Voluntary Chair, South West Advisory Committee BBC Children in Need

Overview
National and Regional Advisory Committees make recommendations to the Trustees of BBC Children in Need on grant awards in Scotland Wales Northern Ireland and five regions in England. The Committees consist of a Chair and up to 12 Committee Members.
This recruitment is for a Chair who is required to have knowledge of and be based in the South West Region.

About BBC Children in Need
BBC Children in Need believe every child and young person deserves the opportunity to thrive and be the best they can be. We are local to people in all corners of the UK supporting small and medium organisations. Thanks to the support of the public we currently fund around 1500 local charities and projects across the UK working with children and young people facing disadvantage.
The BBC Children in Need Appeal started in 1927 on BBC radio when it raised 1143. Since 1980 it has been an annual live television and radio the 1980s the charity was established as a grant-making trust to distribute funds raised by the annual appeal throughout the UK.

Since then BBC Children in Need working in partnership with the BBC has raised and distributed over 800 million to projects working with disadvantaged children and young people across the UK.
BBC Children in Need has a team of around 150 staff approximately half of whom are based from the Central Office in Salford. Other staff teams are based within the BBC Nations (Wales Scotland Northern Ireland) and across five regions in England (North; Central; South West; London and South East).

The Role of the Advisory Committee Chair
The Chair is a member of the Advisory Committee and is responsible for leading the Grant Allocation meetings and the Planning and Portfolio meetings. The Chair will be expected to demonstrate unbiased clear and supportive leadership; an ability to manage a diverse range of personalities and experiences and lead the Committee through difficult decision-making by placing the balance of emphasis on information and objectivity.

The Chair will share responsibility for chairing the Grant Allocation meetings throughout the year. Their role in this part of the process is to maintain an overview of the applications and grant portfolio and ensure a robust and positive decision-making process. The Chair will also help plan and deliver our Planning and Portfolio days which focuses on team building discussing the portfolio themes and deciding local funding priorities for the next 12 months.

Time Commitment
At present the Chair will be expected to attend four Grant Allocation meetings across the year and two Planning and Portfolio meetings each year. The total time commitment for this will be around 4-5 days per year. This includes time spent reading and absorbing the overview summary of all applications in readiness for participating in the discussion and decision-making process as part of the Grant Allocation meeting and the Planning and Portfolio meetings.
It is expected that the Grant Allocation meetings will be a mix of virtual (via Microsoft Teams) or face-to-face and take around 2.5 - 3 hours. Where held face to face this will usually be at a BBC location (Plymouth or Bristol) and travel and other related expenses will be recompensed.

Planning and Portfolio meetings will be held face-to-face usually at a BBC location (usually BBC Plymouth or BBC Bristol) and travel overnight and any other related expenses will be covered. Provision for the meeting to be held over Teams will be made if required.
The Chair is also expected to take part in a minimum of one additional meeting during the year to undertake relevant training and development activities such as safeguarding and risk training. Chairs are also expected to attend an annual face to face day with other Chairs from across the UK which is held in either Salford or London. Appointments are of a voluntary nature and would be for an initial 3-year term starting in January 2026. Full induction training will be provided.

South West Region
The South West region comprises of Bristol Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly Channel Islands Devon Dorset Gloucestershire Oxfordshire Somerset and Wiltshire.
We hope to appoint a new Chair and are particularly keen to hear from applications from people with knowledge of:

• Mental health challenges for children and young people
• The impact of poverty and deprivation on children and young people
• Addressing social inequity particularly for Black Asian and ethnic minority disabled and LGBTQ children and young people
• Family support for children in their early years
• Youth work offers in local communities

For this role we are particularly encouraging applications from those from the Black Asian or other minority ethnic communities and / or LGBTQ community and / or Disabled people or who identify as neurodivergent as these groups are underrepresented within our Committee.

Our commitment to Diversity Equity and Inclusion
We welcome applications from anyone regardless of their age disability ethnicity heritage sexuality gender and socio-economic background.
Appointments are subject to satisfactory references and an ID addition to this Committee members are required to sign up to Terms of Reference and a Code of Conduct BBC Children in Need Personal Disclosure Form a Fit and Proper Persons Declaration and an annual Declaration of Interest.
Committee members are expected to strictly observe confidentiality on matters relating to grant applications.

How to apply
Please provide an up-to-date CV and a covering statement (no more than 2 pages A4) explaining why this role is of interest and the knowledge expertise insight and experience you will bring to the role.
Please submit this by email to: with the subject line of South West Chair - Committee Application (SW)

• Salary: Voluntary
• Commitment: 4 - 5 days per year
• Deadline: 23:59 19 October 2025
• Provisional date for interviews: w/c 3rd November 2025
• Successful candidates will be invited to observe the next Advisory Committee Meeting Date TBC