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Chair/Co-Chair

Charity: Rochdale and District Mind

Location: Rochdale, Manchester

Role Type: Board

Work Type: Hybrid

Salary: Voluntary unpaid role with expenses paid

Closing Date: 28 July 2025

Location and time commitment: 6 full Board meetings, quarterly Committee meetings, and regular meetings with the CEO. The overall time commitment is approx. 2-3 days per month. Meetings are held on a hybrid basis.

Do you feel excited by the idea of guiding the future of a local mental health charity?

Rochdale and District Mind is a mental health charity that supports people in the community who are facing mental health challenges. Our area of operation is Heywood, Middleton, Rochdale, Bury and N.E. Lancashire. As part of the Mind Federation and the Mind in Greater Manchester partnership, our goal is to ensure that individuals do not face mental health issues alone and can live free from stigma and discrimination.

Our team consists of over 70 dedicated staff members and volunteers who provide a wide variety of services and activities, including counselling, therapeutic group workshops, advocacy, crisis support, dementia support, two wellbeing cafés, as well as other wellbeing activities such as sports sessions. To ensure our services are effective and rooted in the needs of the community, we involve people who use our services in shaping our offer. We are also pleased to be recognised for our work with our Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic communities in Rochdale. We work proactively both with our service users and with other key stakeholder organisations to tackle health inequalities.

Chair opportunity

We are flexible in our approach and are open to a single Chair or Co-Chair arrangement. We are looking for people with governance experience, the ability to lead and alignment with our values. Our new Chair or Co-Chairs will have energy and drive, a genuine passion for mental health support and be able to bring both knowledge and connections to the organisation.

This is an exciting moment to join us. Rochdale and District Mind has undergone a period of significant growth in recent years, with both our annual turnover and staff numbers doubling. We’ve successfully embedded our services within the strategic priorities of the local Integrated Care Board, adapting what we offer to meet the changing mental health needs of our community. Now, with our CEO Philip Bramson at the helm, we’re entering a period of reflection and consolidation, ready to build on our strong foundation as we shape the next chapter of our journey.

If you would like a call to discuss the role in more detail, please email Bernice Rook at our recruitment partners Eastside People to arrange a convenient time, [email protected]. Having a call of this kind will not influence the success or otherwise of your application.

We want you to have every opportunity to demonstrate your skills, ability, and potential. Please contact us if you require any assistance or adjustments so that we can help with making the application process work for you.

Eastside People is fully committed to equality of opportunity and diversity and works with our clients to ensure that we recruit inclusively, seeking to address the underrepresentation of some groups of people in leadership teams. We warmly welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates.

Download Candidate Pack

How to apply

Eastside People is supporting Rochdale and District Mind in the recruitment for this role. Please apply by submitting your CV and a cover letter in Word doc. format via Hireful using the button below.

Please use the cover letter (max 2 pages) as an opportunity to add to the information you have shared in your CV and ensure that you cover the following:

○ Why are you interested in a Chair or Co-Chair role with Rochdale and District Mind?
○ How can you contribute to Rochdale and District Mind as our Chair or Co-Chair?
○ Please highlight relevant experience and demonstrate how your skills match the specific requirements of the role as set out in the role description.

The closing date for applications is Monday 28th July, and our candidate assessment schedule is as follows:

○ EP interviews and informal conversations carried out through the recruitment process with final interviews taking place by Thu 31 July.
○ Formal interviews with Rochdale and District Mind Board, in the week commencing 4th August.
○ The successful candidate or candidates will be asked to attend two Board meetings as an observer (the first one of which is on 13 Aug), after which the appointment will be confirmed via a trustee vote.

Apply Here