RSPCAHull & East Riding Culture First Handbook

Who We Are

We are much more than just an animal charity, we are about social justice and equity.

200 years ago three men shared a vision in a coffee shop in Slaughterhouse Lane, London, (one of them, Hull born emancipator William Wilberforce MP) to talk about the impact humans have on animals. His legacy lives on in Hull and East Riding, our work with animals, for animals remains our true north. Our mission has a wider impact on society educating people about the 5 animal welfare needs, helping our community be more resilient through volunteering, employment opportunities, and supporting mental health through social prescribing.

Our Branch is over 120 years old; we are a local and independent Branch of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Our Animal Rescue Centre is for the community and supported by the community of Hull and East Riding.

We have an awesome team at the Hull & East Riding branch, and we live up to our organisational values. Working or volunteering for the Branch brings with it an expectation of positive behaviours that demonstrate professionalism, kindness, and friendliness.

Our destination is a culture of inclusivity. We are all passionate about our people and their skills that collectively come together to form a multi-dimensional presence. Our culture first approach is our north star and handrail to ensuring we can be the very best version of ourselves.

Fred Owen Chief Executive Officer RSPCA Hull & East Riding

What We Do

Our Destination

We believe in the power of communities to improve the health and wellbeing of animals.

We believe in the power of communities that respect and protect animal welfare through volunteering and advocacy.

Our Charitable Promise

We have a deep heritage of caring, compassion and advocacy for animals and people. Promoting the relief of sickness, distress, and suffering. Helping animals and people at some of the most vulnerable moments in their lives.

Our Mission and Vision

Our vision is a world where all animals are respected and treated with kindness and compassion.

Our mission is to ensure animals have a good life by rescuing and caring for those in need, by advocating on behalf of all animals and by inspiring everyone to treat them with compassion and respect.

The RSPCA Hull and East Riding Branch is an independent local charity operating under the strictest rules and guidance of our national body.

Our branch is committed to providing a consistent care pathway for all the animals that come into our care.

In some rare and difficult cases veterinary surgeons make the decision to euthanise animals, this is done as the very last option and is based on the best outcome for the animal.

We will provide animal centred care, working alongside animal owners, our inspectorate, our community, and partner with other animal charities to ensure that animals have the best chance of a happy, long, pain free and enriched life.

1.

Food and Water

Supplied with fresh, clean water at all times and food that is the right kind for them.

5. Company

Given the right kind of company and attention for the type of pet that they are; some pets get very lonely when left alone for too long.

2.

Provided with a good environment: a home with a nice safe place to rest. Some pets may need a place to climb

The 5 Welfare Needs

4.

Natural Behaviour

Provided with the ability to do things that are natural for them, such as playing, walking, or sunning themselves. They may also need the right kind of toys to scratch or chew on.

Bed & Shelter Health

3.

Protected from pain and harm, by seeing the vet when they are feeling unwell, or to get their regular injections to keep them healthy.

Our People

Making a difference

We want our people to enjoy their time with us, grow with our Branch and develop themselves. Truthfulness and honesty should be at the heart of what we do. Whilst tolerance for each other is an important virtue, our people should feel able to challenge each other with safety.

Our culture is one of psychological safety, the belief that you will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes. In our Branch, it is a shared expectation that teammates will not embarrass, reject, or punish each other for sharing ideas, taking risks, or soliciting feedback.

You know we want to be courageous, passionate, and positive in the work we do. But we also value treating people with dignity. So, if you feel like team members are crossing your boundaries, we need you to speak up.

How we are expected to behave at work

When at work, we are representing our organisation and we expect your behaviour to reflect a positive image. Our people are expected to maintain a high standard of personal appearance and hygiene. All staff and volunteers are expected to conduct themselves in a polite and professional manner to anyone they come into contact with both inside and outside of the

Now that you’re part of the team, we would love to see you develop. Our team is built on doing things a little differently and developing your skills, knowledge and expertise is key to your continued success.

Do not be afraid to get involved with projects - ask for more details, do your research, jump in, and do not hesitate to throw in your suggestions. We are all about collaboration and ideas.

We will have regular conversations with you about how you are doing and where you want to go in your career as well as identifying development opportunities.

Talk to your line manager about any opportunities you have spotted to learn new skills or gain additional experience that will help you grow. More than anything else enjoy your time with us.

Our Values

Humanity

We treat people and animals with compassion and respect.

Excellence

We take pride in doing an excellent job.

Accountability

We do the right thing and say the hard stuff.

Responsiveness

Solution focussed and constantly learning.

Teamwork

We are focussed, compassionate and friendly.

How Things Work

Every organisation has its rules, policies, and procedures, we are no different. We like to think that our people use these as both a handrail and the golden thread when working and volunteering with us. You can find all our policies and procedures on BreatheHR.

Getting the job done

We do not monitor your hours or expect you to sign in and out every day. Be sure to check in with the team as we have our core hours for different team members. The Animal Rescue Centre operates 0800hrs to 2000hrs and the Retail Team 0900hrs to 1630hrs.

Clearly our animals need care, and our customers want a shop that is open, these are core times. OUTCOMES are important to us and how you achieve them is up to you, just so long as you achieve. We know some of you are night owls and others are early birds, so we always try to be flexible with how you work where possible (we have our core hours that takes priority). If you need some extra flexibility, come, and talk to a member of the Management Team and we can figure something out together.

When working from home we still expect you to check in, update your calendars, keep team members informed

When you are not well

We all get a little under the weather from time to time. We know that sometimes people get ill and we know the last thing you want to do is chat to anyone when you’re sick. We need that initial call before 7.00am to let us know so we can help manage your workload and you can rest up. This will give us time to sort out your workload and find cover for our furry friends and customers.

