networking and people
Human Resources
The Carlton/Slomans were the first consultants I worked with and also the first people to whom I presented the business idea and it went down very well. Veronica and Ian helped me to understand the human resource implications of what I am trying to achieve, and produced a lot of helpful resources and documentation.
On July 16th 2003, Alex Fraser and I agreed to work together, initialluy with him as a (very badly paid) consultant while we raised money. It seemed like a suitable construct within which to find out if we worked well together. Alex is now the Finance Director, as well as being a Director. Having Alex on the team has brought a fresh and informed perspective on what is possible to achieve (Alex used to be head of logistics for Customs and Excise, therefore he understands UK-wide delivery of multiple services very well indeed). Alex's background as a Director of Schroesers Bank has also brought credibility and condience that my voluntary sector background can often lack.
September 5th 2003 I met Lev Pedro with a view of him working as a consultant on develpoing practitioner processed and protocols. It transpired pretty quickly that Lev would become a core part of Get Well UK. He helped to develop practitioner standards, co-ordinated recruitment of our first practitioners, as well as establishing the delivery of the Haringey service.
Greg Iserson joined us for 3 months as an intern from America. Greg is studying marketing and established our systems for marketing the service to practitioners and did an awful lot of cold calling.
Cabby Laffy has given a lot of advice about operating the organisation using a whole systems and health approach towards all the people involved. We are delighted that she is working with us now as a supervisor.
Along the way other people have been helpful and generous with their time, including Gordon Brown from the Department of Health; Alec Taylor who coached me in presentation skills for fundrasing; Donal Brind for public speaking and TV appearance training; Raj Mahapatra from VLegal who helped when we were trying to raise private cash; Maitland Kalton who gave early legal advice; the team at the Prince of Wales' Foundation for Integrated Health who have helped in a multitude of ways; Mike O'Farrell from the British Acupuncture Council who was brilliantly sceptical and consequently helpful; John Errington from QA for advice on operating call centres; David Aeron-Thomas and Anita from Rotherham for their input into developing methods for measuring the social return of health projects (still a long way to go); the team at the New Statesman behind the Upstart Awards; Kate Thomas at Sheffield University for advice on our long and short term research proposals; Common Purpose for the ongoing networking opportunities and and and...
Health and Therapy
After having run a charity for a few years and getting incredibly stressed and needing to take time out for recovery, I decided that at the heart of this business would be a healthy group of people, operating in a healthy structure. This means honesty, communication, understanding human limits and acknowledging all of the impacts of our work, including the emotional and psychological.
Get Well UK pays for all of its staff to have fortnightly complementary therapy treatments in order to stay well and manage life, and the integration of their work into the rest of their lives. I personally find that psychotherapy is an essential part of my support structure, along with friends, football, other exercise, acupuncture, and good food.
Back to the Introduction of the 2003 Annual Review
