Today we are spotlighting Jasmine Martin, Head of Financial Services, who was nominated by Louise John. Louise said:

“Jasmine has been a constant source of support and guidance to me since I began working at the Trust two years ago. The Trust’s charity, Caring Minds, had been neglected for a long period of time and Jasmine Martin and others, did what they could to keep it afloat, this is over and above Jasmine’s day job. She is very passionate about the charity and has been instrumental in bringing it to where it is today. Even though I am now in post, Jasmine has remained a constant support to Caring Minds and has been on hand to support me in decision making, sharing her knowledge and experience with me and help manage the charity finances. She has been a part of the Caring Minds committee, attended events where possible, and generally been a real advocate for the charity, promoting it where appropriate and sharing her enthusiasm for the vision we have for Caring Minds.

Jasmine takes time to support and guide others and with her wealth of experience and knowledge of the Trust, she is always willing to help colleagues with any issues they face. Jasmine ensures colleagues are treated fairly and with respect. With her financial cap on, Jasmine is always one step ahead, extremely conscientious and has an eye for detail. Jasmine is a firm, fair and extremely loyal member of the team and I feel she deserves to be recognised for all that she does, over and above her ‘day job’.”

Jasmine was asked about her role at the Trust, what she is proud of, what inspires her and what equality, diversity and inclusion means to her. Jasmine said:

“I am from the lovely Caribbean Island of Montserrat (British Colony with an active Volcano).

I have been working for BSMHFT (and its former) for 21 years and counting. I am the Trust’s Head of Financial Services responsible for Debtors, Creditors (Payments team), Treasury Management, Charitable Funds, Payroll Contract, HMRC Compliance, Internal and External Audit, Counter Fraud, VAT and everything else that comes my way.

I am proud of all that I have worked hard to achieve academically and professionally but I could not do this alone so many thanks to my parents, siblings, family, friends, teachers/educators and colleagues who have supported me in my achievements. What is important to me is to remain grounded and humble and to treat everyone fairly. What inspires me rather than who inspires me is my faith and hope especially after living through a category four hurricane and an active volcano, this changes your perspective/views immensely.

As I have noted above ‘treating everyone fairly’ is of great importance to me. Coming to live in the UK from the Caribbean allowed me to see things on a ‘bigger scale’ and exposed me to so many differing cultures, religions, people, ways of living, opportunities and many other aspects. So, with this, equality, diversity and inclusion are key values for creating a fair and respectful society that embraces everyone’s uniqueness and potential so how can I not support/advocate for this especially being a Senior Manager in the NHS and a School Governor.”