Just for Dogs was founded in 1997 to rescue and re-home abandoned dogs. To date they’ve rescued over 6,000 dogs and provide a safe and caring environment at the centre whilst helping find forever homes.

A sunny Autumn morning saw 5 of the Esker ladies welcomed at the centre, located near Ashbourne, and put straight to work! First on the list was a clean of the kennels. Each dog (or pair of dogs) has an indoor and outdoor area so they can go in and out as they please through a dog flap. The site is also fortunate in having several large outdoor pens and enclosed paddocks – so on the days that dog walkers are in short supply, the dogs can still get out and have a good run around.

Once all the kennels were clean it was finally time to get to know some of the four-legged friends! Taking one (very excitable) dog each, we all stretched our legs across the seemingly-endless acres of fields that back onto the centre. The dogs revelled in being out in the sunshine, interacting with one and another and ourselves, and discovering the sounds and smells of the countryside.

Back at base we had time for a quick chat with the owner, Margaret, who explained more about the centre’s teams and their continual demand for funding and supplies. Having dedicated the past 21 years of her life to the charity, she continues in her passion in caring for dogs big and small and maintaining this great charity.

It was our pleasure at Esker to give our time to the charity – and we hope to continue supporting them in the future with further time and resource donations. Just for dogs are always welcoming of new volunteers and dog walkers – please do get in touch if you could help too.

Jennifer Ball

As Marketing Co-ordinator for Esker UK, Jennifer manages Esker UK's marketing campaigns and events for S2P solutions. She has been part of the Esker family since 2019.

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I don’t get to whizz around the local roads with blue flashing lights, it’s more of a sedate drive to where I am going whilst obeying the road laws. When on call I get notified of incidents that are around 3 miles from my location, which doesn’t sound far but is much further than you’d think.

“What do you do?”, is a question I often get asked. The easy answer is get there before an ambulance and help the person in need. We only go to category 1 and 2 incidents, so an ambulance is not too far behind me. We help with heart attacks, strokes, breathing difficulties to name a few conditions. We do as much as possible to help and this extends to helping with those who are not the main focus of why we are there. I have helped the families understand what is going to happen to their loved ones, helped get a bag ready for whilst they are at hospital or simply made a drink for someone.

How does working at Esker and volunteering for YAS fit together? Well they don’t really, one is about providing an IT solution to a business and the other is about helping someone in a moment of need. However, there is one common value that both share – team work. At Esker we refer to this as “One Team Beyond Boundaries” and YAS calls it “One Team”, but they mean the same thing.

Whilst at an incident with YAS I see a lot of team work, the group of people that have assembled are there with one common goal, to help the person in need. Regardless of the qualification, everyone joins in helping, the ambulance crew often value the help of the CFR which really does embrace the “We are collaborative and inclusive” portion of the value. I have helped with care of the patient and retrieved requested equipment from the ambulance – neither might be the most glamorous of tasks, but they go a long way to helping the team.

The same sort of team work is seen at Esker. Regardless of the task we are working on, many teams drive it towards a successful closure. This is often seen when working on our pre-sales tasks. We would say “We encourage open collaboration between departments and countries.” Towards the end of our sales process the Sales Team and the Professional Services Team come together to help complete the sales process.

Rob Cooper

Rob is the Professional Services Manager at Esker UK. He has been part of the Esker family since 2016.

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