If you’re sick for seven days or less, we will have a brief catch up on your return and you’ll need to complete a log of this – we’ve made it nice and simple for you! The sickness absence policy has more details around how we manage longer term absences, fit notes, return to work support and trigger points for frequent absences.

If you need time off for other reasons, such as family commitments, appointments, emergencies, these things happen. We all have families outside of work and we know how important they are to you! Families change, grow and sometimes go through hard times. How your family is doing impacts how you are doing. This means it is REALLY important to us. We will support you in any way we can and offer all statutory leave in relation to family. Please speak to your line manager as soon as possible and let’s make a plan to cover work that needs it, and give you the time and space you need too.

Annual Leave

All employees of the RSPCA Hull and East Riding have 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays - this will be prorata in line with salary. Everyone gets the bank holidays - being part-time shouldn’t mean you miss out.

To book time off, please use your employee login to Breathe HR. There, you will see how many days holiday you have left in the current year.

Tools of the trade

We use technology pretty much daily, where would we be without it! We will supply you with all your IT equipment, which will be visible to all of us, we have nothing to hide here. As we are on a mission to simplify work processes and eliminate the unnecessary, we do like a bit of efficient software (and it helps save a few trees, too). As part of your dayto-day role, you will use the following software as a minimum. We will train you to use them as the more you know, the easier you will find things. If you need a bit of extra support, just ask your manager

Dext and Xero is our accounting software where all inoices are processed and our charitable finances are managed. Our shop teams will also use Wil-U till systems and Zettle card readers.

SharePoint is our shared drive for all work folders, templates, T&Cs and pretty much everything else you will need.

Breathe HR is our employee portal. Here you will find holidays, your contract, rewards and benefits.

When Things Go Wrong

Things go wrong from time to time. It’s not the end of the world. As long as we deal with things as soon as possible, get them out in the open, and have an honest chat about putting things right. We are a team of confident, strong people and we know that sometimes we might disagree with one another. We may have different ideas or ways of doing things, and yes, sometimes work can get a bit challenging, but that’s to be expected every now and again. The important thing is that you are always respectful, open, and honest with each other.

If you or we, feel like you might need some extra support, we will talk things through as we know we can resolve issues if we work together as a team. If things can’t get resolved informally, we have processes to support you outlined in our policies.

Last Words

We want you to be yourself and enjoy work, as let’s face it, we spend one third of our adult life here. To us, this means being passionate about what you do, being a team player, taking ownership and ensuring the continued success of our business by keeping our furry friends, supporters and customers happy.

Our Feedback

The RSPCA Hull & East Riding is an embodiment of its values, putting animals at the heart of decision making and supporting its people to do the same. The charity has embraced working in collaboration with local partners to enhance both its and other services for the greater good of the region. They continue to work in partnership with us to make volunteering a key part of their delivery and provide individuals a wonderful place to undertake this volunteering. I have no doubt the charity will continue to grow and support the local community in rehoming animals and making the area an even greater place to live, work and visit.

Matt Wright, Hull CVS

I started working at the Branch in January and have loved every minute since. The team were all so welcoming and helped me through my first few weeks, always happy to answer any questions I had and taught me so many new things that I now use on a day-to-day basis. It is a mentally and physically hard job, however it is so rewarding to see all the animals who have had a bad start in life leave to go to their forever homes, knowing that they will have the best chance at a new life. All the team here at the centre are amazing, always checking in with each other on the tough days and supporting one another to get through it.

Rhiann, Animal Care Assistant

I worked with the CEO and the Branch regularly, providing a smooth journey from enquiry through to internship. I am pleased to say we had a successful 19-week internship, leading to a permanent position. I had the privilege of seeing the branch change and evolve throughout my engagement over around 12 months, and dealing with Fred throughout was always professional, easy and insightful too.

Although there was a clear period of change underway, I still got a feeling of positivity at the branch, greeted with smiles from the staff and the animals every time!! I was always made to feel welcome – learning a lot about the Branch, its mission and history each time I visited, and am excited to see what the future holds.

Paul Thorpe, Humber Internship Programme

Our experience of partnering with RSPCA’s Hull branch has been fantastic. They are a talented team to work alongside and are always happy to help. Their ethics and hard work are clear to see and their forward-thinking evident as they continue to expand.

Jonathan Neale, Accounts Manager, Stonemere

We had a team of KCOM volunteers who spent a morning down on site. The animal care team were fantastic in engaging our staff in all areas of animal care from cleaning out the rabbit unit to feeding and exercising the dogs. We’re now planning an activity in our Wellbeing week in May down at our HQ in Hull.

Louise Babych, Community Impact Partner, KCOM

Contact

RSPCA Hull & East Riding Head Office

Animal Rescue Centre & Charity Shop

Clough Rd, Hull HU6 7PE 01482 341 331

Trustees

trustees@rspcahull.org.uk 01482 459 212

Chief Executive Officer

fred.owen@rspcahull.org.uk 01482 459 212

Distribution and Donation Centre Unit 2A Base Business Park, Chamberlain Rd, Hull, HU8 8HL 01482 459 545

Beverley Charity Shop 8 Butcher Row, Beverley HU17 0AB 01482 872 924

Clough Road Charity Shop

Clough Rd, Hull HU6 7PE 01482 341 331

Holderness Road Charity Shop 287 Holderness Road, Hull, HU8 8TD 01482 229 153

Cottingham Charity Shop 177 Hallgate, Cottingham HU16 4BB 01482 843 663

Health & Safety Champion

Carina McLean-Smith

Equalities Lead Champion

Elizabeth Wright

Wellbeing Champion

Jemma Owen