of interest can be in a variety of formats including text-based, video and audio and can be sent at any time up until the deadline.
We will also be scheduling open zoom sessions for you to meet our team, hear a bit about the board and ask any questions you may have before or after submitting an expression of interest. Let us know if you'd like to attend.
DEADLINE MONDAY 6TH JUNE
Banner photo taken by Farrows Collective. The image is of "Colony" by Mike Blow and Alison Ballard, a sonic art installation using giant tactile spheres that emit an otherworldy sound composition. Colony was co-commissioned by OCM in 2017 and produced by Hogarth Productions.
