When nobody else cared, or at least not enough to help, Julia’s House was there. We were drowning and they simply rescued us.”

This was what one parent said about this hospice which cares for the child and is there for the family. Together, 101 staff help young people who are “life limited or life threatened”, and Julia’s House gets the third highest result for making a positive difference to the world (93%).

There is no sense of doom and gloom. “We aim to bring enjoyment to the lives of terminally ill children in Dorset for however long they may have left to live; to care for them when they are dying; and to support the family throughout the child’s life and into bereavement,” the organisation explains. It puts a lot back into its local community (84%, the fourth highest score) and work is an important part of people’s lives (88%).

The charity was founded in memory of Julia Perks, a paediatric nurse who highlighted the need for such local facilities but died from cancer in 1997. Her family and friends set up the Julia Perks Foundation, which was renamed Julia’s House after the hospice opened in 2006.

It provides daycare for up to 20 children and overnight support for four, and has a community team of more than 65 working across Dorset. Staff at the Poole-based hospice, a management office and eight charity shops stay in touch thanks to a monthly bulletin from chief executive Martin Edwards.

Edwards’s approach is informed by interviews with business leaders including Sir Adrian Cadbury and Dame Stephanie Shirley, a pioneer of female management culture. He is particularly inspired by American coach Patricia Summitt’s advice: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Managers are asked not to show ego or seek compliments from their teams, and are supported with emotional intelligence-based training.

Rather than being a top-to-bottom organisation, Julia’s House sees itself on a level field with the chief executive on the same side as carers, cleaners and the 20 employees, who raise 97% of funds. “In some charities, fundraisers are regarded as a necessary evil,” says Edwards. Not here. “The fundraising department is rather like the sales part of a business. They need good information and liaison with the care function. I have tried to make sure they know just how important they are.”

People agree that Edwards runs the organisation on sound moral principles (87%). He is a firm believer in “management by walking about” and senior staff really listen to staff concerns (80%).

“I know what it feels like in a company where people don’t care about you, where values don’t matter and integrity is expendable,” says Edwards. “I never want to work in that environment again.”

He isn’t, and nor is anyone else. Employees love working for Julia’s House (87%) and are proud to be part of the charity (93%).

Everyone works from 20 to 30 hours a week, and employees don’t spend too much time working (75%). The charity offers staggered and compressed hours to help with the balance of work and home life, preventing jobs from interfering with family responsibilities (both 82%).

When a child dies, people still need to be strong to support the family. “We have debriefing sessions after the death of a child to give them [staff] a chance to grieve together,” Edwards explains. “They have to be the rock, so we create a situation where we are the rock. To be honest everybody cries, senior staff and staff on the front line. Everybody feels a child’s death.”

The charity also funds a free independent confidential counselling and information helpline. People don’t feel their caring spirits are taken advantage of (79%) and vote the company 12th for Wellbeing overall (78%).

Charity doesn’t stop at this home. Fifteen people volunteered in work time last year, while Julia’s House benefits from 180 volunteers itself.

This is a place run on strong values (88%), and staff helped define them back in 2006. They promote good communication, integrity, and empathy for each other’s roles but they don’t care for malicious gossip, which only ends up demoralising everyone: “If you have a concern, raise it directly and only with the person responsible for sorting it out, and if still unresolved, then with the next person in the line management chain.”

Care team members earn £15,000 a year and nobody makes more than £55,000, but this is fair compared with similar jobs in the field (74%) and the jobs are never boring (85%).

This charity is not about death, but about making the most of life and people are excited about every moment of its future (90%).

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