Would you like to become a real influencer in mental health research?
The Child Outcomes Research Consortium (CORC) is looking for an enthusiastic young person with an interest in improving the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people to join our Board.
CORC is a membership organisation, and we work closely with mental health service providers, schools and research institutions from the UK, Europe and beyond - as well as with individuals who share our vision.
We believe in improving mental health support and services for children and young people by learning from feedback and other evidence. We hold data about the mental health and wellbeing outcomes of more than 400,000 children and young people in the UK, the largest data set of this kind.
What is the CORC Board like - and why are we bringing in a new member?
Our current Board members bring a mixture of perspectives and skills from across education, mental health and research. They are also friendly, bright, compassionate, open-minded, and believe CORC can help the world.
Currently one of our Board members is under 25. We would like to have more Board members able to reflect from lived experience of being a young person dealing with mental ill-health (although not necessarily only people who have had support from mental health services). Other than that we welcome people from all kinds of backgrounds and experience. We offer under-25 members of the Board some mentoring support if they feel they would benefit from this, especially at the beginning of their time on the Board.
Why be a board member with us?
Because you also believe that using evidence and feedback in a meaningful way can make the support that children and young people get with their mental health better.
One of our aims is to bring more young people into the CORC Network, and to strengthen the voices of young people in our work. You may be inspired by the idea of involving young people in deciding how we measure young people’s mental health and wellbeing: what is most important to measure, and how do we define what ‘better’ or ‘good’ mental health and wellbeing look like?
Our board members have opportunities to develop their skills by working with one another and with the CORC team to improve what we do at CORC. They also get exposure to a wide range of service providers, policy makers, researchers, and service-users from across mental health, education, council and community sectors.
What is a CORC board member asked to do?
The Board is there to set the strategy for CORC – Board members don’t get involved in the details of individual projects, but instead make sure we are having the best possible impact overall, and that the organisation is sustainable.
We ask people to only express interest in joining the Board if they can commit to at least 18 months. Our Board members are not paid, although we refund expenses.
Our Board members
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Come to a three-hour meeting three times a year, and a strategy day once a year – these are held at our office in Kings Cross, London. They also read any papers that are emailed out one to two weeks before the meeting.
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Are sometimes asked to feed into decision-making between meetings by email if they can
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Sometimes make other contributions to particular events, discussions or projects in CORC, according to their interests
What are we looking for?
CORC board members should:
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be committed to CORC’s vision and mission and make sure CORC uses its resources and assets in the best way possible to achieve those
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set the strategy and goals for the organisation, and monitor delivery of those goals
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be prepared to take decisions for the good of CORC, and make sure the organisation has:
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sound policies for managing the organisation and meeting legal responsibilities
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good financial management
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enough resources to deliver its commitments and its mission
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be able to work effectively as a member of a team
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share CORC’s values: we want to be honest, curious, challenging and respectful
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act as ambassadors for CORC in their own worlds, sharing our ideas, research or opportunities wherever helpful
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be willing and able to put in the necessary time and effort
Other great attributes in a board member are: good, independent judgement; comfortable speaking your mind; creative thinking.
Next steps?
There is more information about CORC on our website: www.corc.uk.net and on Twitter: @CORCcentral
If you are interested in joining our Board, please email an expression of interest to us at corc@annafreud.org. Please include in this:
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Your name
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Why you are interested in being part of the Board
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Any information about the experience or skills you bring that you feel would be relevant
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How we can contact you
Please don’t write more than 300 words on either of questions b. and c.
If it seems to us there will be a good match between your skills and experience and the gaps on our Board, we will invite you to an interview to find out more about whether we will be a good fit for one another. If this goes well, you would be invited to come to a meeting as a shadow Board member to try things out before you are confirmed as a fully-fledged Board member.
If you have questions or would like to discuss what is involved in being on the Board, please get in touch with us at corc@annafreud.org?
We look forward to hearing from you.
Warm regards, the CORC Board
