Pilotlighters' feedback
“It is a very worthwhile way of using knowledge. It can also be great fun! You really help people work through changes and you see the impact of your work, which is very satisfying. What's more, you meet interesting people - I find people in the voluntary sector have an amazing drive against all the odds. Their dedication is unbelievable, I am staggered and humbled by it. In business, we take capital and resources for granted. These charities and organisations are on a shoestring but motivated and driven in a way that is so inspiring."
Mark Mead, Managing Director, Serco Consulting
“I got the chance to use my skills where they make a difference and are appreciated. Pilotlighting has reinforced my commitment to charity activities and I'd recommend it to other people.”
Ramona Liberoff, Global Client Director, Kantar Group
“I found Pilotlight a compelling model - totally alien to the UK culture of paying rather than giving time. It was a genuine giving of myself and my skills. Pilotlight ensures the process is well managed, that notes are taken and actions done. This barrier between the Pilotlighter and the charity allows you to deliver your commitment without pressure to do more. It is in your gift to increase the time only if you wish.”
Phil Zeidler, Chairman, PowerAmp Music
“If you’re wanting something in addition to the day job, you can get involved in a soup kitchen and ladle the soup, or you can help the soup kitchen open up more kitchens – that’s what Pilotlighting is, it’s using your strengths to provide real leverage. Pilotlighting is very good practical training if you want to become a member of a board – it’s a very informal professional training that gives networking opportunities and is a fantastically time-efficient model.”
Jane French, Managing Director, Citigroup
"My company spent $50k sending me to business school for three months, but I learnt just as much and in different ways from working with Pilotlight. One morning I was negotiating a very large city bonus and then that afternoon I went to visit a kids charity just ten minutes from the City, where I was talking to some fantastic kids, some of whom didn’t even have a home to go to. It was a diverse day and it keeps your feet on the ground.”
Sam Berwick, Pilotlight Trustee, ex CEO, Mizuho International
“It gave me a better social awareness of the other side of life. I had no idea of the poverty that existed in Glasgow and the challenges faced by the charitable sector and it gave me a good insight into that. Professionally it reaffirmed what I could do and that in itself is a useful thing. It left me re-energised because the energy of people working in the charitable sector is incredible, they are an inspiration.”
Brendan Murphy, finance director, Smith and McLaurin
"The Pilotlight process is about helping charities to be sustainable rather than giving them something that is a one-off and I think that’s fantastic. Being a Pilotlighter is the most useful you can be if you have any interest in giving something back to society. You are using the strings to your own particular bow to help someone else. If everyone knew about it, everyone would do it."
Sally Nillson, legal counsel, Bregal
Our Pilotlighter’s Stories
Anna Samanta, Director, Post-Merger Integration, Deloitte
"It is incredibly satisfying to leave skills with an organisation."
Catherine Randle, Retail Director, BP
"Pilotlight takes me out of my comfort zone. You just hope you can help a bit because there’s a real need."
Kevin Bone, Managing Partner, OBMC LLP
"It is the best way I know to help charities if you want to do more than just give money."
Neil Wilks, Managing Director, Rates IT, Barclays
"Many elements from my Pilotlight experience feed into my professional life in intangible ways."
Penny Hope, Programme Manager, Barclays
"It’s challenging, instructive and positive."