SJOG FINANCE TEAM

SJOG was a charity that had lost its way. It was closing services and in 2018 made a £1.9million loss on £15 million income. The finance team were mainly temporary agency staff.

When Leanne Welford joined as Chief Finance Officer at the end of 2018 she set about creating a clear team structure with existing temps either recruited into roles or let go and brought in a Financial Controller. This new team established their team values, set a strategy and goals and then communicated to rest of organisation. Through bespoke training and support they developed the finance capacity of all of the managers in SJOG, which lead to more income and thought through spending.

In 2019 the charity grew by £3million, delivered a surplus and added £1.1million to the balance sheet.

The small team of eight (6FTE) (Leanne, Rachel, Jenny, Jo, Sam Louie, Carol and Joan) embody the spirit of the charity. They bring humour and compassion and a listening ear to non-finance managers in the charity and have been instrumental in transforming the financial health of SJOG so that it can continue to change the lives of the people we serve.