Acorn Theatre (Penzance) - Chair

The Acorn is a progressive performing arts and cultural charity serving the local community of Penzance and West Cornwall with a mission to connect communities through culture and creativity.   It has been an important community asset for more than five decades and with the help of our wonderful volunteers, serves some of the most economically deprived, disadvantaged and rural communities in Cornwall and England.

Due to the upcoming retirement of our long-serving Chair, we are seeking to appoint a replacement to support the Theatre Manager and lead our wider team in taking the charity forward. We are beginning our search for a new Chair in turbulent times and need to ensure that the organisation remains resilient, financially stable and ambitious, seizing the opportunities ahead to continue to deliver our Mission.

Thanks to recent successful fundraising initiatives, the Acorn has been completely refurbished and has healthy financial reserves and strong forward bookings and ticket sales to deliver its charitable objectives.  We provide a high-quality cultural programme of live music and performing arts, support local groups and organisations, nurture local creative talent and Cornish heritage, and host weekly community carts lasses and other events to give access to the arts to a wide audience.  Between 2022 and 2026 we aim to develop our outreach work to economically deprived areas of Penzance/West Penwith.

As Chair, you and the Board of Trustees will provide strategic direction, governance and assurance for this small but vibrant charity, supporting the Theatre Manager and wider team whilst leading the charity to reach its full creative potential and remain financially resilient.

The role requires strong interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence, business acumen and calm, sound judgement in decision making. Ideally, we are also seeking someone who has a knowledge of charity fundraising or an understanding of the importance of fundraising.

If you have a passion for arts, cultural and creative industries and would like to make a positive contribution to the sector, we would be delighted to hear from you.

We are particularly keen to hear from people who are from groups under-represented in the performing arts and at Board level.

What are we looking for?

As Chair, you and the Board of Trustees will provide strategic direction, governance and assurance for this small but vibrant charity (gross turnover £300,000pa - 2019, our last full trading year pre-Covid and our target for 2023 / 2024), supporting the Theatre Manager and wider team whilst leading the charity to reach its full creative potential and remain financially resilient. The most important aspect of this role is to support the Theatre Manager and his team as they run the theatre day to day and make programming decisions. This involves building rapport, acting as a sounding board and discussing issues as they arise and, critically, avoiding any temptation to micromanage or dabble in programming.

The role requires strong interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence, business acumen and calm, sound judgement in decision making. Ideally, we are also seeking someone who has a knowledge of charity fundraising or an understanding of the importance of fundraising.

We ask that you organise and chair Board meetings (up to 10 per year) and support the work of the Board, so experience of organising and chairing meetings is essential, ideally at senior level. Experience as a Trustee, Executive or Non-Executive Director would be a distinct advantage.

The ideal candidate would live locally and bring all or most of the following skills and experience:

• Excellent people skills and emotional intelligence

• Strong communication and leadership skills

• A solid understanding of financial management

• Experience of chairing senior meetings

• An enthusiasm for the performing arts and the contribution they can make to enhancing people’s lives

• An understanding of the importance of fundraising or knowledge of charity fundraising

• Support our mission and be aligned to our values

• Be fully committed to Diversity and Inclusion and understand the value of engaging a wide range of voices in governance

• An understanding of the charitable and/or not-for-profit sectors

We are committed to ensuring our team is representative of the community we serve and that there is a diversity of perspectives on the Board. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, or other characteristic protected by law

What difference will you make?

If you have a passion for arts, cultural and creative industries and would like to make a positive contribution to the sector, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Before you apply

If you are interested in this opportunity, we encourage confidential conversations with our recruitment partner Anna Jay MD of Public Leaders Appointments or our current Chair, Paul Mullin, in advance of your application, which should consist of:

• A covering letter on one side of A4 outlining your motivations for applying and highlighting how your skills, knowledge and experience meet the requirements of our role.

• A comprehensive CV, LinkedIn profile or professional biography, including your recent achievements and the details of two referees

Applications should be submitted by midday on Monday, 28th November 2022, with reference “ACORN”.

Apply