About the Charity

Borders Pet Rescue is a small registered Scottish charity offering animal rescue, re-homing and the promotion of responsible pet ownership through education and training across the Scottish Borders and adjoining areas. Established in 1988, the Charity’s Rescue Centre is at Craigsford in Earlston. Each year more than 200 dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and exotics are re-homed.

The charity relies entirely on fundraising, donations and significant funds generated by four Borders Pet Rescue Charity Shops located in Galashiels, Kelso, Duns and Hawick.

Like all animal charities, BPR relies on the generosity of the animal loving public to support the work and could not survive without the dedication of the many friends and volunteers.

About the Vacancy

We are seeking an enthusiastic and experienced individual to undertake the specific duties of Secretary to Board to help strengthen our governance and effectiveness.

The specific responsibilities of Secretary include:

• Undertaking secretarial duties in support of the BPR Chair and Trustees
• Liaising with the Chair and Board of Trustees to plan, arrange and produce agendas, supporting papers and minutes of Trustee meetings and AGMs
• Attendance at monthly Trustee meetings held on a Monday evening via face-to-face and virtual meetings
• Ensuring that all meetings comply with the requirements of the governing documents
• Dealing with correspondence including with Companies House and OSCR and other relevant governance bodies
• Reviewing all BPR governance documentation in consultation with the Chair and Trustees
• Organising trustee induction and any ongoing training
• Managing the Company membership database
• Other duties as directed by the Chair.

Role specification

• Minimum of 2 years’ experience and knowledge of office administration processes, including minute taking
• Competent IT skills including Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Office
• Excellent people skills
• Self-motivated individual with the ability to also work as part of a team
• Strong communication and organisational skills
• Reliable and trustworthy with confidential information
• You will have a genuine concern and commitment for animal welfare and enthusiasm for the work of the charity.

You will be required to use your own laptop/computer to undertake your duties.

Borders Pet Rescue is a long-established animal welfare charity that cares for animals in need and finds them suitable loving new homes. We also work to encourage responsible pet ownership. Since becoming a registered charity 33 years ago we have re-homed thousands of dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and exotics throughout the Scottish Borders and beyond.

Our four charity shops, in Galashiels, Duns, Kelso and Hawick, play a key part in helping to fund the day-to-day operating costs of the Rescue Centre at Earlston. They provide a focal point for the communities they serve, helping to promote the charity and our vital work. The ambition is for our shops to generate significantly more commercial income, including the establishment of a BPR online shop, to support future plans for our Rescue Centre.

Our Borders Pet Rescue Galashiels Shop is an important part of the local community selling clothes, CD’s, DVD’s, furniture, books, pictures, electrical goods, and many other items to support its business. Working alongside the Manager, Assistant Manager and volunteers the Charity Sales Assistant is vital to ensuring the success of the shop by providing customers with a positive experience, keeping stock levels replenished throughout the day to support the continual generation of sales. With a focus on delivering an excellent customer service and maximising sales and revenues you will have good numeracy, verbal, and written communication skills. In addition, a physically demanding role, but in return it is a satisfying and rewarding opportunity to improve the lives of animals in need.

Join us! – Opportunities for new Charity Trustees at Borders Pet Rescue (Borders Animal Welfare Association)

Borders Pet Rescue (BPR) was established in 1988, as a small, registered, Scottish charity offering animal rescue, re-homing and the promotion of responsible pet ownership through education and training across the Scottish Borders and adjoining areas. Our Rescue Centre is located at Craigsford, in Earlston. Each year we are able to find new homes for over 200 dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and exotics. We rely on donations from the public, on some fundraising, and primarily on the income raised by the four Borders Pet Rescue Charity Shops, located in Galashiels, Kelso, Duns, and Hawick. Like all animal charities, BPR relies on the generosity of the animal loving public to support the work and could not survive without the dedication of its many friends and volunteers.

The charity is governed by Trustees. We aim to have a Board which covers the key areas in which we work, and we are now seeking to appoint additional Trustees who, ideally, have experience in the following areas:

o Retail Management

o Property/Asset/Estate Management

o Management of Volunteers

o Animal Welfare

That said, we also welcome applications from individuals with other relevant experience. Our Trustees have ultimate responsibility for the operation and development of the charity, including animal welfare, compliance with charity legislation, fundraising, public relations and financial control.

