{"id":37,"date":"2026-04-02T11:31:47","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T10:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/micro.green-park.co.uk\/cats-board\/?page_id=37"},"modified":"2026-04-16T17:07:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T16:07:20","slug":"role-description-chair","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/micro.green-park.co.uk\/cats-board\/role-description-chair\/","title":{"rendered":"Role Description – Chair"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\t\t Role Description – Chair\t <\/h1>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n
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Role context<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Cats Protection is the UK\u2019s leading cat welfare charity in the UK celebrating 100 years in 2027. Working through a uniquely powerful combination of professional expertise and volunteer commitment to create a society where every cat can live a healthy, happy life, the charity helps around 130,000 cats each year through its network of branches, centres, shops, advocacy work, and national services, supported by thousands of volunteers across the UK.<\/p>\n

We are mid-way through our 10-year strategy, having built a strong foundation, delivered on a new brand and grown income. The Board is functioning well having made significant progress strengthening governance, committee structures, and strategic focus. Relationships with the executive team are collegiate and constructive. We are more financially resilient than ever.<\/p>\n

Like all organisations continuous improvement means there remains much work to be done as Cats Protection evolves and adapts with our changing world ensuring our charity is fit for purpose today and into the future.<\/p>\n

Like many large UK charities, we are responding to a challenging fundraising environment, modernising systems, and infrastructure, strengthening customer insight, and continuing to strengthen our volunteer-led branch network into a more cohesive national organisation. A major CRM transformation programme is underway, and we are actively evolving our operating model as we shift some of our activity further upstream towards prevention, education, and influencing, while maintaining high standards of direct welfare delivery.<\/p>\n

In short, we are working to position ourselves not only as a trusted animal welfare provider but also as one of the most effective and forward-looking charities in the UK voluntary sector.<\/p>\n

Our next Chair will succeed Kit Sturgess who will\u00a0come to the end of his term of office in mid 2027, our centenary year. Kit has been instrumental in our successes and will support the new Chair through their first few months. The new Chair will inherit a Board that is engaged, proactive, values-led, and increasingly strategic in outlook, and a mission that is clearer than ever.<\/p>\n

The opportunity now is to build on so much progress to date: strengthening the dynamic partnership between the Board and the Executive, ensuring the organisation continues to mature as a unified national charity, helping shape its impact for the next decade and beyond.<\/p>\n

The total expected time commitment is approximately 50 days per year but is not a consistent day per week. The chair is supported by two deputy chairs with well-defined responsibilities. The role is voluntary and unpaid; all expenses incurred as Chair will be met.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Role description<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This is a significant governance leadership role at a pivotal moment in the evolution of Cats Protection.<\/p>\n

The Chair provides leadership to the Board of Trustees, ensuring the charity remains well-governed, strategically focused, and positioned to deliver long-term impact for cats and the people who care for them.<\/p>\n

Working closely with the Chief Executive and Senior Leadership Team, the Chair will help create the conditions for strong decision-making, shared accountability, and constructive challenge across the organisation. They will act as steward of the charity\u2019s mission, vision\u00a0and values, while supporting the Board to operate as a cohesive, proactive, confident and outward-facing governance body.<\/p>\n

Key priorities include:<\/p>\n

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  • Supporting the charity through transformation and growth<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Helping the Board and executive leadership navigate significant organisational change, including strategic repositioning, system modernisation, and evolving service delivery models across a complex volunteer-powered structure<\/p>\n

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    • Strengthening unity across a dispersed organisation<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Continuing progress towards a culture in which employees, volunteers, centres, and branches operate as one organisation with shared purpose and clarity of direction<\/p>\n

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      • Maintaining high standards of governance and accountability<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Ensuring that the Board remains disciplined, strategic and forward-looking, engaging early with emerging issues and supporting high-quality debate and decision-making<\/p>\n

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        • Building an effective partnership with the Chief Executive<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Providing support and challenge in equal measure, enabling ambitious thinking while maintaining clarity of roles across the governance line<\/p>\n

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          • Championing visibility and engagement<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            Acting as an ambassador for the charity internally and externally, supporting trustees to remain connected to the wider organisation and ensuring the Board maintains a strong presence across the volunteer network and stakeholder community<\/p>\n

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            • Supporting a culture of inclusive and confident governance<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

              Encouraging open discussion, drawing out diverse perspectives and ensuring trustees contribute fully to collective decision-making<\/p>\n

              This is a role for someone who understands that effective governance extends well beyond chairing meetings: it includes building trust, enabling collaboration, and sustaining organisational confidence through change.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-37","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/micro.green-park.co.uk\/cats-board\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/micro.green-park.co.uk\/cats-board\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/micro.green-park.co.uk\/cats-board\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/micro.green-park.co.uk\/cats-board\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/micro.green-park.co.uk\/cats-board\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/micro.green-park.co.uk\/cats-board\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65,"href":"https:\/\/micro.green-park.co.uk\/cats-board\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/37\/revisions\/65"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/micro.green-park.co.uk\/cats-board\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}