The Gallery team have long understood how much a wellbeing warrior Beverley is in Jersey… She’s a bona fide cool bean and lately, she deserves recognition for her Small Business Support Group and her dedication to Jersey’s wellbeing!
Beverley is known for founding WellBeing World magazine, the Wellbeing Awards and well, pretty much all things wellbeing in the workplace and wider community. Having worked as an advocate for making people feel better for the last almost two decades, Beverley’s helpful hat was pulled firmly on when COVID struck last year… She sprung into action and created a platform for small businesses to get advice and guidance; it turned out to be a lifeline to many. The support group didn’t just offer friendly advice and a safe place to share concerns, it also lobbied government and worked with the powers that be to establish better fairness – including, ‘grants not loans’ for small businesses amongst a host of other vital efforts.
“For many of the small businesses, it was literally a matter of existence, fighting for survival to save their very livelihoods, to hold on to their staff, pay the bills and feed their families. It was harrowing and some lost everything. I hoped to be able to make even a small difference for those most in need.”
From the inception of the group to the aftermath of last year, Beverley’s focus is now on wellbeing support for carers. Having very recently created the WellBeing for Carers group (inspired by a lady who cares for both parents who have dementia, and one now also has Leukemia), the idea is to bring together all of the last decade’s expertise, knowledge and connections and establish real support for carers in Jersey.
Beverley is working on the numbers as this article goes to print… Did you know, there are approximately 5,500 carers (5,000 adults, 500 juniors) supporting a loved one who is older, disabled or seriously ill in Jersey. In the UK the relative numbers for carers show masses of economic savings thanks to carers who look after loved ones – the same can be said in Jersey. Beverley’s latest mission is to make carers get the care they need too.
“We are looking at the possibility of establishing our own charity, and/or attracting Government or commercial sponsorship and we’d love to partner with existing organisations and charities who already help carers with their challenges… Anyone fitting the bill can drop Beverley a line beverley@wellbeingworld.je – we have worked with and known Beverley for many years and one thing’s for sure about the COOL BEAN we call Mrs Wellbeing, when she puts her mind to something, you can rest assured it’s going to happen.
