Newcastle Dog and Cat Shelter is celebrating after attracting some serious talent to its board after working closely with Experience Bank Group.
The charity which helps animals that are lost, unwanted, neglected, abused and abandoned. They reunite lost animals with their owners and find loving homes for those that find themselves with nowhere to live.
Chris Bray, CEO of the shelter in Benton, said:
“The chair of our board had announced their intent to step away from the board, which left us with an opportunity to think strategically about what we needed in our next chair. Our existing board, whilst committed and passionate, was made up of people in their first trustee role and understandably no-one wanted to step up into the chair position.
“We realised we needed an experienced chair, who could manage the board, steer the new trustees, have vision for the shelter and take the senior operational team through a growth period. This seemed a big ask, until we met Peter Neal, founder of Experience Bank Group.”
Ashleigh Wright, MD of Westray Recruitment, had recently joined the board and through her place on the peer groups for NEDs and Trustees had met Peter previously. She had no hesitation in recommending him to the rest of the board. Ashleigh said:
“We engaged Peter to look for our new chair and he also found us a fabulous new trustee during the process too. We are delighted to announce that Richard Kirk is joining the board as chair, and our latest trustee is Helen Cowpen.”
The charity said they found the way Peter got under the skin of the organisation and its needs, to create a recruitment pack that would attract the right people was impressive. They also complimented his process of whittling down applications to only present those who were both qualified and had the right personality. Ashleigh continued:
“Peter has a good listening ear, and he wanted to know all about the culture, leadership, vision and is very astute, doesn’t ask a silly question. He was fully understanding, got our weak spots, no condescension but was mindful of the limitations of the charity. His communication was excellent, he kept us to date, on who interviewing, pipeline and honest updates – we are delighted with the results!”
Richard Kirk, the new chair, is well known for his role at Tyne Rivers Trust and Helen Cowpen brings her experience as a chief people officer to the board as trustee.
Richard said:
“It is an exciting time to join the team at Newcastle Cat and Dog Shelter and I am looking forward to steering the team through its next phase of growth!”
Peter concluded:
“It was a joy to work with such a fabulous charity and I couldn’t be happier with the result. As part of the process, I have also helped the board to have a succession planning strategy, so they won’t be having to ever hire in haste.”
If your charity needs a breath of fresh air, then do get in touch with Peter on peter@theexperiencebank.co.uk