A Life in Care, Finance, and Philanthropy

To be honest, not hugely. I enjoyed both, particularly the sport and social activities, studied sufficiently to achieve appropriate academic success, but didn’t take much advantage of the limited careers advice available and “fell” into banking as that’s what several friends were going into. I had no real idea of the other opportunities available and sometimes regret not looking more widely but all was well that ended well.

Whilst I didn’t dislike banking, I recognised part-way though my time there that this was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my career. I had started volunteering at a local social club for disabled people, enjoyed this and as a result started investigating careers in the voluntary sector.

Fundraising appeared to offer an opportunity to use some of the skills learned in banking. Coincidentally, whilst working at Hambros Bank in London, I came on business to Jersey on several occasions (over 30 years ago) and remember thinking how lovely Jersey was. I finally made it here 30 years later!

Amongst many things that fundraising is vital and a worthwhile and fun activity, that many charities rely hugely if not entirely on public donations, and that the voluntary sector could teach other sectors much in terms of maximising limited resources.

I joined at a time when the hospice had barely escaped closure, but could see that the support offered at that time to a small number of life-limited children and families was superb and very necessary. Over the following ten years, with the support of a newly recruited team around me, we slowly but steadily turned Haven House into one of the most admired hospices in the sector, with much improved financial sustainability, supporting over 400 children and families by the time I moved on.

Having loved my time at Haven House and learned much, I felt I could contribute on an international scale where we estimate there are 21m children worldwide with a life-limiting condition but barely 5% of whom have access to any palliative care. That massive gap is motivation in itself.

ChaL is Children’s Hospices across London, a collaboration of the 6 children’s hospices covering the capital and surrounding counties. Though both roles have now ended, I think I learned a lot about the power (and challenges) of collaboration but also the need to treat people as you would wish to be treated yourself, seeking buy in and commitment through understanding others’ perspectives and building respect.

Having completed 10 years at Haven House and turned 60, but also having worked most of my life in and around London, I felt that I had one more significant challenge in me. I was therefore looking for a Hospice Chief Executive role somewhere outside of London, ideally near the sea and somewhere I might retire to. Jersey and Jersey Hospice Care ticked all the boxes apart from that of retirement as I will not have been here the requisite 10 years.

At the time I joined in 2021, the island was emerging from Covid and Hospice had suffered like many other organisations in terms of falling income, 2 years of significant deficits and “silo working” where we had to effectively close off our In-Patient Unit to minimise infection risks. The immediate challenges were therefore focused on sensible cost cutting, driving income back upwards from all sources covering Government, fundraising and retail – which, though work in progress, is being achieved – and bringing the whole Hospice team together, which I’m proud to say is now paying huge dividends with a recent survey showing 100% of all colleagues being proud to work for Hospice.

The charity sector offers excellent career opportunities which I would encourage all to consider. Whilst salaries are unlikely ever to fully match those in other sectors on island like Finance, particularly at more senior levels, salaries and benefits within medium to large charities on island are generally fair and any differences are, in my opinion, more than compensated for by the satisfaction one gets from making a genuine difference to people’s lives. The Hospice sector in particular has given me immense job satisfaction and I will look back on my 43 years, and particularly the last 15 in hospices, with huge pride.