Our finance and administration team

Reception desk at Lower Smite Farm

Working for Worcestershire Wildlife Trust

The finance and administration team is responsible for managing all of the Trust's finances and purchasing. It is also responsible for commercial bookings, hiring out our conference and meeting facilities to professional bodies.

Areas of work

Managing and recording all financial transaction and purchasing, including payroll and pensions.
Managing the Trust’s bank account to ensure it complies with government regulations and ensuring all documentation is in place for financial auditors.
Acting as the first port of call for enquiries to the Trust.
Providing general administrative support and acting as the Human Resources department.
The day to day running of the office - maintenance issues, recycling, Health & Safety, liaising with the cleaning company, liaising with the IT company and organising first aid (training and supplies).
Co-ordinating the commercial bookings of our meeting, conference and training facilities. This includes liaising with the organisations who wish to use our buildings, organising catering and refreshments, ensuring the buildings are cleaned and well maintained, as well as providing digital resources such as projectors and screens.

Skills	Able to use sector-specific financial software Ability to prioritise work effectively to deadlines Excellent customer care Capable of physical work including carrying/moving of numbers of tables, chairs and other equipment.
Knowledge	Relevant financial systems (inc. VAT, PAYE and NIC) Banking procedures Office/administrative procedures Familiarity with the setting up of basic audio-visual equipment (e.g. data projectors) Conference and/or event management
Experience	Maintaining accurate and accessible records Running meetings, events or Managing a busy and varied diary of bookings Finance management Budget preparation and management
Personal qualities	Well organised, accurate and methodical Good commercial awareness Tact, diplomacy and professionalism Confidence in dealing with people

Case study: Tom Jenkins, Head of Finance and Operations

Since childhood I have always been fairly good with numbers and spent my college years studying maths, further maths, physics and business studies – everything that had some focus on numbers, equations and problem solving. For reasons only the 18-year-old me would be able to explain, I decided against going to university and ended up working in the local leisure centre selling gym memberships for a couple of years – not exactly what I had planned on doing but I picked up some valuable communication and organisational skills during those years.

A family bereavement then presented the opportunity for me to work in the office for the family childcare business and undertake my accountancy qualifications alongside that. What was supposed to be a temporary situation to help out for a few years became a little more permanent and, before I knew it, I’d been there over 12 years and was “running the show”. At it’s peak, we had seven settings looking after 500+ children per week and a team of over 50 employees. I learned a lot during those 12 years, much more than just numbers, having to become somewhat an expert in early years education, HR, safeguarding and everything in between. After having to navigate our way through the pandemic and the pressures that brought, I decided towards the end of 2021 that the time was right for me to move on and shift the work-life balance.

Working in childcare has a meaningful impact on people’s lives, now and for the future, and having the opportunity to have a positive influence on the county we live in for the future generations was something that stood out when the Finance and Administration Manager role was being advertised in 2021. It was the first position I applied for after having made the decision to move on and, despite having no charity finance background and limited (at best) conservation and nature knowledge, I was given the opportunity to join the Trust and bring my skills and experiences to the role. Perhaps those sales skills my younger self picked up had proven to be useful after all.

Since starting in January 2022, my role has changed and expanded, allowing me to use some of that HR experience and support the wider team through tweaks to our existing financial procedures that free up time to allow them to concentrate on their areas of expertise. At the start of 2025, I was promoted to Head of Finance and Operations, allowing me have a greater influence on the Trust’s strategic aims and contribute to the ongoing growth and success of the Trust. My conservation and nature knowledge is still limited but I do get to play my part in a team with some truly amazing people (staff and volunteers) who are striving to make a real difference, which is wonderfully rewarding and not something many finance people can say is part of their day to day working life.