We are looking for new trustees who are senior professionals in finance, project management, sports coaching, public health programmes, monitoring & evaluation or fundraising who are interested in giving something back.

New Trustees to join the Executive Committee

Background:

TackleAfrica is looking for new trustees to join its Executive Committee to provide professional expertise and advice on, helping us to ensure that our projects and wider work is as effective as possible.

TackleAfrica is a small UK charity that uses football as a platform to raise HIV awareness in local communities in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Tanzania and South Africa. Our aim is to give young people in the community information so that they can better protect themselves and others against the disease. All our projects are all implemented in partnership with local NGOs. Volunteer football coaches from the UK play a vital role in training local staff, coaches and players to act as key HIV awareness advocates using our HIV awareness football coaching manual.

As part of a 9 person executive committee, all new trustees will be closely involved in all the charity’s major decision-making and strategic development, and responsible for the organisation’s proper governance and management.

About the Charity:

TackleAfrica was founded in May 2002 by a group of young people from the UK who had all lived or worked in Africa at some point in their lives. The organisation was awarded charitable status in October 2002 and is UK registered charity no. 1094439.

From their own experiences playing matches against local teams in Africa, TackleAfrica’s founders recognised the potential of football as a means of bringing people together, and providing a platform from which to convey hugely important messages about HIV and AIDS.

From these origins, the charity has grown and has built good working relationships with local partner organisations across the continent carrying out a number of successful sports-based HIV awareness initiatives and providing funding for our partners to implement their own sports orientated HIV programmes. For the past two years, the charity has focused on football and HIV awareness coaching – sending volunteer coaches to African communities, working with players and showing local football coaches how football training sessions can also be used as invaluable HIV education sessions.

In January 2008, TackleAfrica launched its first ever HIV awareness through football coaching manual – a ground breaking publication that contains a number of drills developed by TackleAfrica coaches that are designed to increase players’ understanding of the virus as well as improve their footballing skills. The charity plans to disseminate the manual as widely as possible – training local coaches how to use it and become key advocates in the fight against HIV in local communities across Africa.

TackleAfrica is governed by an executive committee – currently made up of 8 trustees – each with expertise in relevant areas including international development, fundraising, football, media relations, and working in Africa. TackleAfrica have only one part time paid staff member, so Trustees and volunteers take on a large amount of the organisational workload.

Nature of Position:

This is an unpaid voluntary role.

The successful candidate should be willing to invest a minimum of 10 hours (on average) each month towards the charity, including a monthly 2-hour trustee meeting held in central London out of working hours.

The ideal candidate will have proven experience, and be fully up to speed with the latest developments in their area of expertise. We also looking for people with the creativity, energy and determination to help the charity to continue to grow and reach its full potential.

The Trustee board have the privilege of helping to shape the future of a small burgeoning organisation that has expanded rapidly in the last three years. Our reputation is growing both in Africa and within the sports for development sector in the UK. A fantastic personal development opportunity, the candidate would be immersed in all aspects of governing and developing a small charity, and may have the opportunity to visit TackleAfrica projects.