Trustee

Trusteeships at Stanley Arts

About Us
Stanley Arts (Registered Charity: 1155680) is housed in a Grade II‑listed Edwardian building gifted to the community by inventor and philanthropist William F. Stanley in 1903. Since 2015, the building has been managed by a community‑led charity established to revitalise the Stanley Halls as a thriving arts venue, honouring Stanley’s original vision while reinterpreting it for the 21st century.
We are dedicated to celebrating creativity and cultural heritage through a radically inclusive programme of professional performances, artist development and community engagement. We are proud to be the home of contemporary culture within a heritage building, serving our local community and contributing to the cultural life of South Norwood and Croydon.

Our Vision
Stanley Arts aims to be one of South London’s premiere arts and performance venues, providing our local community with a vital home for cultural expression and discovery. As a radically inclusive space, we seek to welcome all audiences, with a particular focus on communities that have previously been excluded from creative spaces. We foreground under‑represented voices, providing artists of colour and LGBTQ+ creatives with a platform to reach out to audiences across South London and beyond.
Our vision is underpinned by three pillars, reimagined from William Stanley’s original mission of justice, liberty and science into:
Radical inclusion
Creative and cultural heritage
Climate and sustainability
With a particular eye on the future, we embrace opportunities to create and share work in the areas of creative health and wellbeing, environmental responsibility and creative technologies.

Values
Our three core values are:

Representation - reflecting the communities we are based in
Partnership - working with and truly hearing the communities we serve
Democracy - embedding agency at every level possible

In summary – we care, we learn, we are ambitious.

Trustees with skills and experience in one or more of the following areas would be particularly welcome:
Financial management.
Experience of medium scale Capital Projects: £5m-£10m
Experience of Capital Fundraising.

Trustee roles at Stanley Arts are unremunerated, but reasonable, pre-agreed travel expenses will be reimbursed.

Our Board normally meets formally in the evening quarterly (four times a year) usually in February, May, August and November (on the 3rd Tuesday in the month), while working groups meet in between those general meetings on an ad-hoc basis responding to action points. We would ideally like trustees to contribute the equivalent of at least one day a month to the organisation, keeping in mind that this is a voluntary unpaid position.

Consistent with our vision, we would particularly welcome interest from people who will help our board have an ethnic diversity reflective of the community we serve and the artists whose work we present, as well as people from the LGBTQ+ community.

If You Have Any Questions
If you have any questions, or wish to have an informal and confidential discussion about becoming a trustee, please contact Dr. Almiro Andrade, Stanley Arts Chair on email - [email protected](link sends email)with the Subject heading Stanley Arts Trustee Recruitment 2026.