Cathy on Gillian



We knew each another before doing this job through Safeway, where Gillian was the commercial director and I was on the HR side.

We share the same vision for the charity - we want to be the conscience of the industry. It is our job to bring together competitors from across the board to raise money and then distribute it. Gillian brings extensive networking skills and also persistence, which probably stems from her trading background.

My role has three key areas: getting in more beneficiaries that are in need of our help, raising awareness of the charity, and preventing people working in the industry from falling into poverty in the future. That all fits in with Gillian's strategic role.

We also work together with Caravan's welfare and strategy group, which helps us look to the future. Gillian provides the strategic direction and makes sure everything that comes out of the group happens.



Gillian on Cathy



Cathy's role as development director is fairly new - we introduced it two years ago when we identified the need to move the charity forward and make it more relevant to the grocery industry today. We need to be more pro-active than simply raising money.

We both have the advantage that we have worked in the industry. It helps us run the charity because we know whether we need to approach a sales director, or the HR department or logistics for different projects. We also know what is and what is not possible, both in terms of the industry's time and financial constraints.

Cathy and I go out to the industry together to help raise funds, but we also have to encourage people to get involved with the charity. We need people to give their time as well as money. I will give the overview and the big picture about Caravan and talk about the need for financial support, while Cathy gives her pitch about how we can put plans into action.

Cathy brings fun and a good sense of humour to the job. She also has softer skills, whereas I'm more strategic. I'm also thicker skinned and am quite happy to get out and ask people for things. But once I get a yes, Cathy is the one that goes in and makes everything happen.

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