Powerhouse, Lighthouse, Housekeeper & Everything In-between.
We celebrate 20 years of working with charity leader - Janine Egan, and brace ourselves for the next 20!
20 years in post and Janine Egan is reeling off a long list of things she still wants to achieve for YWCA Yorkshire. Two decades as Project Manager at Green Gables makes Janine the second longest serving team member at the charity. But time has not dampened Janine’s energy or enthusiasm - in fact, listening to Janine speak you can’t help but feel excited and motivated about what’s still to come.
Recruited by YWCA Yorkshire CEO Tracy Gollins in 2004, Janine was tasked with setting up Green Gables in Doncaster; a purpose-built facility to support young women and children with accommodation and on-site support. Pre-Janine, Green Gables was largely still a building site. Once Janine was onboard, an enviable feat of multitasking ensued. Choosing the location of the office toilets, employing a team of expert Project Workers, building relationships with commissioners and designing the service’s safeguarding policies and support practices, were just some of the things on the then 30-year-old’s to-do list. And so, with Janine at the helm, Green Gables grew into something really quite special; a safe place for young women and their children who needed support, compassion and shelter.
Over 20 years the service has evolved from eight original self-contained apartments to a further seven houses locally, as well as support to families with children in their own homes across Doncaster. Currently the Green Gables team of 16 are working with 75 families in the city.
Janine is very open about her own experiences of domestic abuse and crisis and understands just how vital Green Gables is for people who might not have family or friends to support them through their difficult times. After having a baby aged just 18, Janine spent a number of years grappling with the challenges of being a young mum and having an abusive partner. When she was heavily pregnant with her first child, Janine’s then-partner pushed her down the stairs. It would take many more years of hurt and a lot of love and support from her own parents before she was able to fully escape that relationship. She recalls clearly the way health professionals spoke to her as a young person who was having a baby - it started on the labour ward when she was berated for the way she fed her newborn, and it continued through those precious early years. If you’ve lived it - then you know better than most the feelings of fear and inadequacy a young person encounters as they navigate the complexities of parenting and relationships. It’s hard and it’s lonely, and more than anything else a young person needs compassion, understanding and the stability that comes from having a home and people who care. And this is the culture that Janine has built over 20 years at Green Gables.
POWERHOUSE
Janine credits the secure and healthy relationship she has with her husband as central to her professional successes. As a full-time working mum and grandma, she undoubtedly has more on her plate than many, but this does not affect the pace of her progress or commitment to her role.
On top of the day job, Janine has led on the charity’s OFSTED compliance, the organisation-wide adoption of Wellbeing Recovery Action Plans (WRAP), and the quality assurance drive which resulted in an Investors in People ISO9001 accreditation. A local ‘powerhouse’, Janine sits on countless boards and panels across South Yorkshire driving social change through strategy, vision and pure hard graft.
You’d be forgiven for assuming that Janine is less hands-on as a people-manager, given the long list of other responsibilities she has, but again, you’d be surprised! An instinctive leader of people with the optimism, confidence, drive and compassion of a woman who has battled her way up and out of the dark times, Janine’s management style is highly commended by her team. A close-knit group, they describe themselves as a ‘work-family’, with Janine effortlessly playing her role as matriarch, champion and friend all at once.
One colleague speaks out about the time and energy Janine invests in the team’s health and wellbeing; using WRAP as a tool to support people through professional and personal challenges. Another fondly relays the team’s standing joke, that when staff members have their performance review with Janine, colleagues will advise them not to make eye contact and to practise saying the word “no”. Testament to Janine’s drive to celebrate people’s talents and develop their skills - after a short time with her, you will come away doing something new and different. It might push you out of your comfort zone, but Janine knows, and so you know too, that you can do it.
HOUSEKEEPER
And then there is the ‘housekeeping’. You wouldn't imagine there is much time left for tidying, but the clear office desk and colour coordinated filing systems tell a different story. Affectionately called a ‘neat freak’ - Janine's approach to cleanliness is yet another insight into the workings of a super high-functioning woman, with a job to do and no room for trip-hazards. ‘When she goes off on one’ is how Janine’s cleaning frenzies are described by colleagues, with others joking they’ve feared they too might get cleaned up into the cupboard if they sat still for too long in her office. And so it is that under Janine’s leadership, the team keep clearing the paths, innovating, and striving for better for the families of Doncaster.
LIGHTHOUSE
A strong and determined charity leader, Janine has forged her own path, standing strong in stormy waters and shining a light for others to see. Leaving school with little in the way of qualifications and then returning to education to study business and later counselling with a small baby in tow, aged 22 Janine was already volunteering in a women’s refuge. She quickly progressed to roles in homelessness, housing and domestic abuse services across South Yorkshire, before making a beeline for the YWCA Yorkshire Project Manager position. Janine knew that this is where she could have the greatest influence and deliver the most impact on people's lives. Her commitment to women, children and families is as strong today as it was 20 years ago. As is her unwavering ambition for the charity and its people. With Janine’s light shining bright, others feel empowered to follow and we can’t wait to see what happens in the next 20 years.