Since starting late last year, we have overseen some exciting growth in our staff team. Jackie Reed (Superintendent Vet) and Richard Atkin (Change Manager) have been working closely to scale the vet services team with support from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) who fund all FOK’s costs relating to vet capacity. We’ve recently welcomed Jodie Wakeman (Vet) (pictured) and Sally Green (Vet Nurse) to the team to support the tireless work of Jackie and Marley Christian (Senior Vet Nurse). They both bring a wealth of experience and by having the additional resources available FOK is able to provide onsite veterinary triage support seven days a week. Also, big congrats to Jackie who recently celebrated her one-year anniversary at FOK.

Away from the Koala Hospital, Nicci Carter, who started late last year, has had her role upgraded to Finance Manager to support with the increasing demands in this area of the organisation. We’re lucky that Nicci has chosen to move on from some of her private clients to make herself more available to support the great work of FOK. The recruitment of Jo Kehoe (Admin Officer) is another important evolution of the professional services team. The Admin Officer function will double as the primary point for our volunteers and members of the public; Jo will be working onsite from 10am-3pm Monday to Friday to facilitate this alongside other role requirements. It will also allow Claire Agnew (Manager, Operations and Communications) to focus on higher level business functions which has been an identified area of need for some time, particularly regarding raising awareness around FOK’s work and engaging with potential funding partners. This has already paid dividends with Claire securing and offer of support earlier this week of $50,000 per year on an ongoing basis. A great result, and hopefully a sign of things to come!