CLOSING down Guernsey’s NSPCC office was like ‘organising you own funeral, digging your own grave and climbing in,’ according to one former employee.

CLOSING down Guernsey’s NSPCC office was like ‘organising you own funeral, digging your own grave and climbing in,’ according to one former employee.

Alison Wakefield was giving evidence at an employment tribunal yesterday.

She is one of four employees who is claiming unfair dismissal from the charity.

She said the team was shocked when they were advised the project in Guernsey was to close and they would be made redundant.

The tribunal continues.

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CLOSING down Guernsey’s NSPCC office was like ‘organising you own funeral, digging your own grave and climbing in,’ according to one former employee.

Alison Wakefield was giving evidence at an employment tribunal yesterday.

She is one of four employees who is claiming unfair dismissal from the charity.

She said the team was shocked when they were advised the project in Guernsey was to close and they would be made redundant.

‘The whole organisation was in upheaval but I felt we had a really good case to argue to keep the project open,’ said Mrs Wakefield.

But she said before the month-long consultation process began on 4 November they were told in no uncertain terms that the project would be shut down.

‘The team were stunned. I was very stressed and upset, and found telling people distressing,’ she said.

She was advised to take a reactive, rather than a proactive stance by UK line manager Philip Durban.

‘We had always been honest and open with our service users and now some people knew we had to let people know, but Philip disagreed,’ said Mrs Wakefield.

She told service users on 5 November.

On 17 November, Mrs Wakefield received news, by a phone call as she was in the UK, that her job was one of two that was safe with the society.

While this was good news for her, she told the panel of chairwoman Tina Le Poidevin, Roger Brookfield and Norson Harris, she was surprised those in Guernsey who had been made redundant had not been told in person.

‘What business it is of yours escapes me,’ said lawyer David Christie, representing the NSPCC.

He said the reaction to the closure by the Guernsey team had been ‘slightly hysterical’ – something disputed by Mrs Wakefield.

‘I felt we were considered insignificant,’ she said.

The drop-in centre was due for closure on 31 December, but the Guernsey team took the decision to close it immediately after the Christmas parties on 8, 9 and 10 December.

Mrs Wakefield said she could not ascertain more information about what her post would be and said she was left with no other choice than to resign.

‘I was no longer sure I could continue fighting, which is what it felt like. The basic ethos of putting children and young people first had been lost,’ she said.

She said management was minimal during the last months before the centre’s closure on 25 February.

‘This was a particularly sad time for the team. The emotional impact it had was devastating. We had no contact from the UK. I felt isolated, like we were a problem.’

She said the process had been carried out in a ‘shoddy and unfair manner’.

‘You were put under redundancy, and then were offered continuing employment with the society,’ said Mr Christie.

‘You are looking at everything the NSPCC did in a negative fashion. Trying to look for anything you can criticise. You have hardly made it easy for the NSPCC.’

He said the society had done everything it could to complete the redundancy process in a fair and reasonable way.

The tribunal continues.