Who we are Our trustees Our Trustees Victoria Heeley - Chair of Trustees Victoria was first elected as a Trustee in November 2017 and was then appointed as Secretary on the Board, at the AGM in 2019 the existing Chair retired from Office and Victoria was then appointed as Chair by the Board. Victoria brings a wealth of voluntary experience with her and has worked in the Charity Sector for over five years, having worked at a National UK Charity for several years and is currently a Senior Manager at another Dorset charity. Victoria is also a Qualified Counsellor and has been a placement volunteer at the charity for over three years, supporting clients with long-term trauma-informed counselling. Outside of work Victoria enjoys running and music. Alex Hancox - Vice Chair of Trustees After graduating from Bournemouth University in 2017, Alex was elected Vice President of the Students' Union. It was here that he first heard of STARS (Dorset Rape Crisis Support Centre as it was then known), and started volunteering at events across Dorset, including Bourne Free and Bestival, promoting the charity's Consent Tent. Alex then started volunteering as a support line listener too, and in 2019 was elected as a Trustee and appointed as the Vice Chair. Alex is currently a Civil Servant and brings recruitment experience and an interest in policy and good governance to the board. He lives in Bournemouth and in his spare time enjoys travelling and skiing. Jane Cordner Having spent over thirty years working in HR and training Jane currently works in a law firm delivering HR internally and providing consultancy services to external clients which include charities and churches. Prior to that she worked as Head of HR at Salisbury Cathedral and was responsible for safeguarding policy and training for both staff and volunteers. Most of Jane's HR work has been undertaken in growing and developing organisations and she really enjoys formulating strategy and plans for growth and seeing the results of their implementation. Jane is deeply committed to the value of education having worked as a lecturer in HR at two local universities for over 20 years and having enjoyed helping teach children at her local church. She hopes this interest and experience will enable her to understand and appreciate the challenges faced by STARS and that she can use this to support planned future growth. In her spare time Jane enjoys swimming, walking and spending time with her family. Professor Peter Hills Peter joined the Board of Trustees in 2021. He has been Head of Department of Psychology at Bournemouth University for 4 years and brings this leadership experience to the Board. As a professor of psychology, Peter leads an interdisciplinary team of researchers (including experimental cognitive and social psychologists, forensic investigators, journalists, lawyers, VR specialists, sexual trauma counsellors) at Bournemouth University exploring attitudes toward sexual violence and evaluating campaigns aimed at reducing sexual violence, in order to develop effective evidence-based campaigns or educational packages that would reduce sexual violence. In addition, he researches the impact of the criminal justice service’s procedures on the reporting, investigating, trying, and sentencing of sexual assault. Anna Mantzouratou Anna joined the Board of Trustees in 2021. She is a senior lecturer in Bournemouth University specialising in human reproductive genetics. She has started as a trainee Biomedical scientist in Great Ormond Street Hospital and continued her career in clinical diagnosis in the Institute for Women’s Health in University College London where she also completed her PhD. She is currently researching how unique we all are and is a volunteer on the charity's the support line. Tanya Evans Tanya is a qualified accountant and joined the Board as Treasurer in December 2020. Tanya has over 20 years of experience in finance and started her career working in accountancy practices in the Bournemouth area. She moved to the Charity sector in 2016 and now works as Head of Finance for a national UK charity. Tanya brings both financial skills and the experience being part of a charity Leadership Team for over 5 years to STARS. Trustee Vacancies About us: STARS Dorset is a growing and dynamic independent charity that has experienced exponential growth over the past 3 years. Whilst we have a strong and diverse board, we are seeking to further strengthen the board to ensure we continue with our ambitious strategy for the future with excellent governance and an inclusive culture, helping to sustain our future. If you have skills and experience in the fields of law, clinical governance, marketing, media/PR, commissioning or lived experience, we'd be really happy to hear from you! Being a trustee of STARS Dorset is an exciting and fulfilling role. The most effective boards are those with a rich and diverse range of backgrounds, experiences and skills. A trustee’s role is to ensure the charity fulfils its duty to its beneficiaries through its vision, mission, aims and values. There are five keys principals to Charity Governance expected from charity trustees: Support-encourage and enable Stretch-challenge and improve Scrutiny-examine, hold to account Stewardship-guard the assets Strategy-make big decisions What to expect from being a trustee: As a member of the Board of Trustees, you will be expected to attend monthly board meetings (hybrid), with some ad-hoc meetings, as well as a chance to attend away days with the team. The board is currently developing its sub-committees and this will involve regular meetings (currently monthly). STARS Dorset is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered with the Charities Commission. Trustees are accountable to the Charity Commission. As a trustee, your role is to ensure that STARS Dorset complies with charity law, develops and implements an appropriate and effective strategy, and sets and keeps to a suitable budget. With your fellow trustees, you are responsible for appointing the Chief Executive and monitoring their performance. And have the following qualities: commitment to STARS Dorset integrity, strategic vision and good/independent judgement a willingness to devote the necessary time and effort to their duties as a trustee ability to take part in collective decisions for the good of STARS Dorset good communication skills tact and diplomacy willingness to speak their mind and listen to the views of others an ability to work effectively as a member of a team understanding of the legal responsibilities of a trustee (training on this will be given as part of the induction process) If you are interested in the opportunity to join our board, please submit your Expression of Interest, via email, to the board’s secretary on [email protected].