This is an exciting time to be joining Borders Pet Rescue as a Trustee, as we will soon launch a newly-built kennel facility to help us respond to the ever-increasing demand from vulnerable animals. We also have ambitious plans for further development of our Rescue Centre, and an upcoming launch of both our new website and our online sales/purchase platform.

The principal responsibilities of a BPR Trustee include attending and actively participating in monthly Board meetings (held on a Monday evening, both virtually and face-to-face). Trustees bring their professional experience to help govern the charity, and Trustees actively participate in the charity’s activities, supporting volunteers, and undertaking fundraising, as well as being part of awareness-raising events. The time commitment required is a minimum of two days per month, including monthly Trustee meetings (of 2-3 hours per meeting). All Trustees are expected to share a passion and commitment to animal welfare. Please note that this is a voluntary role, although reasonable expenses will be reimbursed.

Borders Pet Rescue is a small but vital animal welfare charity in the Scottish Borders. Our Rescue Centre at Craigsford, Earlston is run by staff and 30 volunteers. The charity also has 4 shops in Galashiels, Kelso, Hawick and Duns, which are run by dedicated teams of staff and volunteers. These shops are the main source of regular income for the charity. Demand for our services has never been higher with an increasing number of animals coming into our care. Our charity has, therefore, embarked upon a period of growth and development and this new post has been created to support the development of the charity.

Reporting to the Charity Manager, an experienced, well-motivated and organised Business Administrator is now sought to provide effective and efficient business support for a range of BPR activities covering finance, administration and IT systems.

This is a new role which is likely to evolve and may include other duties as required by the Board of Trustees, not yet specified below.

Borders Pet Rescue is a small but vital animal welfare charity in the Scottish Borders that cares for animals in need and finds them suitable loving new homes. We also work to encourage responsible pet ownership.

Our Rescue Centre at Craigsford, Earlston is run by staff and 30 volunteers. The charity also has 4 shops in Galashiels, Kelso, Hawick and Duns, which are run by dedicated teams of staff and volunteers. These shops are the main source of regular income for the charity. Demand for our services has never been higher with an increasing number of animals coming into our care. Our charity has, therefore, embarked upon a period of growth and development and this new post has been created to support the development of our charity.

Reporting to the Charity Manager, an experienced, well-motivated and organised HR Administrator is now sought to provide effective and efficient business support for a range of BPR activities covering HR, administration and governance.

This is a new role which is likely to evolve and may include other duties as required by the Board of Trustees, not yet specified below.

Required: Full UK driving license

Borders Pet Rescue is a long-established animal welfare charity that cares for animals in need and finds them suitable loving new homes. We also work to encourage responsible pet ownership. Since becoming a registered charity 33 years ago we have re-homed thousands of dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hedgehogs and exotics throughout the Scottish Borders and beyond.

The Charity Manager will have the passion, drive and ability to support and develop our charity, having overall responsibility to manage the charity on behalf of the BPR Trustees and ensure that the 4 charity shops and Animal Rescue Centre work together.

The successful application will be supported by Trustees to implement our strategic plan, and play the lead role in communicating with and managing staff to ensure we work towards achieving our six objectives;

- Animal welfare

- Financially viability

- A successful retail offering

- Management of staff and volunteers

- Marketing, IT and communications

- Estates and facilities.

This is a new role which is likely to evolve and may include other duties as required by the Board of Trustees, not yet specified below.

Required: Full UK driving license

Borders Pet Rescue is a small but vital animal welfare charity in the Scottish Borders. Our Rescue Centre at Craigsford, Earlston is run by staff and 50 volunteers. The charity also has 4 shops in Galashiels, Kelso, Hawick and Duns, which are run by dedicated teams of staff and volunteers. These shops are the main source of regular income for the charity. Demand for our services has never been higher with an increasing number of animals coming into our care. Our charity has, therefore, embarked upon a period of growth and development and this new post has been created to support the development of our charity.

An experienced, well-motivated and organised Business Administration Manager is now sought to provide effective and efficient business support for a range of BPR activities covering administration, finance systems, governance, HR and, on occasion, reception duties.

Main purpose: To provide business support to the charity and our animal welfare and retail Teams through developing systems, administering, organising, processing information, and supporting colleagues to use systems, as appropriate.

This is a new role which is likely to evolve and may include other duties as required by the Board of Trustees.