The University has around 4,500 members of staff. That’s a lot of people. That’s half the capacity of Sheffield Arena.

You can’t meet them all, so I’ve decided to bring the staff to you!

Today I met with Helen Jenkinson who is a Senior Transitions Officer in the Student Funding and Access Support Team.  I asked a few questions to find out a little more about her and what she’s currently working on.

JG: Hello Helen! Thanks for joining me. We’ve been working together for about 6 months now, but how long have you actually been working here at the University?

HJ: It feels like I’ve been working at Sheffield Hallam forever (in a good way, of course), but I’ve actually only been working here for 3 and a half years.

JG: What was it you did before you joined the team?

HJ: Before I joined the team, I was a primary school teacher, and in fact, for six hectic weeks, I was holding down both jobs!

JG: Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on now?

HJ: I’m currently working on creating a programme focusing on financial capability for our students called, Money Skills: The Cash Circus.

JG: And what is financial capability?

HJ: Financial capability means developing money skills for life, and it’s made up of three strands – Budgeting, Income Maximisation, and Expenditure Reduction.  We’ve designed a support program which includes one-to-one money skills appointments, money skills workshops, and online self-help content in partnership with Blackbullion – an online financial learning platform that’s free for our students.  It’s a busy but exciting time!

JG: Sounds like you’ve been hard at it! What would you say is the best thing about your job?

HJ: The best thing about my job is that, with this new financial capability programme, I can make a real difference to our students’ time at university and beyond. Almost three-quarters of students say they struggle to cope at times due to money worries, so equipping them with the skills to manage money should have a positive effect on their mental health – that has to be a good thing both academically and socially.

JG: Finally Helen, is there anything we can get a sneak preview of?

HJ: I’m afraid everything is still top secret. I can tell you the programme will be officially launched in September though.