Meet Amanda Shaw, the Subsidiaries & Charities Co-ordinator for the Benenden Charitable Trust.
Q Describe a typical day
A Every day starts with opening emails, dealing with messages and the post. After that, I don’t really have a typical day – it very much depends on the month and time of the year as to what I will be doing. I could be organising reports for the Friendly Healthcare Organisation; collating reports for the Civil Service Insurance Society; meeting with other organisations such as the Civil Service Benevolent Fund who I work closely with; or preparing cases for the trustees to consider.
Q What is the best thing about your job?
A Being able to deal with an individual case from start to finish and seeing it through – that’s very rewarding
Q And the worst?
A As much as you would like to help everyone who applies to the Benenden Charitable Trust, this is not always possible. However, we do try our best to find an alternative solution where possible.
Q And the most unusual?
A If there is a financial difficulty due to a healthcare problem the trustees will consider all types of cases some of which can prove to be unusual.
Q If you were in charge at Benenden Healthcare, what’s the first thing you would do?
A I would introduce a four-day week and have Friday as a duvet day as the weekend is far too short!
Q What did you do before you began working for the Society?
A I worked for BT for four years on directory inquiries. Before that I worked as a business travel consultant for Nestle. I’ve been with Benenden Healthcare 13 years – I worked in the member services department before taking up my current post four years ago.
Q What do you do in your spare time?
A I don’t have any spare time! I’m a working mum with two small boys, Alfie, two, and Jay, six, so my time is taken up with them and all their activities such as swimming lessons and football training.
Q What’s your proudest moment?
A I would have to say having my two boys. It’s great being mum to them: Alfie is into mischief and Jay is more laid back so they are completely different characters.
Q Which famous three people would you invite to dinner and why?
A Louie Spence – he’s a choreographer/tv personality and is so funny. He’d be great to have along for the entertainment factor.
Nigella Lawson – I really am a terrible cook so I would definitely need help in the kitchen. Nigella would be fantastic, she creates good food for curvy women and her chocolate cake looks divine.
Simon Cowell – I think he’d be quite an interesting character and hopefully he’d have lots of celebrity gossip that he could share with the rest of us!
Q What would be your dream come true?
A In reality, I’d love to live somewhere warm and by the sea. Wishful thinking would be to win the lottery with my syndicate colleagues at work.
This article first appeared in issue 11 of benhealth, the magazine for Benenden Healthcare members.
