Q&A with our office and membership administrator, Louise Karmali
Hear from Louise about the ins and outs of her role, and what she finds most rewarding about her job
What does your role involve?
My role involves all of the admin. I process a lot of orders and send out membership packs and renewal letters, and deal with enquiries from other charities, NHS, for example. We’ve got lots of resources we can send out to members, partners, and the general public.
What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
In the build-up to Know Your Numbers! Week, it can get very busy. I can process seven or eight orders a day and go to the Post Office twice a day. And one pack can be 800 leaflets. You know you’re reaching large numbers of people at different events, which is quite important - especially now that we’re looking to target people in their 30s and 40s who might not know they have high blood pressure and might walk past one of these stands and get something done about it earlier rather than having problems later down the line. This is one of the most rewarding things.
What’s been one of the biggest focuses during your time at Blood Pressure UK so far?
We’re trying to grow our presence on social media to target a newer audience, as most members are 60-plus, so they’re getting their blood pressure checked. We’re also looking at targeting more ethnic minority groups, encouraging them to get their blood pressure checked to find out if they’ve got an issue earlier rather than later. This is an exciting part of the role, trying to move the charity forward so we’re able to reach out to different people.
Why are our members so valuable?
Members’ money helps us produce these leaflets and advertising to target those other people, so that’s why it’s really important for us, so we can do what we’re doing to help people get their blood pressure checked.
I’m in my 40’s. I’d wager that a lot of people my age don’t bother to get it checked that often. When do you get your blood pressure taken? Never – that’s why it’s quite important to target people who think they don’t need to worry about that yet.