Join our committed Trustee team
Use your financial and budgeting skills to support The Othona Community as we seek to care for the earth and one another.
We aspire to live simply, ethically and sustainably. Help us to manage our investments, prioritise spending and set budgets for our two retreat centres.
About The Othona Community
At our two centres on the quiet coasts of Dorset and Essex we make space for people to share simple times together, round the meal table, on the beach, in nature and in chapel. Enjoying and celebrating, talking and learning.
A Christian Community founded 75 years ago, we own and run two centres on the coasts of Dorset and Essex. The centres provide holidays and retreats for families, individuals and groups. The Essex centre is off grid. We have made significant capital investment in the past year in renewable energy generation and sustainable building. Our land is registered for scientific interest and managed to support diversity.
Our annual turnover of £300K, we have invested assets of £600K, our buildings and land are valued at approximately £3M. We have 3-4 full time paid staff at each centre and a large pool of volunteers and supporters.
Trustees meet monthly by Zoom and in person 4 times a year, this includes 2 residential weekends, one at each of our centres. The other two daytime meetings are in London.
Our strategic focus is enabling faith-based celebration, making real progress to being carbon neutral and handing forward to the next generation. We are poised for a strong recovery once Covid restrictions allow.
Charity Structure
The Othona Community consists of 2 legal entities, both charities; The Othona Community Trust Charity Number 277843 and The Othona Community Company, a company limited by guarantee Charity Number 1154204
The Trust owns the Community assets comprising; the Investment portfolio, the land and buildings in which the two Centres Othona Essex and Othona West Dorset operate their programmes. The Trustees are responsible for the finance and governance of the Trust.
The Company comprising Othona Essex and Othona West Dorset is the operating arm of The Community and is responsible for its management and operation. The Company Directors, most of whom are also trustees, are responsible for the governance and finance of the Company. Each centre has its own Management Committee which consists of the centre manager, up to 4 Trustees, and other volunteers. They are responsible for the strategic planning and operational running of the centres. Each centre is autonomous, within the framework of governance provided by the Trustees/Directors.
Othona is self-funding. The main source of income derives from visitors attending our events. We aim to make sufficient to enable us to cover our running costs plus a small surplus for longer term maintenance. Our visitors are also very supportive of Othona and over 6% of our operating income comes from individual donations. We have a membership scheme whereby people who wish to support Othona financially give a small annual subscription, which helps to pay for communication expenditure e.g the website.
Appointment Process
We will appoint following an interview in time for you to be part of the budget sign off for FY 21/22 and to take on the role from 1st April. Our current treasurer will actively handover the accounts and be available for advice and support until our AGM September 2021. The treasurer will take responsibility for the audit and submission of the accounts FY 20/21.
The deadline for application is 28 February 2021, interviews will be held in the first 2 weeks of March for appointment by the end of March.