Thank you for your interest in joining us as a Non-Executive Director at Noise Solution. As the organisation begins to scale significantly, we are looking for someone with experience to lead our Board in this exciting and ambitious journey.
We have already celebrated a number of significant milestones. Now nearly 14 years old, we are consistently identified as one of the top 100 performing social enterprises in the UK (NatWest SE100) and have won awards with both PWC and Social Enterprise UK for our work around impact. We have remained consistently financially sustainable, and our reserves position has allowed us to survive and emerge from the pandemic. Over the last 15 years, we’ve worked intensively with over 1,000 people across the East of England, and are now entering a phase of ambitious growth as we look to significantly scale the outcomes we have with people over the next five years.
Whilst we present as a music organisation, our focus is on using music mentoring to create conditions evidenced to improve well-being and intrinsic motivation. The individuals that are referred to us are often young people that services have been unable to engage with, and are usually surrounded by complex and challenging circumstances. Our aim is not to ‘fix’ them but to fundamentally change their sense of self and identity, so any changes they do make in their lives are far more likely to be sustained.
We have conducted a lot of academic research to understand how we can intentionally impact on well-being; what needs to be in place, and how we can embed these needs in a programme of delivery. Crucially, and very unusually, we can measure our impacts to understand where we are most impactful. We’re winning awards for this element that so many other organisations struggle with. This results in an evidence-based delivery pedagogy which is highly statistically significant in positively impacting on well-being amongst a population often wrongly labelled ‘hard to reach’.
We know, through our quantitative and qualitative evidence, that Noise Solution frequently has transformative impacts amongst its participants, and we want to grow the organisation in order to grow those impacts. Thank you for your interest in helping us achieve this aim, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Simon Glenister MEd, Founder & CEO
What is Noise Solution?
Noise Solution is an award winning, internationally recognised social enterprise providing digital youth work by pairing professional musician mentors with atrisk youth facing complex issues.
We employ professional musicians to partner our participants on their musical journey. To engage this group, our musicians often use music technology (beat making) as way to make people quickly feel in control, achieve results, and to record and share ‘content’ of that journey. This involves capturing highlights of each session and digitally sharing them safely with friends, family and key workers. In this way we rapidly improve participant confidence and well-being by enabling that young person to feel ‘seen’ as successful. Using our digital infrastructure, our musicians are able to adapt flexibly, and work face to face or entirely digitally in a safe and interactive way with vulnerable youth.
What does a typical programme look like?
Our services are delivered by professional musicians on a one-to-one basis either online, in person, or a blend, depending on the circumstances of the individual. Mentoring is for 20 hours and includes studio hire for the last 10 hours, access to a secure digital feed for each individual and software to carry on creating music post intervention.
Whether online or in person, that process starts off with us pairing the participant with a musician. The participant sets up an account and password on our platform, and the first thing they see is a personal video from their musician introducing themselves, putting them at ease and supporting engagement. In their feed they can also see when sessions are, access their secure Zoom link (if sessions are to be digitally delivered) and access the cloud-based creative music making software (a recording studio online).
The participant is in control of what music is made over 20 hours of mentorship (in the community, studio or online), aligning with our focus on autonomy supportive relationships. Participants co-create a musical project in whatever genre they are into. Whether it’s folk, hip hop, rap, experimental, or traditional, the participants opinions, tastes, and creativity is at the core of each session. Musicians and participants capture highlights of each session using audio, photos, videos and text to develop an individual digital story or weekly ‘feed’ of their growing success.
Participants invite into their feed the people who they have identified as important to them. These people receive automated notifications to view the feed when it is updated weekly. In this way, family and professionals are encouraged to comment and contribute on what they have seen weekly. This is vital to our impacts, as there is a focus on positives and emerging strengths, rather than what’s ‘going wrong’ in the participants life. We’re enabling participants to feel ‘seen’ by those they care about which validates them and allows them to internalise their new feelings of success.
FIND OUT MORE BY VIEWING THE VIDEO ABOVE
Current performance
Noise Solution measures its performance from both financial and impact perspectives; both financial and impact dashboards are given equal scrutiny by the Senior Management Team and by Board.
Financial
The organisation has always maintained a financially prudent position. Up until the pandemic we were financially sustainable and made small annual surpluses, other than a smaller than forecast deficit in 2018 as we invested in our central system. This financial prudence allowed us to survive the pandemic, although it cost us around £80k from our reserves. We are now recovering, and expect to break even in the 2022/23 FY.
Our work is costed on a full cost recovery basis, and we keep indirect costs as low as possible whilst maintaining the efficiency and quality we expect.
Our income is mostly traded income, which is made up of spot and block purchase contracts and grants for delivery. We use other grants for developmental work (such as investing in or developing our systems) or for testing new work (such as the LGBTQ+ project we are now starting). We are looking to diversify our income streams, utilising traded income, grants and donations. Traded income must maintain a large proportion of this diversification.
Impact
Noise Solution measures its impact using the Shortened Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS). SWEMWBS was developed by Warwick and Edinburgh Universities and the NHS, and has been used across the UK by the government, IPSOS Mori, local government and third sector organisations. SWEMWBS gives us a tested, validated (trusted) and accurate indication of our impacts on well-being.
Participants complete the SWEMWBS questionnaire before and after a Noise Solution programme. Noise Solution then measures distance travelled at population levels. Our current dataset (n357 completed start and end scores) shows:
• A 41.25% decrease in low well-being,
• A 5.32% increase in moderate well-being, and
• A 17.93% increase in high well-being.
