A Day In the Life Of Our Finance & People Manager
Join our Finance & People Manager Tali for a typical day at The Green House…
7am starts not with an alarm, but with coffee. My husband very kindly brings me one in bed which instantly improves my capacity for patience and diplomacy. Fuelled by caffeine, I then rouse the children and we sit down for breakfast together, a calm moment before the inevitable debates over lost water bottles, mysterious stains and whether or not today is definitely a school day.
Once everyone is fed, I gently coerce the children into school uniforms, hair brushing and dental hygiene. This process requires patience, persuasion and occasionally international diplomacy level negotiation skills. We then head off on the school run. This is one of my favourite parts of the day. We are incredibly lucky to be able to walk to school without going near any roads, making it a peaceful start that involves fresh air, conversation and the occasional reminder that, yes, school is definitely happening today!
By 9am I switch hats and start work as a Finance and People Manager. My days are a lively mix of spreadsheets and people. One minute I’m deep in budgets, forecasts and making sure every pound is being used wisely to support the charity’s mission; the next I’m supporting colleagues, answering HR queries or even getting involved with the very glamorous job that is fixing a leaky bathroom tap.
No two days are the same. I might be preparing management accounts, reviewing policies or acting as a sound board for someone who just needs a quick chat. Working in the charity sector means every task feels purposeful, (yes, even fixing taps), because it all feeds into making a difference. There’s a real satisfaction in knowing that behind every spreadsheet is impact and behind every process is a person.
At 3pm my workday ends and my second shift begins. I collect the children from school and we dive headfirst into the familiar afternoon whirlwind that is homework negotiations, dinner preparations and ferrying everyone off to after school activities like gymnastics and piano lessons. The house fills with music, spelling recitals, and the smell of something hopefully half edible cooking in the kitchen.
On Monday nights I head out to rehearse with the concert band I play in, a rare moment that’s just for me and a wonderful way to switch my brain into a completely different mode.
By 8pm reality catches up and I invariably fall asleep alongside the children, fully clothed, mid story or mid thought, knowing full well that tomorrow morning will come all too quickly. And when it does, the coffee will arrive, the cycle will begin again, and I will be content in the thought I wouldn’t swap this mad life for anything in the world.
Read A Day In The Life of Head of Fundraising & Comms