I haven’t posted much recently and there’s a reason for that. Recently, I have taken over as CEO of the extraordinary arts and mental health charity Ark T. Ark T fosters the mental health and well being of the people of Oxford, particularly in deprived areas, through the creative arts.
I wasn’t intending, or even looking, to become the CEO of an arts charity - I was planning to go back into private practice. But while I was deep in the interview processes at various law firms, a friend pushed the job ad for CEO of Ark T toward me and said, “This is you.” I’ve never really had the experience of directly doing good in my job - and I thought it would be such a privilege to be able to do that - as well as merge some of my creative side with my business brain.
Not expecting anything - I put forward my application and after a rigorous process, the trustees decided to take a risk and appointed me. So I’ve now come to the end of the 7 day handover period - and I can reflect on the past two weeks - which have been some of the most intense I’ve ever had at work.
There’s such a huge difference between working in the corporate world and working in an organisation devoted to improving the mental health and wellbeing of people suffering the effects of deprivation and social injustice. As a lawyer, I’m used to working under pressure with large amounts of responsibility. I can’t say that it’s easy, but I feel like I can handle high levels of that type of pressure, most of the time. But being faced with the stark reality of the extent of the poverty of certain parts of Oxford - one of the richest cities in the UK- has been a huge shock. These parts of Oxford are not on the tourist trail.
I’m feeling my way. In a meeting last week, our inspirational programme manager, Jo, explained to me that before any of the young people we work with can do art, we have to check that they’ve eaten, drunk something and been to the toilet. You can’t create if you’re hungry, thirsty and need the loo. Jo explained to me that due to all sorts of factors young people may not be able to recognise or respond to the urgent feeling that prompts most people to nip to the loo.
While Jo was explaining the realities - I was horrified to start feeling tears pricking my eyes. I tried holding them back - not wanting to display un-CEOish sobbing - especially in my very first few days. But the reality of the deprivation of children here in Oxford, on my very doorstep - completely overwhelmed me and Jo very kindly let me have a little cry.
I’ve since talked to experienced charity CEOs on how they avoid being overwhelmed while still maintaining the compassion that’s essential to really effective charity work. Apparently there’s no easy answer. Obviously, I can’t go around blubbing constantly at the effects of poverty and injustice - it would be an exercise in narcissism - as well as being counterproductive. I hope I’ll find the right balance.
It has been a learning curve. I’ve finally learned how to read financial spreadsheets - something I’ve tried hard to avoid my entire life. Props to the outgoing CEO, who sat with me day after day patiently explaining financial spreadsheets until they’re branded on my retinas. I suspect that the only thing worse than having financial spreadsheets explained to you non-stop for days is being the one doing the explaining.
More props to the outgoing CEO for being kind to me when, once again, I had a little cry at the end of a 7 hour financial spreadsheet meeting. Sheer terror at the scale of the task at hand prompted this bout of blubbing. What’s happened to my hard won - hard bitten corporate persona?
What conclusions can I draw after the handover period? The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that the people who work in arts charities are some of the loveliest - most fun people I’ve ever met. They are the treasures of the organisation. If you ever meet people who work in an arts charity, or any charity for that matter - you can be sure of three things - they’re underpaid, overworked, and fabulous! Buy them a coffee.
I’ve also learned that the way the charity sector works here in the UK is very, very hard on people - requiring charities to use their precious resources in a non-stop dog fight for funding - jumping through increasingly time consuming hoops for decreasing amounts of money. There must be a better way? I hope so.
Thanks for reading to this point - I’ll post again under this heading when I’ve got more thoughts to share. In the meantime, please consider donating to Ark T - despite Oxford’s reputation for wealth and privilege - the communities we serve in Oxford are amongst the top 10%** of most deprived in the whole country. In some areas we serve, 39% of children live in poverty** - that means that they don’t have enough to eat. Think about that for a moment.
If, like us, you think that this is a disgrace, then please consider donating to Ark-T here.
We can’t promise to solve everything, but we can promise to make a difference.
With love
If you enjoyed reading this, please check out our website - before it gets replaced with our shiny new one. You can find it here.
*Please keep in mind that this blog post reflects my personal thoughts and opinions only and does not reflect the official stance or policies of our company. Thanks to Ivan Wise, chair of Ark-T's trustees to signing off and allowing me to publish. Also, thanks to Jo!
**English Indices of Deprivation, 2019.
Comments