Meet the Trustees
Join the Board of Trustees
BHCA is a highly organised, lean and efficiently run charity with a friendly and person-centred approach. Please also see our Access Statement. Here
BHCA's Annual Reviews provide a good snapshot of the organisation (Here). Annual Reviews are published every spring close to the time when the Audited Accounts are filed with the Charity Commission. BHCA's audited accounts are filed with the Charity Commission every year prior to June for the period ending 31 August the previous year. Charity Commission information BEDFORD HOUSE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION - 1178692 .
The CEO reports to the Chair of the Board and works closely with the Chair, Vice-Chair and Board committees.
The Board consists of 9 trustees currently, with 2 retiring in April 2026 after more than 10 years as trustees. We are therefore currently recruiting new trustees. BHCA has existed for 79 years and is still going strong. In 2018 BHCA changed legal entity to a CIO but otherwise continued to operate in the same building and with the same staff and values as previously. Meet the trustees here https://www.bedfordhouse.org.uk/trustees .
The board meets 4 times per year for approximately 2 hours which takes place on relevant Tuesdays 6.30 - 8.30pm
Sub-committees of the board meet for 1.5 hours 2-4 times per year, depending on the committee. Meeting times for sub-committees are agreed by the members of each sub-committee.
Committee meetings are scheduled in the autumn for the following year.
Meet some of our staff and stakeholders https://www.bedfordhouse.org.uk/case-stories . This is a new webpage under development and more stories are being added every week.
Overview of meeting dates 2026
Board of Trustees: 3 Feb, 28 April, 4 Aug, 03 Nov at 6:30pm
Finance & General Purposes: 15 Jan, 9 April, 9 July, 8 Oct
H&S: 7 May, 5 Nov
Safeguarding: 2 Feb, 7 Sept
Fundraising: 2 Feb, 1 June, 7 Sept
Garden Working Group: 5 March, 4 June, 3 Sept, 3 Dec
Other 'Dates for your diary 2026'
Saturday 5 September 2026 – Board Away Day
Sunday 5 July 2026 – Summer Show 2026
Sunday 15 November 2026 – BHCA Winter Craft Fair 2026
Tuesday 1 December 2026 - Christmas Social
Meetings are held in person though it may be possible to attend online occasionally.
Sub-committees make recommendations to the Board (vs making decisions). There are 4 Sub-Committees.
Finance and General Purposes
Safeguarding
Fundraising
Health and Safety
Other
Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity work is led by a designated trustee and is carried out by the Board and the Health and Safety Sub-committee in collaboration with the CEO. Matters may also be brought to other meetings as relevant.
The Garden Working Group is led by a designated trustee who reports to the board.
The flow of information during the application process to become a trustee is as follows
Informal discussions take place.
The CEO provides potential applicants with information.
The Applicant considers the information.
If the Applicant decides to apply please send an expression of interest cover email to the CEO, explaining the skills and expertise they can bring to the board. This can be in the format of a CV or similar document or in text paragraphs.
The CEO forwards the expression of interest to the Chair of Trustees.
A meeting will be set up with the Applicant, the Chair and Vice-Chair.
The Chair and Vice-Chair bring the application to the next board meeting where it is discussed.
The applicant is informed of the outcome of their application shortly after the board meeting.
Assuming the outcome is positive the Applicant will meet with the CEO as part of the Induction process and can then attend the next Board Meeting.
Please find links to more information about the role.
If you have any questions please contact the CEO on Office@bedfordhouse.org.uk