Pros
The people on the ground. Volunteers and frontline staff are genuinely kind and committed, and the older people supported by the charity are a pleasure to work with.
Cons
Working here was honestly the worst experience of my professional life. This review cannot do my experience justice but it should paint somewhat of a picture. Having read the other negative reviews, I can say they are completely accurate and reflect my experience. It is validating to see I was not the only one, but also genuinely sad that nothing seems to have changed and others have also experienced such poor treatment. I regret ever working for this organisation, but I am very glad I left. In my experience, there was bullying from senior management. I do not say that lightly, but it is how I experienced it. I also heard senior leaders speak very badly and unprofessionally about people they had pushed out, which says a lot about the culture. There was a strong sense of narrative control, and at times behaviour that felt intimidating. Concerns were not addressed in a meaningful way, they were shut down or redirected. As others have said, there was no proper HR function. If you had concerns, you were effectively left dealing with the same senior leadership responsible for the issues, including individuals who, in my experience, could be dismissive, rude and unprofessional. Leadership more broadly is a real issue. There is a noticeable lack of meaningful experience in key roles, and it shows in both decision making and culture. One senior manager in particular seems to approach the charity like a sales floor, which may reflect their background, but completely misses the point of a people-focused organisation. There is a heavy focus on optics and self-promotion, and far less on creating a genuinely healthy working environment. The drive of senior leadership in my opinion is money generated, they didn’t ever seem motivated or engaged with the older people at the centre of the cause. I have seen comments about senior management enjoying certain perks. I cannot personally confirm that, but based on how people were treated and they’re behaviour/ character, it would not surprise me at all. It is also worth saying that writing a negative review like this is not something people do lightly. Whether current or former employees, there is always a concern about repercussions, especially in an environment where people already feel uncomfortable/ fearful of speaking up. The consistency across reviews should not be dismissed. What makes it worse is how this culture is upheld. There are middle managers who seem more focused on backing senior leadership than supporting their teams. The previous review is a good example of this. It reads less like an honest reflection and more like a defence. When someone spends more time dismissing others and calling them liars than offering anything genuinely substantively positive, it does not disprove the criticism, it reinforces it. And on that point, if you repeatedly hear senior leaders speak negatively about people who have left, it starts to feel a bit like the classic situation where someone claims all of their exes were “the problem or crazy.” At some point, you have to question the pattern… Overall, it is a huge shame. The older people the charity supports are wonderful, and many of the volunteers and frontline staff are some of the loveliest people I have worked with. I miss some of them, and I am proud of the work I tried to do there, especially knowing how much that support is needed. But there is no part of me that could have continued working there. I am genuinely embarrassed to have been associated with the organisation, although I am not embarrassed by what I personally contributed. If you are thinking of working here, take the reviews seriously. If you already work here and are questioning things, trust your instincts. There are far better, healthier organisations out there. The issue here is not the criticism of Re-engage SLT/ the CEO, it us their complete lack of willingness to acknowledge it.
