Dear Applicant,
As you will know, Comic Relief is an iconic global charity with British origins and its future is as bright as it has ever been. Comic Relief was built on the foundations of having impact and changing lives, and having fun while doing it — and nothing has changed, nearly 40 years later.
While that has not changed, so much has and our role and the opportunity we have in front of us is truly exciting and will be transformational. Over the last 40 years, the need has not lessened, but we face a different charity landscape — from the perspective of those we are working with to create impact, from the perspective of the magnificent partners and people that give to us and from the perspective of the societies and communities in which we operate.
Comic Relief has been in the process of evolving itself for the last 5-7 years, responding to all of those factors, and is at a unique juncture in its history. We have done a lot of work over the last year to get very clear on how we will transform the charity for the next 5-10 years. At the heart of it, the “what” remains the same — delivering a just world, free from poverty — but the “how” is changing in order to respond to changing fundraising dynamics (i.e., across more platforms, in addition to our One Night of TV on the BBC), grant-making dynamics (i.e., more local empowerment and shifting traditional power dynamics) and story-telling opportunities that are generated by the people we seek to support an impact.
All of this change requires clarity, commitment, resilience and the ability to engage with and excite all our stakeholders. We have a wonderful and diverse set of partners, and together we can create amazing opportunities. Our Board of Trustees needs to be comprised of and led by a range of people with the diverse skills, experience and expertise who can turn those opportunities into reality and ensure that Comic Relief keeps its place as a leading, iconic, global charity that has a special place in the hearts and laughs of the great British people — and most importantly, changes lives for the better as a result.
My time as Interim Chair of the Board has been one of the most enjoyable periods I have had at Comic Relief, one where I have had the ability to work closely with the Board and the Senior Leadership Team to deliver a brilliant Red Nose Day in 2024 and focus on the future direction and strategy of the charity.
As a Trustee and a Chair, I have always felt that my professional career has been focused on the cross-section between commerce, community and capacity building, and Comic Relief has helped me continue to develop and deploy my skills in a completely different, and truly enjoyable context. There is no question that I have been positively impacted and learned immensely from my time at Comic Relief, and my role as Interim Chair and those experiences undoubtedly made me a better executive and non-executive director in my other roles.
Most importantly, as a Trustee and Chair, I have relished the opportunity to be an organisational leader and to inspire others to achieve their potential and goals — all in the context of delivering Comic Relief’s ambition.
While I have enjoyed the role as Interim Chair immensely and am truly excited about the future of Comic Relief, I am at a stage of my professional career where my other commitments prevent me from giving Comic Relief all the time and attention that it and its stakeholders deserve. I have had the honour of serving on the Board of Trustees since 2018 and had intended on stepping down at an earlier stage, but agreed to act as Interim Chair until a permanent Chair could be appointed. While I believe that experience with Comic Relief has served me well, I feel strongly that the new Chair should be in place now so that they can have their full term to transition the Board, work with it and also the Senior Leadership Team to finalise and deliver on the strategy to take Comic Relief to its brilliant next phase.
I feel strongly that I want to leave Comic Relief in the hands of a brilliant new Chair and a fantastic Board capable of helping the Senior Leadership Team to drive Comic Relief’s strategy and deliver its ambition… and then some!
My ambition for the Board is simple… Bring your “A” game, work to together to bring the best out of one another, support and guide the Senior Leadership team and please, please, please — Have fun doing so! Don’t forget, WE ARE COMIC RELIEF!
Best wishes, Tom Shropshire
Interim Chair and Trustee