Jersey’s animal charity has warned that it is becoming “increasingly onerous” to operate amid rising regulation and operational pressures in the third sector.
The JSPCA outlined its plans for the future following a period of financial recovery and internal change at this week’s annual general meeting.
Charity president Ben Shenton confirmed that the JSPCA ended the year with a net profit of over £500,000 – helped by legacies, membership fees and rental income from its property portfolio.
But he warned that it is “becoming increasingly onerous to run a charity”.
“The more rules, regulations and changing standards we have to follow, the more the cost of running the charity increases, so we are becoming more and more reliant on people supporting us,” said Mr Shenton.
But the charity president praised JSPCA staff and supporters for helping stabilise the organisation in recent years.
“You can’t do anything without the staff,” he said.
“The staff are absolutely fantastic. I always work on the basis that they’re the experts in everything they do.”
The meeting also marked the end of Tom Noel’s tenure as interim CEO.
Reflecting on his eight months in the role, he described it as the “privilege of a lifetime” and said the charity had needed to refocus on its core mission of preventing cruelty, promoting knowledge, and caring for animals.
“When I joined, probably the first observation was that we had kind of lost sight of what our mission was, especially when it came to preventing cruelty and promoting knowledge,” he said.
“So the first thing I did was make sure that everyone in the team knew what the mission was, and actually start to put steps in place to try and correct that mission.”
Mr Noel said there had been leadership and cultural challenges within the organisation and that difficult staffing decisions had to be made.
He also confirmed that while the charity had a “strong balance sheet”, its facilities were in “chronic need of investment”.
A full property strategy is now being drawn up to assess the needs of the JSPCA’s 20 buildings, including off-site premises.
The charity has also made changes to staff wellbeing and working conditions.
A new “coaching therapy session”, Time to Talk, was introduced for staff working in what Mr Noel described as a “high-stress environment,” and all employees – including cleaners – are now paid the living wage.
The charity has launched a new website to address criticisms that it was “not doing enough to help prevent cruelty on the island.”
The JSPCA also relaunched its assisted veterinary care clinic and hosted its first open day in years.
New CEO Pam Aubert, who has previously worked for Macmillan Jersey and Jersey Cancer Relief, said she was focused on creating a sustainable future and building on the recent progress.
“When I saw this job opportunity come up, I thought, ‘gosh, that would be my dream job’,” she said.
“I think Tom has helped take the charity from where it was in eight months to where it is today, and what I would like all the people that work and volunteer here is create a sustainable future for the JSPCA.”
Ms Aubert said the team would be developing a five- to ten-year strategy that focuses on improving the current buildings and shaping services based on the needs of animals and the people who use the shelter.
She said: “We’re going to create this regeneration for transformation projects, so all these buildings that Tom’s been talking about, instead of knocking down them and rebuilding, we’re going to look at how we can bring what we’ve got up to standards and look at how we can we can make that fit for purpose.”
The new CEO also committed to expanding the charity’s membership, increasing stakeholder engagement, and involving more people in shaping its direction.
“There’s going to be a lot more engagement with our different stakeholders and with the States Vet and the public and reconnecting, and there’s going to be lots of you know fixes happening, which is really exciting,” added Ms Aubert.
Five years ago, the JSPCA faced one of the most serious charity fraud cases in Jersey’s history.
Former CEO Major Stephen Coleman was jailed for seven years in 2020 for defrauding £400,000 from the charity to pay himself a three-figure salary and fund a lavish lifestyle.
During sentencing at the Royal Court, the judge ordered that everything Coleman owned – including his house and other high-value possessions – must be sold to pay the charity back at least part of what the former army officer and St Lawrence Centenier stole from them.
