On Jess Alsop Greenacre’s final morning as CEO of Lisieux Trust, she took time to reflect on eight years of growth, change and continuity. In this special interview, Jess talks about protecting the culture of the Trust, supporting residents and tenants to live well, and the people who have shaped her time at Lisieux. The accompanying picture was taken just afterwards, making it Jess’s final picture as CEO.

When Jess Alsop Greenacre joined Lisieux Trust as CEO in February 2018, she stepped into an organisation with a strong legacy, deep values and a very particular culture. Eight years later, as she prepared to leave, her reflections were not simply about buildings opened, services grown, or systems modernised. They were about something more difficult to measure but far more important: protecting the heart of the Trust while helping it change.

Jess is clear that she inherited something special. She talks with real warmth about the culture she found when she arrived, one shaped by Martina, the CEO before her, and rooted in a simple but powerful principle: doing what is best for residents and tenants. For Jess, the greatest achievement of her time at the charity was not changing that culture, but preserving it. “It is an incredibly special culture here,” she reflected, “and it doesn’t take a lot for that to go wrong.”

That balance between continuity and change runs through Jess’s reflections. Lisieux Trust has grown significantly since 2018, but Jess describes growth as something that had to happen carefully. “I like the slow and steady approach,” she says, “that allows you to build a staff team and get to know people to embed that culture.” Growth was never about numbers for their own sake. It was about the right people, in the right homes, with the right support.

During Jess’s time, the Trust expanded its accommodation and support. She also remembers what life was like before the current head office: “We were in a completely different office,” she says, describing the old Sutton New Road base as “really small” and “really inaccessible”, up “quite a narrow staircase.” The move to a more accessible office brought practical benefits, but it also changed the feel of the organisation. “Training happens here, so you see the staff,” Jess reflects, “and then the guys come here for events, so you get to see them.”

One of the most important changes Jess identifies is the way people have been supported to move within the Trust. “There have been so many people who have moved within the Trust over the last eight years,” she says. Some residents and tenants wanted more independence and were supported to take that step: “I really want to move on. I want to be more independent,” is how Jess remembers some people expressing it.

That connection matters because the charity’s ethos has always been about people first. Jess speaks about the importance of matching people well, not simply filling rooms. “Absolutely,” she says of the principle of having the right person in the right house. She credits Alison, the Operations Manager throughout most of her time, for understanding how to build homes where people are compatible, saying, “She is magic.” Jess adds that Alison is particularly good at “building a house where people are compatible, but also, if they’re not, addressing it and helping them find somewhere else that is going to better suit them.”

Jess also reflects on the charity becoming more open and confident in its approach to equality, diversity and personal choice. “It was always welcoming, it was always friendly,” she says, but she believes Lisieux has become more deliberate about supporting people to be themselves. If residents and tenants want relationships, Jess says, “we would fully support them to do that.” She also reflects warmly on people feeling comfortable to talk openly about identity, adding: “I think that’s a great thing that they feel comfortable to do that.”

The Trust’s history remains important to Jess. She acknowledges its Catholic roots and the fact that many of its founding families knew each other through the church. “We weren’t a Catholic organisation,” she says of the Trust as she found it, “but we’ve always had Catholic roots.” Today, she would not describe Lisieux as a Catholic charity, but she is clear that something valuable has endured: “The values certainly came from the church, and that’s no bad thing.”

Technology has been another major area of change. When Jess arrived, the Trust was still heavily reliant on “a little server box in Sutton New Road”, with nothing cloud-based. Looking back, she describes data security as “a real risk”, because “if that server for any reason went down, that was it.” Since then, Lisieux has moved much further into cloud-based working, introduced systems such as Nourish, and improved communication through email and digital tools. For Jess, the purpose was to “give the staff more freedom on the floor” so they were not “constantly writing longhand”.

Of all the tangible achievements, one in particular stands out for Jess. “If I’m honest, the thing I have to be most proud of is Vesey Road,” she says. Taking it on was a major risk: the service had been closed by CQC and rated inadequate. “Taking it on was a huge risk to Lisieux Trust,” Jess reflects, “but it absolutely fit with our values of giving those residents better quality care and a better quality of life.” She is quick to credit Registered Manager Denise Barrett, Alison and former Deputy Mikey Gavin for the turnaround, but says the difference made to residents has been “phenomenal.”

COVID is another period Jess looks back on with pride. “During the COVID years, you really saw the strength of Lisieux Trust,” she says. Staff pulled together over a prolonged period, keeping their focus on residents and tenants. Jess recognises the personal toll that took: “The endurance that took from staff to go through that and maintain that focus on the residents and tenants took a lot out of them as individuals.” But she is also proud that the Trust balanced safety with rights, communication and quality of life.

Throughout her reflections, Jess returns again and again to the staff. She talks about registered managers as “absolutely critical” to the culture of the Trust, adding: “We have amazing managers here, brilliant managers.” Low staff turnover, people returning after leaving, and long-standing relationships all point to something important. “Staff turnover’s low, which is always a good sign,” Jess says. For her, Lisieux feels like a place people can belong: “I found my home, people have said,” she reflects. “It does feel like a home.”

After eight years, Jess’s legacy is not one simple achievement. It is growth without losing identity. It is modernisation without losing warmth. It is taking risks when those risks are right for residents and tenants. Above all, it is the protection of a culture that cannot easily be measured but can be felt in everyday life. “You can’t measure it,” Jess says, “but without it, the organisation will not be what it is.” For her, that culture is “the magic of Lisieux Trust.”

As Jess leaves Lisieux Trust, her reflections are full of gratitude. “Thank you to everybody,” she says, “for all the wonderful memories.” She says she will never forget her time here, describing the Trust as “very special, very special to me.” Her words also show confidence that the heart of the charity is still strong. The organisation she joined in 2018 has changed, expanded and modernised, but its purpose remains the same. For Jess, that is the real success story.