News

All in a day’s work

18 Aug 2026

At Girton Town Charity’s office on High Street, three members of staff provide essential support for the Charity’s many activities, as well as delivering administrative back-up for the team of Trustees. We take a look behind the scenes to see what is involved.

Carol Robinson and Sue Coughlan share the week and the many tasks needed for the smooth day-to-day running of GTC, including offering a personal service for villagers popping in during the core office hours of 10.00am-2.00pm, Monday to Friday.

First port of call

Office Manager Carol says: “Apart from starting each working day with putting the kettle on, no two days are ever the same! First thing Sue and I triage the emails, post and telephone messages, which always include requests for assistance, applications for one of our many Grants and Schemes and questions about our almshouses. We are the first port of call for enquiries from residents of all ages – from educational grants to help students with further education to accessing our Short Term Care grant.

“Some of our Grants and Schemes can help any age such as the very popular Hospital Taxi Scheme which delivers capped fares to attend outpatient appointments and our individual grants for villagers who need assistance to deal with challenging circumstances.”

Sue who is Office Administrator continues: “Central to our role in the office is providing support to our Trustees who are all volunteers and give their time to carry out the Charity’s objectives. Monthly Trustee meetings are held to monitor activities for which we prepare a detailed Agenda in consultation with the Chair. Following the meeting, we draft Minutes capturing decisions made by Trustees which are then actioned. Once a year a Strategy Day is organised for all Trustees, conducted at an offsite venue to focus on setting priorities for the year ahead.

“Other tasks include collating almshouse resident three-yearly review paperwork, preparing Management Accounts, ensuring we have all the information required on grant application forms - all in preparation for consideration by the Trustees, then drafting successful grant award letters for signature.”

Maintenance monitoring

The third member of the office team is Maintenance Supervisor, Fred Stevens who is in charge of repairs and maintenance for GTC’s almshouses including property condition reviews, routine servicing and liaising with contractors.

“We use Snapfix Maintenance Software to log all calls and emails received, together with diary entries for routine maintenance andadmin tasks,” explains Fred. “This provides an excellent way to monitor current issues and prioritise tasks at our weekly review. My maintenance responsibilities also extend to Village projects which can encompass changing light bulbs on the Goose Railings, looking after the Church bus shelter, and maintenance tasks at the William Collyn Centre."

The busy and friendly team of three is often joined by Trustees coming into the office to deal with day-to-day queries or for meetings with external consultants and support services as well as Nigel, the Dovehouse Court gardener calling in for coffee on his weekly visits – and of course residents are welcome to drop in with any queries or requests too.