Changes in low levels of well-being are far more likely to translate to significant change for participants.
Because SWEMWBS has been used at scale multiple times, external researchers have been able to extrapolate national well-being averages that we benchmark our results against.
At the end of a ten-week intervention we see 56.87% at, above or within a meaningful range (2 points) of this national average, an increase of 21.57%.
With this dataset we see a high level of statistical significance (p<0.0001) with a high range of change (r>.5). In plain English that means it is a statistical probability that positive change will occur and that that change will be high.
Taken together, these data demonstrate Noise Solution’s ability to act as a catalyst for change in a short space of time. These changes in well-being, and the changes they lead to in behaviours, have been externally valued as equating to cost savings of £1m a year to local authorities and families.
Future plans
Noise Solution has a successful track record of delivering its music mentoring programmes to youth at risk across the East of England. We feel a moral obligation to take our proven impacts to as many young people as we can. Everything we have built has been designed to scale, and we are beginning to put plans in place to enable this to happen.
Technology is a key part of our infrastructure; our entire organisation runs within the Salesforce ecosystem, and we are using it in innovative ways which is attracting some significant attention (including this blog post, this success story and this partnership award). Our work on impact has also led to awards from PwC and the Royal Society for Public Health, as well as being Digital Trailblazers as part of the Digital Culture Awards. We want to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible with technology to further our work on impact. Two current projects include live sentiment and linguistic analysis of qualitative data, and live statistical analysis of wellbeing data. Technology continues to evolve and we want to evolve with it.
In short, Noise Solution is an ambitious and innovative organisation working across healthcare, mental health, education and technology. Thank you for taking an interest in being part of our story.
NOISE SOLUTION HAS TRANSFORMATION IMPACTS ON HUNDREDS OF YOUNG PEOPLES LIVES. READ A FEW OF THEIR STORIES HERE.
Role Description - Non-Executive Director
Role Title Non-Executive Director.
Appointed by Current Board, in accordance with our Memorandum and Articles of Association.
Location Noise Solution HQ is in Stowmarket, Suffolk. Board meetings usually take place in Cambridge during the working day on a quarterly basis.
Remuneration Noise Solution is a social enterprise and therefore would expect its Non-Executive Directors to be engaged on a voluntary basis.
Expenses
Time commitment
All reasonable expenses can be reimbursed in accordance with our Expenses Policy.
Whilst we would estimate a time commitment of around 6 days per annum there is no fixed time commitment for the role. This would include Board meetings and representing Noise Solution at various events and meetings with key stakeholders.
Term
Probation
How to apply
Three year term, subject to review, with no exclusion from being re-elected.
There will be a three month probationary period where the appointment will be reviewed by a panel drawn from the Board.
To apply, please send the following:
- An up-to-date copy of your CV
- A letter containing a brief personal statement (no more than two sides of A4) detailing why you are interested in the position and what you feel you can bring to the role
- The names, addresses and contact details of two independent referees
Please send your application to Damien Ribbans, Operations Director at damien@noisesolution.org
Timeline
This is an active and ongoing search, which will continue until we find the right fit for our organisation.
Further information
For further information please contact Simon Glenister (CEO) or Damien Ribbans (Operations Director) on (01284) 771156.
Role Purpose
• To ensure the effective governance of Noise Solution, in line with its purpose and aims, specifically including regulatory and legal compliance.
• As a Director of Noise Solution you will be responsible for the strategic management of the company.
• In addition we are currently seeking people with experience in marketing, finance, safeguarding and scaling social businesses.
Statutory duties
• To ensure that Noise Solution complies with its Articles of Association, company law and any other relevant legislation or regulations
• To contribute actively to the board’s role in giving firm strategic direction to the organisation, setting overall policy, defining goals and setting targets and evaluating performance against agreed targets
• To safeguard the good name and values of Noise Solution
• To ensure the financial stability of the company
• To monitor the performance of and support the Senior Management Team
• To permit Noise Solution to carry out an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.
Other duties
In addition to the above statutory duties, each Director should use any specific skills, knowledge or experience they have to help the board of Noise Solution reach sound decisions. This may involve:
• Scrutinising board papers
• Leading discussions
• Focusing on key issues
• Providing guidance on new initiatives
• Leveraging their networks
• Other issues in which the Director has special expertise
Key competencies
First and foremost you will understand and share our social aims, and be passionate about using our organisation as a vehicle to achieve these aims. Noise Solution is an organisation which genuinely and authentically embraces diversity, equality and inclusion through every aspect of its governance, staffing and delivery. We are committed to actively encouraging and promoting the employment of women, disabled and black and minority ethnic employees as these populations are underrepresented in our industry. You will be able to demonstrate:
Strategic Orientation - Makes a significant contribution to the creation of a compelling vision for the future and implementation of measurable strategies necessary for success.
Leading for Performance - Demonstrates clarity of purpose and direction inspiring and motivating professional staff and volunteers to exceed performance expectations in line with Noise Solution’s strategic and operational objectives.
Making things happen - Takes a dynamic results based approach to the work of Noise Solution concentrating on achieving outcomes that support strategy and operational objectives.
Communicates with Purpose - Purposely and persuasively communicates with others to achieve support, buy-in and enhance effective business relationships.
Decisive Judgements - Makes intelligent timely decisions and judgements that support Noise Solution’s strategic intent in relation to all stakeholders.
Customer Engagement - Clearly demonstrates the importance of customer engagement and service excellence to both internal and external customers delivering positive outcomes in support of the business.