The Ashley Family Foundation (AFF) is a registered charity founded by Sir Bernard and Laura Ashley following the success of the Laura Ashley fashion and interiors business. The Board of Trustees comprises a mix of Ashley family members and independent Trustees.

AFF was originally set up with a focus on supporting textiles and the arts, but more recently the strategy has evolved to also funding broader community and social welfare projects, maintaining broad aims and the flexibility to meet the needs of relevant sectors as and when they arise. Its current strategy focuses on grants to smaller organisations, regional arts educators, and environmental and social welfare causes benefitting rural communities and other hard to reach groups, particularly in Wales. To learn more about the projects it funds, please see here.

AFF seeks to appoint two Trustees with a strong alignment with its vision and mission who, in addition to formal Board and committee meetings, will be willing to undertake informal engagement with the charity and its work, including supporting, as appropriate, the activities of the organisation.

Responsibilities of the Trustee may include:

• Contributing to the Board’s collective role in setting the charity’s strategic direction and providing effective oversight of its operation and governance
• Ensuring that the charity uses its resources in line with its charitable objects
• Carrying out the core responsibilities of charity governance, as set out in Charity Commission Guidance
• Safeguarding the reputation and values of the charity and have an active concern for diversity and inclusion, and a commitment to increasing the impact of the charity
• Acting as an ambassador for the charity and using their networks to promote its work
• Have a commitment to integrity, honesty, accountability and openness
• Attending and engaging in training and events as required, for example, safeguarding

Trustees have joint responsibility for the financial running of the charity, the management of the AFF’s grants programmes and the delivery of its charitable objects. This covers a wide range of skills and experience, however AFF is particularly interested in recruiting candidates with one or more of the following skills/expertise:

• Finance: As a priority for this search, one of the applicants will bring strong financial experience in either a commercial or charity finance role, and will have the ability to advise and monitor the financial / accounting health of an organisation
• Arts education: a focus of AFF’s funding has always been the arts, textiles and arts education, therefore it is keen to hear from candidates with experience in these areas
• Social and community support: A large part of AFF’s social mission is to support deprived or geographically isolated communities with arts opportunities. This applicant will be able to advise the Board on how it can best support and identify such communities, having worked in an operational role in community support or service providing organisations

Applications are welcome from all sectors of the community, and from those seeking their first non-executive role. Due to a strong focus of its funding being the rural communities and organisations of Wales, AFF is keen to hear from candidates who not only have a connection to Wales but are Welsh speakers based in Wales.

Please click here to find out more about the Ashley Family Foundation's Board.

The Ashley Family Foundation is committed to encouraging equality, diversity and inclusion and eliminating unlawful discrimination among our associates, beneficiaries and our Board of Trustees.

There are three Board meetings every year (Spring, Summer and Autumn). These are held in person whenever possible from 11am until 1pm either in a central London location or at a beneficiary organisation in Wales. Reasonable travel expenses can be reimbursed. Should pandemic conditions require, meetings can be held online. For the Trustee with finance experience, there are up to three additional Finance Committee meetings. The Trustee role will last for a three-year term and can be re-elected twice at the discretion of the Board.