One of the key recommendations set out in the Morrissey report was that the Party should seek to appoint a Pastoral Care Officer.
I am delighted to announce that Jeanne Tarrant has been appointed to take on this role. Jeanne will start work with us on 2nd January.
Jeanne’s career has progressed through nursing, midwifery and into the trade union movement. She has been a practising Midwife since 1994, and at the Royal College of Midwives she was responsible for managing employment relations with Hospital trusts around England. Jeanne has also been a Trade Union officer, providing employment advice to members in situations where bullying and grievances have arisen, and has experience of facilitating mediation and resolving conflicts.
With her proven skills and experience in ensuring successful resolutions in difficult situations and facilitating change in the workplace, I’m confident we’ve chosen the right person for the job!
I’m sure you will all join me in giving Jeanne a warm welcome into her new role. Details on how to contact the Pastoral Care Officer with your concerns will follow in the coming weeks.
* Tim Farron is Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Agriculture and MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale.
8 Comments
A warm welcome, Jeanne. We all need more pastoral care than we sometimes admit. I hope you are happy here.
Welcome to Jeanne! Her experience qualifies her for the job. Her appointment is the start, not the completion, of a process.
It is now up to the party and its members to ensure that she gets the resources and support she needs to carry out her role, and that her skills are called on as needed.
There is real risk in belonging to a campaigning group that has scant resources. It puts big pressure on leadership and the foot soldiers. So welcome to our pastoral carer.
PK
agree with Ian.. and also that the Party takes her advice and acts upon it!
Questions for Tim, how is the rest of the Party going to hear about this? Presumably her role relates to all employees, but does it extend to those employed by Local Parties and does it extend to volunteers?
A warm welcome Jeanne! I wish you well and hope that you make a great success of your new role.
I trust you will take the opportunity too visit local parties from the start of your tenure, to learn about the issues at our level, and to share your learning, experience and practical ideas with us from the word go.
All the very best!
Welcome Jeanne,
I look forward to working with you in the future, and progressing the equality and diversity agenda.
Ruwan Uduwerage-Perera
English Party Diversity Champion
Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats – Vice Chair
A wise appointment, I feel. I wish Jeanne well.
Welcome Jeanne,
Peter raises a good question. It would be great if Jeanne / Tim / someone would put together a letter / youtube video / some kind of prop that local parties could use not just to make members aware of the appointment, but use the opportunity to discuss the issues that brought about the position’s creation.
By which I don’t really mean the specifics of the Rennard case, but the general points about failures to have proper channels of complaint, sexist attitudes, assumptions about power relations, etc. It would be great to use the opportunity to get party officers – indeed, all party members – to examine the way we do things in our local parties, and see if and how we need to change things.