Chair – Beat Eating Disorders

Welcome and thank you for your interest in becoming our Chair and helping to change the world for people with eating disorders.

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses that include anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder. More than 1.25 million people in the UK suffer from an eating disorder and, tragically, anorexia claims more lives than any other mental illness. It has been estimated that the financial cost of this to the NHS is more than £4bn each year; the emotional cost is far higher – to sufferers, their families and society as a whole; stealing childhoods, devastating relationships and pulling families apart. Beat, the UK’s leading eating disorder charity, has a mission to end the pain and suffering of eating disorders, and we are making a difference. We now need a new Chair to help us do even more.

We have grown rapidly since our set up in 1989: today we employ more than 80 staff who work with and have provided over 70,000 support sessions to sufferers and carers in the last year. Our range of services has also grown, and we are now commissioned by the NHS in many parts of the UK to provide guided self-help and carer coaching services. However, we also operate against a backdrop of austerity and funding cuts and we have not been immune to the challenging times in which we all live. Working closely with our Trustees and Executive Team, our new Chair will need to guide us through the development and implementation of a new strategy and drive fundraising, to enable the organisation to become fit for the future and deliver on our vision.

As you can see, this is not a “business as usual” role, so we are seeking someone who shares our passion and our determination to achieve meaningful and long-lasting change for people affected by eating disorders. The ideal candidate will need to bring leadership skills that are both strategic and visionary; they will need to have excellent influencing, communications and relationship management skills; and they should also bring a strong background in Non-Executive roles, ideally as a chair. Some understanding of the voluntary sector would be helpful as would exposure to/understanding of eating disorders. Above all, we need someone who can champion our cause and live our values. We know that we need a diverse, passionate workforce to deliver our mission so we are committed to retaining and promoting a diverse mix of individuals who are representative of the communities we serve.

If you are inspired by our vision and our potential, and if you know you can help us complete our transformation and take Beat to the next level, please contact Jenny Adrian on jadrian@hunter-healthcare.com or by phone on 07939 250362.

Candidate Information Pack

Longlisting: w/c 18th November

Shortlist Meeting: w/c 2nd December

Final panel interviews: w/c 9th December