Governance and Risk Manager Julie discusses finding belonging, respect and healing at work.
Governance and Risk Manager Julie discusses finding belonging, respect and healing at work.
Julie Binns
Governance and Risk Manager
I started my career in accountancy working at a firm of chartered accountants, and on qualifying worked in a variety of sectors including PLCs in accountancy and audit roles. I’ve never been someone who could sit and do the same thing year after year. I needed variety and challenge, and in the 1990s moved into the skills sector working at a Training and Enterprise Council TEC). Moving from one TEC to another to turn around a TEC with major problems at risk of being closed was highly stressful but incredibly rewarding. We turned the situation around under a lot of pressure, and the role taught me a great deal and tested my resilience. I took real pride in succeeding in that role.
Later, I was asked to join the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) Head Office in Coventry, the successor to the TECs, initially working in the audit team but then moving into financial policy and project managing in IT systems. I gained a huge amount of experience during that time. Eventually when the LSC was merged into the Civil Service, I took voluntary redundancy and was asked to do some interim work at the Skills Show until my leave date. The Skills Show took me on permanently and although I loved the role and set up a shared service with another Government quango, I had to leave due to a conflict of interest caused by changed Government Policy.
After that, I moved into the charity sector, mainly in finance roles, including working in finance for a specialist care home. That was a difficult time. It was ethically challenging and personally draining. I was shouted at and screamed at, and I left that role feeling battered and bruised.
An Agency approached me not long after leaving the care home and during the pandemic with the interim company secretarial role at ExtraCare. Honestly it felt like a comfort blanket after everything I’d been through, like I could breathe again. Being part of a team where people are kind, where you’re respected and listened to, that was healing for me.
After six months, a compliance and risk role came up, and I went for it. I really liked my Line Manager and was proud when I was offered the position. Since then, my role has evolved and now not only am I a Governance and Risk Manager, but I’ve found a sense of comfort and purpose that I hadn’t felt in a long time.
I faced challenges with inclusivity in public service when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My boss at the time was amazing and gave me all the time off I needed for treatment. But by the time I returned to my role just seven months later everything had changed. Following a reorganisation there were new directors, a different team, and I was told I couldn’t have my job back. They offered me something much lower graded instead. That was devastating. This had been my role and there was no issue with my brain, I’d simply left to have treatment.
I knew my rights under the Disability Discrimination Act and challenged it, but the atmosphere became toxic. I was isolated, my desk was moved away from everyone, and nobody would speak to me. It was dreadful. Eventually, I moved departments to escape the hostility. It was my way of taking back control. I knew I’d been discriminated against, but I wasn’t going to let that define me.
Coming to ExtraCare has been a completely different experience. From day one, I’ve felt supported and respected. And in challenging times the Charity stepped up for me. That really became clear last year when I lost my wonderful husband. We’d been married nearly 40 years, and his illness was sudden and aggressive. There was no time to prepare, we had just a matter of weeks.
From the moment I asked for time to take him to hospital, the team told me to work from home as much as I needed. Everyone was 100% supportive. My colleagues picked up my workload. Members of the Executive Leadership Team even came all the way to the funeral, and others personally reached out to offer their condolences. That kind of kindness is rare; it reminded me I was in the right place. I felt truly respected.
It’s been a year now since he passed. My team brought me flowers on the anniversary, a simple act, but it felt incredibly meaningful. I enjoy coming to work. It keeps me going mentally. It distracts me and gives me purpose.
I am also treated just like everyone else, even as one of the older members of the team. That matters to me. I still have so much to offer, and that’s never been questioned here.
Looking back, I’ve often been in spaces where I may not have fit the mould. When I was training as an accountant, I was one of only two women in a class of 150 men. When my children were young, my husband became a stay-at-home dad while I worked, which was rare 30 years ago. It was a decision we made together, and it worked for us. We always had an equal partnership, even when it went against traditional expectations.
I’ve faced discrimination. I’ve felt isolated. But I’ve also found belonging, and that makes all the difference. At ExtraCare, I feel safe. I feel heard. And I wouldn’t leave now no matter who approached me. Because when you’ve found a place that treats you with dignity, respect, and kindness that’s a place where you feel you can stay.
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