Jane Jones, CEO of Allsorts for 5 years, leaves an extraordinary legacy after standing down from her role for personal reasons. In her time, Jane guided Allsorts through the pandemic, progressed activities for children with complex needs and for young adults, established a subsidiary trading company, and invested in a new brand identity for the charity.
Jane brought compassion and determination to create welcoming and inclusive spaces for children and young people with additional needs, largely driven by her own experiences as a parent-carer.
We spoke to Jane about her decision to step away from the role of CEO she loved so much, Jane explained: “It is with sadness that I write to say goodbye to the Allsorts community. Through the (nearly) 25 years of parenting my son, Jacob, I have often thought how we would manage if either myself or my husband, Mark, became ill. Sadly, I now know the answer. Mark is unwell and it is not possible for me to take on all the care and support he provided to Jacob, and keep working as CEO of Allsorts.”
Jane will be greatly missed by the Allsorts community. Looking back on her time at the charity, which began as a trustee some years before she took over as CEO, Jane said: “I have absolutely loved working for Allsorts and have so many good memories of working with the Allsorts team, the Allsorts trustees and families, and the many people who have connections to this great small charity. Thank you to everyone who supported me, advised me, sponsored me and positively worked with me. I learnt that Gloucestershire was a great place to work in, with so many genuinely caring people.”
We asked Jane what she hopes will come next for Allsorts in the development of the charity, she said: “I’d like to make a final plea to supporters to help Allsorts, at this time. It has been a challenging year financially for the charity with the cost of living crisis understandably cutting the number of donations we received. Very few families of disabled children have spare cash; it is estimated to cost 3 times more to parent a disabled child. So supporters, please do offer further financial help. I know many of you regularly do and I am sorry to ask again, but please help the wonderful Allsorts team help our community more with every penny going to good use.”
And, finally: “I hope to return to help as a volunteer as soon as I can. I wish everyone in the Allsorts community happiness and health.”