Thank you for your interest in becoming a Non-Executive Director with us here at Noise Solution. As the organisation begins to scale significantly, we are looking for people to provide scrutiny and strategic oversight to help us reach many more people. You will, of course, already be familiar with our work! Hopefully this document starts to put some ‘meat on the bones’, and begins to give you a deeper insight into who we are and how we operate.
As an organisation we have already celebrated a number of significant milestones. We are consistently identified as one of the top 100 performing social enterprises in the UK (Natwest SE100) and have won a variety of awards for our work from people such as PwC, the Royal Society for Public Health and Social Enterprise UK.
We have, as an organisation, always been financially sustainable. The pandemic years tested this sustainability quite significantly, seeing us make losses for the first time. It was our financial prudence which allowed us to build up the reserves to weather this particular storm.
Noise Solution wants to contribute to a world where everyone means something, and they know it. The people we work with very often feel meaningless, as the systems around them consistently focus on the issues in their lives, without recognising, celebrating and building on successes. This recognition of individuals is where Noise Solution begins.
Whilst we present as an organisation making music with young people, at the heart of our work is relationships. By putting the person genuinely back at the centre of their world, working with them to help them feel good at something again, and then sharing those successes with people who are important to them, we begin to build and rebuild relationships with the people and services around them from a position of strength, which the person themselves is in control of. It is this process which helps us to create the frequently life-changing impacts we see.
“The Noise Solution sessions were amazing, and I will remember it for the rest of my life. It really has saved my life. It’s not therapy, and that’s why it worked for me. It is about human connection, and music – some sessions we just talked, others we were jamming away to Red Hot Chilli Peppers.”
We are now embarking on a journey which will, hopefully, see the organisation scale quite significantly. What does that mean? It means we reach more people,
have more impact and change more lives. Oh, and we have a lot of fun along the way!
We are really looking forward to having your support as we take these next steps, and we look forward to working with you.
Simon Glenister, Founder & CEO
You can see our latest introduction video here:
Damien Ribbans, Operations Director
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
As an organisation we have always been financially sustainable since our inception. The only major exception to this was in the 2017/18 FY where we made a smaller than forecast loss due to our investment in our central operating platform.
£321,793.00
£15,742.00
£245,521.00
£453,480.00
£328,286.00
£10,159.00 -£29,986.00 -£40,213.00
£517,190.00
2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 Turnover Surplus/Loss -£3,174.00
Unsurprisingly the global pandemic and associated lockdowns created significant pressures on us as an organisation, and changed our commissioning landscape quite significantly. Our financial prudence up to this point allowed us to remain solvent, but this period did exhaust all of our reserves. You can see above that the organisation is now recovering, but the margins involved have been tight; historically there has been little to no slack in the financial model, which hasn’t allowed us to invest for growth.
Over the course of 2024 we took time to assess this model. We ran a project with the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge, working with a team of eight MBA students to do market research with commissioners and identify ways to increase surplus whilst retaining the quality of the delivery. This led to further work with an external consultant with experience of scaling a social enterprise significantly. What’s emerged is an evolved model that moves away from our one size fits all approach and offers differentiated tiers of engagement for services and young people (it is the model expressed in the film on the prior page). To date this shift has seen a significant increase in both income and profit. This year we are predicted to turn over £700,000 with an expected surplus of around £40,000, £ -150000 0 150000 300000 450000 600000
enabling us to rebuild reserves and start to think about capacity planning to continue that growth trajectory. We have ambitious plans to continue that trajectory and move from where we are now to £10,000,000 turnover over the next 10 years.
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 multiple times at scale (there is currently a sample of n60,000+ for us to draw from). SWEMWBS gives us a tested, validated and accurate indication of our impacts at population levels.
Participants complete the SWEMWBS questionnaire before and after a Noise Solution programme. Noise Solution then measures distance travelled at population level. Our current dataset (n443) shows (Nov 24):
The charts above show a halving of low wellbeing, and tripling of high wellbeing. These data demonstrate significant shifts in self-reported feelings of wellbeing.
Because SWEMWBS has been used at scale multiple times, we can extrapolate a national well-being average. At the end of a ten-week intervention we see nearly half of our participants at, above or within a meaningful range (2 points) of this national average (from 25% at the start).
With this dataset we see a high level of statistical significance (p<0.0001) with a high range of change (r>.5).
These data demonstrate Noise Solutions ability to act as a catalyst for change in a short space of time.
You will, of course, also be aware of our intention to measure impact in other ways, not just quantitatively. The benefit of having all of our data stored and connected within the Salesforce ecosystem means that we are able to collect equal amounts of qualitative and quantitative data, along with feedback from people around an individual, and use these multiple data sources to triangulate our impact measurement tools. This means we get a much more rounded ‘impact 360°’ picture.
You can view some of the exciting work we are doing on analysing video to demonstrate well-being outcomes in this short film. This work recently saw us beat Microsoft in the national Digital Revolution Awards, for innovation in A.I.
ROLE DESCRIPTION - Non-Executive Director
Role Title Non-Executive Director.
Appointed by Current Board, in accordance with our Memorandum and Articles of Association.
Location Board meetings usually take place in Cambridge (with an online option) 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 All reasonable expenses can be reimbursed in accordance with our Expenses Policy
Time commitment
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 Three year term, subject to review, with no exclusion from being re-elected.
Probation There will be a six month probationary period where the appointment will be reviewed by a panel drawn from the Board.
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.
• To leverage connections and networks to further the business of Noise Solution and its impacts.
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
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.
Areas where we would welcome further expertise
Representation from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds to reflect the lived experiences of the communities Noise Solution serves is vital, encouraged and welcome across all of the following:
Education and youth development
• Expertise: Professionals with experience in secondary education, inclusion strategies, SEN (Special Educational Needs), and pupil support services.
• Why: To ensure alignment with schools, Multi-Academy Trusts, and educational policies, particularly regarding exclusions and attendance.
Social work and child protection
• Expertise: Background in social work, child safeguarding, or family support services.
• Why: To provide insights into working with vulnerable young people, including those in care or facing exclusion.
Mental health and well-being
• Expertise: Clinical psychologists, mental health professionals, or public health specialists.
• Why: To support the organisation’s focus on mental health outcomes, especially in line with tools like SWEMWBS and Self-Determination Theory.
Creative industries
• Expertise: Professionals from music, arts, or digital media sectors.
• Why: To contribute to the development of creative mentoring approaches and ensure innovation in delivery.
Business and social enterprise leadership
• Expertise: Individuals with experience in scaling social enterprises, securing funding, or managing operations.
• Why: To provide strategic direction and ensure financial sustainability.
Legal and compliance
• Expertise: Legal professionals with expertise in charity, education, or child safeguarding law.
• Why: To ensure adherence to legal requirements and governance standards.
Finance and risk management
• Expertise: Accountants or financial advisors with experience in nonprofit finance.
• Why: To oversee budgeting, risk assessment, and financial planning.
Community representation
• Expertise: Individuals with lived experience (e.g., young people or parents who’ve engaged with Noise Solution).
• Why: To ensure the board is grounded in the realities of the people Noise Solution serves.
Policy management
• Expertise: Experts familiar with local and national policies on education, mental health, and youth services.
• Why: To influence and align with broader systemic goals and partnerships.