CAN Mezzanine,
49-51 East Road,
London N1 6AH
LAHF Board recruitment 2014-15
London Arts in Health Forum (LAHF) is a small, well established charity with a firm belief that creativity actively contributes to the health and wellbeing of individuals and society. We work to create opportunities for more people to engage with the best possible arts experiences across London and more widely.
LAHF is run by a small core staff and its strategic direction is shaped by a board of volunteer trustees. The organisation has a turnover of about £100,000 a year. It is a member of Arts
Council England’s National Portfolio of organisations with funding guaranteed until 2018. It is also supported by a range of trusts and foundations and generates a range of activity including delivering the annual Creativity and Wellbeing Week, supporting the National
Alliance for Arts, Health and Wellbeing, advocacy on behalf of the field of arts in health
(including supporting the newly formed All Party Parliamentary Group for Arts, Health and
Wellbeing), advice and support for artists and producing a fortnightly newsletter.
This pack has been put together for those interested in the work of London Arts in Health
Forum, with a view to becoming a trustee of the organisation.
It includes;
LAHF Mission
Our current structure
About Arts and Health
What is a Trustee
Person Specification for New Trustees
Expression of interest
We are seeking to strengthen our Board with additional trustees, who will have a real opportunity to support the growth of this highly regarded arts charity.

We are currently seeking creative practitioners and academics with a keen interest in the role the arts can play in health and wellbeing. While they do not need direct experience of being on a board, they need to be able to commit to the duties and responsibilities of being on a board and to share LAHF ’s vision of bringing together arts and health, creativity and wellbeing. Further to this, prospective board members need to demonstrate a clear commitment to group working and a constructive approach to being part of a team.
If you would like to register your interest in becoming a Trustee a form is attached at the end of this document which should be completed and returned to; damian@lahf.org.uk
Or for an informal conversation about the role, please contact Damian at the same email address.
We will then arrange for an informal meeting with a small group of existing board members.
We are trying to build a robust board reflective of a wide range of experiences and personalities so trying to work out the best possible range of people to support the organisation.
Person Specification for Board members

Expertise in one or more of the following: the arts, clinical care, fundraising, health management, academia, events management, human resources, marketing, finance.

An interest and belief in the beneficial impact of the arts on wellbeing

A creative and enterprising approach to problem-solving

*Commitment to [and experience of] equal opportunities policy development and implementation

*Understanding of the issues of governance and fundraising

Commitment to and experience of group working
*Training can be offered in these areas
Mission
London Arts in Health Forum (LAHF) is a charity which aims to develop the role of culture in wellbeing and to promote and support arts in health activity across London and nationally.
The organisation is free to join and offers events, a regular newsletter, training sessions, advice and support for artists, architects, clinical staff and service users - basically anyone with an interest in arts in health. LAHF currently has a network of over 5,000 from London and further afield. For ten years much of LAHF’s work has been supported by Arts Council

England. Until 2018 we will be funded as one of ACE’s National Portfolio Organisations; we are actively seeking new sources of funding to broaden our activities and sustain the organisation beyond 2015.
LAHF believes that the arts, culture and creativity have a key part to play in wellbeing and a pivotal role in overcoming health inequalities. LAHF supports artists and health professionals across the whole of London and beyond, promoting excellence and engagement in the field of arts and wellbeing, extending the reach of the arts to communities and individuals who would otherwise be excluded.
Through its activities, LAHF works to promote, develop and support the understanding of what the arts can do to contribute to a healthy society, in London and nationally, and by so doing to encourage the use of the arts in settings beyond its conventional contexts.
London Creativity & Wellbeing Week now forms a central part of LAHF’s activities, alongside one other major public event every year.
LAHF works to establish the arts in a more central position in the nation’s sense of wellbeing.
For the last four years we have worked with partners across the country to develop a new
National Alliance for Arts, Health & Wellbeing , and continue to act as its secretariat.
Management
LAHF is managed by a team of part-time freelancers, including its Director Damian Hebron, who has worked with LAHF since 2003. In addition to his role with LAHF, he runs the arts programme at Cambridge University Hospitals. He has nearly twenty years of experience in arts administration, programming and management. Damian is supported by an administrator
(Neil Parker), and a range of additional freelance professionals who deliver different aspects of L AHF’s programme of activity.
The organisation is steered by a Board of professionals working across the arts and health sectors.
About Arts and Health
In recent years, a growing body of evidence has begun to explore the potential the arts’ impact on health and wellbeing in a variety of social contexts, to counter inequalities and increase engagement.

