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TRUSTEE RECRUITMENT 

HULL  / ONLINE NATIONAL

 

We are looking for people with expertise in finance and senior arts leadership to join our board. 

 

About The Herd

Led by founders and artists Ruby Thompson and Sam Caseley, The Herd is an award-winning early years theatre and play organisation.  As we celebrate our ten-year anniversary, we are looking for people to join us on our journey to bring the transformational power of art, play and connection to children.

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Rooted in Hull, and acclaimed nationally, we create shows, installations and programmes of play that ignite joy, celebrate child creativity and nurture family connection.  Because we believe that children deserve exceptional, nurturing experiences regardless of their circumstances, we actively remove barriers to accessing our work. You can find us everywhere from world famous arts venues and leading theatres to disused shops, family hubs, community centres and schools. 

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Our work has play at its heart because we know from child psychologists, practitioners, educators and parents, that creative play is the way that children develop their brains, bodies and social skills. 

 

Who we’re looking for

We are a well-run organisation with income growing annually and the expectation that 2027 will be busier than ever. Our board meetings take place online, and our work takes place all around the UK so you don’t have to be in Hull to be a board member. Our existing trustees are engaged and diverse, with a range of skills including theatre, fundraising, education and charity governance.  We particularly want to add people with skills that can help us develop, such as business leaders, finance specialists and senior arts managers.

 

The Herd at a glance

• Founded in Hull in 2017, became a charity in 2023

• Circa £350,000 turnover in 2025/26

• Between 2023 and 2026, more than 40,000 children and families played in REPLAY: A Limitless Recycled Playground, our celebrated installation at the Southbank Centre

• Our Early Years touring play Counting Sheeps won a Fantastic for Families award in 2025

• Three commitments run through everything we do: 

 

co-creation with children and families

accessibility built in from the start

environmental responsibility.

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Why join us now

As we approach our tenth anniversary in 2027, we expect our busiest year yet. Our three-year plan, available on request, sets out where we're heading:
 

In Hull - more free weekly creative play sessions, a bigger programme of hyper-local, accessible shows and play events, and new local partnerships alongside our established ones.

Nationally - shows and installations developed in Hull's family hubs and libraries, then toured to venues such as the Royal Exchange, Northern Stage, Southbank Centre and Sheffield Theatres. New commissions, high-profile collaborations and a touring partnership with Lincoln Arts Centre are already in development.

Our foundations - strengthening our financial resilience and growing our team.

That's where you come in. New trustees will be warmly welcomed and will help shape what The Herd becomes.

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The roles

Finance trustee - Help us strengthen our financial systems, forecasting and reserves as income grows, and join our Finance Sub-Committee. A qualified accountant or senior finance professional would be ideal.
 

Senior arts trustee - Bring senior experience of programming, producing, touring or commissioning, ideally in work for children and families, as we raise our national profile.
 

Responsibilities and commitment 
Trustees are responsible for The Herd’s direction, finances and governance, and as we are a charitable company our trustees are also company directors. Following the Charity Commission’s six duties, you will help to

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1. Ensure the charity is carrying out its purposes for the public benefit

2. Comply with the charity's governing document and the law

3. Act in the charity's best interests

4. Manage the charity's resources responsibly

5. Act with reasonable care and skill

6. Ensure the charity is accountable

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In practice, you'll help to set our vision and strategy and hold us to our three-year plan. You'll approve budgets and monitor financial performance, and make sure we meet high standards of governance, safeguarding and compliance. You'll also champion The Herd, open doors, support our fundraising, and support and challenge our Co-Artistic Directors.

The trustee role is voluntary and unpaid, with reasonable expenses reimbursed. Terms are three years, renewable up to three terms in line with our Articles of Association. The board meets online at least four times a year, plus an annual Away Day. We also hope you will see our work and meet the team between meetings.  

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What we are looking for in every trustee

Everyone must

• Believe in our work and uphold our values (see below), including a commitment to children’s right to play and to fairer access to the arts.

• Work well as a board member: act with integrity, think strategically, offer support and constructive challenge, respect the line between board and staff, and give the time to prepare and take part.

• Understand, or be willing to learn, a trustee’s legal duties.

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We would also value

• Experience of people management or leading a growing organisation

• Networks in Hull and East Yorkshire, or with funders of the arts and early years

• Lived experience of the barriers to the arts that we work to remove

• People from the global majority

• People who identify as disabled

 

Our values and principles

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Play We play alongside children to create ideas for all our work, play with artists to realise these ideas, and then unlock opportunities for our audiences to play.

 

Family We create mutually beneficial experiences for the whole family, as enjoyable for adults as children. We understand families come in all shapes and sizes, and use the word to describe a child and their responsible grown up/s.

 

Joy We exist to celebrate, interrogate and nurture the joy of childhood. We create exceptional moments for our audience that sit outside of the everyday.

 

Relevance We ensure our work is relevant, exciting and truthful to children by collaborating with them in all stages of the making.

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Equity We work hard to remove barriers children and families have to accessing arts experiences, with a particular focus on barriers facing working class people and those with a disability.

 

How to apply

Email ruby@theherdtheatre.co.uk telling us why you'd like to join and which role you could help with. You can send this as an email, a video or a voice note, with a CV or a short summary of your experience.

Applications are received by Ruby Thompson, Co-Artistic Director, on behalf of the board. Please also contact Ruby if you need help applying, have any access needs or would like to speak informally about the role of the board. 

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What happens next
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an informal interview with the Chair, a trustee and a Co-Artistic Director, and to see our work. Appointments are subject to:

 

• an enhanced DBS check

• references

• a declaration that you are eligible to be a trustee

• identity verification with Companies House, which is required for company directors

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New trustees receive a full induction.  
 

We use your information only to assess your application. Privacy Policy here. 

 

Thank you for your interest in The Herd.