The Trouble With My Job

My last post mentions some irritations with my job....

 The people for whom I work are the nicest I've served for a long time. Until VERY recently, I have felt valued and very positive about being here and about what I have been doing. Unfortunately, I work for a charity, bound by charity law. Unfortunately, after a year of work, it has been discovered that my job is outside the 'Charitable Objects' of the organisation and therefore illegal [technically]. 

 This revelation understandably sent the Board of Trustees into a bit of a flap. They began talking about "mission drift" and the whole raft of decisions that brought the organisation to the building I manage for them have been questioned. Since then, I have been marginalised. I expect my boss to be shocked by me saying that, but I will point to the fact that I haven't been invited to meetings or included in emails etc pretty much since the board meeting where I shared these problems.

 Consequently, the shine has come off this job that I've enjoyed more than any for a LONG time. I feel slightly foolish for the effort and commitment I have invested. I wish I had put more into my own company, but that felt wrong as I'm being PAID to do this. I have been emotionally prepared to walk away from this job since I was at Featherstone with the Albion Faeries. I was FURIOUS at first, but I was also unwell and spent the first couple of days in bed shivvering. As I recovered, things came into perspective and I realised that it didn't really matter. It will be a LONG time, if ever I get to a similar level of commitment to a job like this. I have joined the ranks of many of the "professionals" I encounter in my job who do enough not to get sacked.

 I know that I have succeeded in my job: I have introduced people to new activities and raised the profile of the community centre. I have engaged people to help be involved in planning and organising events, activities and services. I have raised £28,000 to fund that programme and FINALLY getting organisations to book space for regular activities. We have three remaining bee colonies (we lost two this winter and gave one to a  'sister' project in County Durham) and are developing a programme to breed indigenous Black Bee Queens. We have a small but active gardening group, and some new groups have started booking regular space here...

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