Participation in the arts and access to a range of arts opportunities can dramatically improve health outcomes and increase wellbeing. By supplementing medicine and care, the arts can improve the health of people who experience mental or physical health problems. Engaging in the arts can promote prevention of disease and build wellbeing. Increasingly, this notion has gathered traction among policy makers and the medical establishment, as well as among patients, artists and the wider community. The benefits which can be derived from participation and engagement with artistic activities are increasingly being seen beyond traditional settings, and their role in supporting communities and individuals who would otherwise be excluded recognised.
Participatory arts and crafts activities in community and healthcare settings provide opportunities for people to engage with each other and their own creativity directly improving their sense of wellbeing. The arts can reduce stress and increase social engagement as well as provide opportunities for self-expression.
What is a Trustee?
The Charity Commission offers the following guidance about Trustees responsibilities:
Charity trustees are the people who serve on the governing body of a charity. They may be known as trustees, directors, board members, governors or committee members. The principles and main duties are the same in all cases.
(1) Trustees have and must accept ultimate responsibility for directing the affairs of a charity, and ensuring that it is solvent, well-run, and delivering the charitable outcomes for the benefit of the public for which it has been set up.
Compliance - Trustees must:
(2) Ensure that the charity complies with charity law, and with the requirements of the Charity
Commission as regulator; in particular ensure that the charity prepares reports on what it has achieved and Annual Returns and accounts as required by law.
(3) Ensure that the charity does not breach any of the requirements or rules set out in its governing document and that it remains true to the charitable purpose and objects set out there.
(4) Comply with the requirements of other legislation and other regulators (if any) which govern the activities of the charity.

(5) Act with integrity, and avoid any personal conflicts of interest or misuse of charity funds or assets.
Duty of prudence - Trustees must:
(6) Ensure that the charity is and will remain solvent.
(7) Use charitable funds and assets reasonably, and only in furtherance of the charity's objects.
(8) Avoid undertaking activities that might place the charity's endowment, funds, assets or reputation at undue risk.
(9) Take special care when investing the funds of the charity, or borrowing funds for the charity to use.
Duty of care - Trustees must:
(10) Use reasonable care and skill in their work as trustees, using their personal skills and experience as needed to ensure that the charity is well-run and efficient.
(11) Consider getting external professional advice on all matters where there may be material risk to the charity, or where the trustees may be in breach of their duties.
If things go wrong - The Charity Commission offers guidance to charities on both legal requirements and best practice to help them operate as effectively as possible and to prevent problems arising. In the few cases where serious problems have occurred we have wide powers to look into them and put things right. Trustees may also be personally liable for any debts or losses that the charity faces as a result. This will depend on the circumstances and the type of governing document for the charity. However, personal liability of this kind is rare, and trustees who have followed the requirements on this page will generally be protected.
More information can be found at: http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/publications/cc3.aspx

Person Specification for Board members

Expertise in one or more of the following: the arts, clinical care, fundraising, health management, academia, events management, human resources, marketing, finance.

An interest and belief in the beneficial impact of the arts on wellbeing

A creative and enterprising approach to problem-solving

Commitment to and experience of equal opportunities policy development and implementation

Understanding of the issues of governance and fundraising

Commitment to and experience of group working
Job Description
LAHF is a small organisation with huge ambitions and a wide geographical reach. We rely heavily on board members to steer the organisa tion’s efficient working practice and assess its priorities, and to represent the organisation at public events.
Although LAHF is well-established and respected within the field, the next few years will bring significant challenges to funding
– while we will need to work hard to respond to the changing face of healthcare and provide appropriate support and guidance for our stakeholders.

Regular attendance at board meetings (usually 4 a year) and LAHF events and activity
(particularly London Creativity & Wellbeing Week)

Participation in annual away-day to develop business planning

Reading and commenting on LAHF documents between meetings

Advocacy function for the arts and health sector generally and LAHF in particular – this may include speaking at public events on LAHF’s behalf.

Working with the board and Director to formulate organisational and strategic development

Attending and representing LAHF at ad-hoc meetings with funders and other partners as required
At all times, Trustees will be expected to behave in accordance with London Arts in Health
Forum’s code of conduct. This is underpinned by three main principles which will guide the
Trustee’s approach to the tasks listed above:


To ensure that the organisation models good practice in its dealings with members, employees and partners

To ensure that the organisation works in an inclusive manner, enabling access, equality of opportunity and encouraging environmental responsibility

To ensure that the organisation at all times fulfils its written and unwritten responsibilities as a publicly funded body.
Please note that these are voluntary positions and, as such, attract no payment. LAHF is able to assist with travel costs and expenses incurred in undertaking LAHF business.

Expression of interest to join LAHF’s Board of Trustees
Please expand boxes as your answers require. Return by email to damian@lahf.org.uk
Title:
Full Name:
Address:
Phone: (Home) (Work)
Email:
(Mobile)
Gender: Male Female
Why do you want to join LAHF?
What experience and expertise would you bring to the Board of Trustees?
Which area of our work particularly interests you?
Do you know of any reason which would prevent you from becoming a company director or a charity trustee, e.g. undischarged bankruptcy, unspent conviction for deception or dishonesty or previous removal as a charity trustee on these grounds?
I declare this information to be true.
Signed: Date:
Please return this form by email together with a copy of your CV to damian@lahf.org.uk