Julia’s House, the Dorset and Wiltshire children’s hospice charity, has been recognised as a world class employer, receiving a sought-after national industry standard at an awards ceremony held by Best Companies.
The charity was commended for its commitment to employees by being named the Number 2 Charity to Work For in the UK - the highest ranking in the South of England and highest ranked healthcare charity overall. In addition, Julia’s House appeared in the list of the UK’s Top 50 Companies To Work For (ranked 42) and the South West’s Top 25 (ranked 16).
Julia’s House received the achievement as result of implementing a wide-ranging programme of employee initiatives including a staff counselling helpline, wellbeing advice and support, training for managers in advanced people skills, staff surveys, an employee forum to enable staff to voice thoughts and ideas, virtual coffee mornings with the CEO and fun, informative employee bulletins.
Julia’s House Chief Executive Martin Edwards, who attended the awards with colleagues said: “We hugely value everyone who works at Julia's House and are committed to making the organisation a great place to work, where people know their wellbeing is important, they are supported and listened to and have the chance to grow and develop.
With the pressures on healthcare staff all across the system, it is vital to give people the support they need to be able to give their best every day. Our nurses, carers and other amazing colleagues go the extra mile every day for the children in our care. We all look after each other and it is a huge privilege working with this extraordinary group of people.”
Senior Care Team Administrator, Joanna Pearson, who began working for Julia’s House earlier this year, said, ‘When I joined the amazing team at Julia’s House everyone was welcoming, friendly and supportive. Fortunately, across the organisation people are happy to share their experience and knowledge to help any new starters to find their feet. I’ve been so lucky to work in both our Dorset and Wiltshire hospices and had the opportunity to help organise some of the family events. This has given me the chance to meet some of our wonderful families and really understand how much the work we do means. I’m very proud to be part of such an inspirational team.’
Best Companies are workplace engagement specialists. They have over 20 years’ experience in helping organisations measure, improve and recognise employee engagement, and their accreditation standards have been certifying excellence in the workplace since 2006. The Best Companies accreditation programme is the standard of workplace engagement in the UK, recognising organisations who genuinely care about and value their employees
Julia’s House is your local children’s hospice, looking after the most seriously ill children in Dorset and Wiltshire, who need 24 hour care for their complex and often rare medical conditions. Its dedicated team of nurses and carers are a lifeline of support, providing essential respite breaks to give exhausted families a break and helping to prevent them from reaching breaking point.
