Treasurer and Director

Do you have the professional skills needed to be our Treasurer? Are you keen to put them to good use within the community by helping vulnerable families? If so, we think you would relish the chance to help supply good quality, well-managed housing for rent to less fortunate households, providing them with the reassurance and stability necessary as the foundation for productive living.

We are the Board of Directors for Mabel Luke Trustee Ltd, the corporate trustee for a charitable almshouse trust that provides 16 flats for rent to vulnerable households of working age near Newbury town centre.

The trust originated in a 1928 donation by a local benefactor looking to support needy families in Newbury town and adjacent Greenham parish. In 2017/18 the four cottages she had provided were demolished and three small blocks of one- and two-bedroom flats were completed on the site. They were filled by mid-2018.

The Board meets around six times per year. Every Director – there are currently six, with a wide range of skills and experience – also sits on at least one Board Committee, of which there are three covering residents, property and finance, which meet as needed. We set up smaller groups to deal with specific issues: one such is currently reviewing our website, www.mabelluke.co.uk,  which needs updating and improving. After over two years of Zoom meetings we have reverted to in-person Board meetings  but still use Zoom to give flexibility where needed for other gatherings.

Our Board has a good mix of gender and age but lacks ethnic diversity, which we are keen to improve. One Director is registered disabled.

We employ a Clerk who works for 10 hours per week, dealing with administration and day-to-day bookkeeping, using Quickbooks. But there is much to do outside these areas – dealing with resident issues, filling vacancies, arranging repairs and servicing and, crucially for the Treasurer role, compiling management and annual accounts and other finance-related matters. So our Directors are pretty hands-on, though some have more time and availability than others. We employ local trades for repairs and maintenance work, gardening and window cleaning. We do not provide other forms of support but can direct residents to other organisations that can help.

While our Clerk keeps the books, the Treasurer needs to have the necessary accounting expertise to oversee all finance matters, from developing the annual budget – now complete (we work to calendar years) – to reporting to the Board with every quarter’s management accounts, drafting the year-end accounts and dealing with the excellent local firm of accountants that acts as our Independent Examiner. The Treasurer also deals with banks - we have a substantial mortgage - and insurances.

Our Treasurer has stood down, to focus more on her young family. We particularly welcome female and non-white applicants to improve the diversity of our Board so that we better reflect the characteristics of our residents, a number of whom are from ethnic minority communities. Previous Board-level experience is not essential but would of course be useful.