Mark's Blog

As I awoke this morning it was with horror and deep sadness that I learnt of the terrorist attack on the Muslim community in Christchurch, New Zealand.

This is an attack on us all, on our communities, on our country, of all countries and the future we are setting for our children.

These terrible and hideous acts have become too common, too many people have lost their lives and my worry is that we are somehow becoming used to it; that these heinous crimes are what we’ve come to expect, that somehow they’re what we deserve, or that they are inevitable.

We cannot and must not accept that this is the case. I remind all of you that P3 stands against the spread of hate messages of any kind, to any and all communities - these behaviours go against everything this organisation stands for.

I ask you today to join me and stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity, compassion and care with our Muslim colleagues, friends and families, and especially all the families and communities who have lost someone in New Zealand. Their loss is ours, their fear is ours, their hope is ours too – we are the same people.

Welcome to the Finance Blog

I’m Lisa Towndrow, I have worked for P3 since 2014 and in January this year became Head of Finance.

For those of you who don’t know us, we are a team of eleven, with eight of us including myself based at Head Office – Helen Trinick (Finance Director), Sam Hutchinson (previously Smith, Finance Team Manager), David Straw (Project Accountant), Julia Bown, Rachel Henshaw & Lubna Mughal (Finance Officers) and Helen Chambers (Finance Administrator). There are another three of us based at the Tin Hat Centre in Selston – Emma Kent (Income & Revenue Co-ordinator), Kat Brocklehurst (Rent Officer) and Ginny Buckman (Rent Administrator).

Clockwise from top: Lubna, Sam, David, Julia, Helen, Lisa, Rachel, Ginny, Emma and Kat.

Spring Statement

We’re sending out the blog in a week which saw more Brexit uncertainty and the release of the Chancellor’s Spring Statement.

There was no good news on the welfare front in the Statement on Wednesday, as the benefits freeze continues, although Philip Hammond did respond positively to the issue of period poverty which was reported on in the blog last month, promising funding to provide free sanitary products in secondary schools and colleges.

With many points in the Statement dependent on the outcome of Brexit, there was not much else to report so we will give you some useful info instead…

P3 Finance - all you need to know

March / April is one of the busiest times for us in Finance, even more so this year with the introduction of UFA into the P3 family. This is when we finalise the accounts for the current financial year (31.03.2019), so please help us by sending in all the information that we need as detailed in this memo from Sam Hutchinson (download here).

We are often asked who is responsible for what in Finance, please do contact any of us (we don’t bite!!) and we will let you know who is the best person to help. Alternatively, click here for a handy overview of who does what.

We are here to help, so if you have any ideas on how we can improve how we work and support you, please do give me a call.