News

Latest Pilotlight News

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Stacey Carr

Investing in female leadership

Stacey Carr | 7 March 2024

Pilotlight has the privilege of working with a diverse and inspiring community of female leaders. To celebrate International Women’s Day we asked Stacey Carr, a Pilotlighter via our Ignite Initiative, to share her leadership journey with us and why she believes investing in your leadership development is so important for women.

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Croydon Mencap beneficiaries

Renewed support for Croydon Mencap

21 February 2024

Croydon Mencap supports parent carers of children and young people with any disability aged 0-25 and adults with a learning disability and their parents, carers and families. Services can range from support with mental health, loneliness, isolation and around the barrier that they face when trying to get into work.

Corporate Social Responsibility News

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Person in coffee shop

Research: £17bn impact of ‘workout’ culture

25 October 2022

New research from Pilotlight highlights the strong demand from the UK workforce for their employers to do more to support skills-based volunteering in the community. The research, published today in a report called 'Give your culture a workout', includes new attitudinal research on the public support for employers to do more in this area and outlines the tangible benefits this would bring for the employers themselves.

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Three people in skiing costumes rehearsing a play

A vision for volunteering

Jonas Fathy | 4 July 2022

Last month our Programme Manager Jonas Fathy spoke at the annual general meeting of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on volunteering. Pilotlight had been one of many charities working with the NCVO to develop the Vision for Volunteering, and Jonas had been asked to share Pilotlight’s perspective on the Vision.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion News

Race and the voluntary sector

Ed Mayo | 25 February 2021

Today we release the 'Learning and Listening for Mutual Action: surfacing and building the evidence base to support Black African, Black Caribbean, Asian and other Minoritised Ethnic led voluntary sector organisations' report that asks the vital question: what are the support needs of organisations led by, for, and with BAME communities?

Leadership News

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People hugging

Embracing change through volunteering

Sarah Cooper | 29 September 2023

Little did I know that a seemingly simple email was about to change my perspective in a big way. It was from Pilotlight. Thanking their ‘Pilotlighters’, both past and present, for their contribution to the skills-based volunteering programmes they run in partnership with Barclays. And whilst reading it, the thought struck me that I actually had a lot to thank Pilotlight for.

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A black women in front of trees looking behind her

The traditional definition of a leader has eroded

Mel Whitney-Long | 8 March 2022

At seven years old I was a tree-climbing, dress-hating, future astronaut. Aged 17 not much had changed. From an early age, both of my parents encouraged me to strive for whatever I wanted to be, whatever I wanted to do. It was well into my adolescence before I even stopped to consider that being a girl – or more accurately not being a boy - might be a barrier in my future.

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Mixed race woman standing in an office holding a laptop

Women in leadership: tips from the top

Simona Bojare | 8 March 2021

To celebrate International Women's Day today I wanted to share some tips I’ve collated from powerful women leaders at Pilotlight. I feel very fortunate to work alongside many amazing women every day: half of our leadership team is made up of incredible women, our Chair is a woman, and we recently welcomed three new women trustees to our Board

Learning and Development News

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A charity runner in a chicken mask being given a foot rub by another charity runner

How charities can help business embed a values-led culture

Ed Mayo | 7 November 2023

Helping charities as a volunteer is a great way for people to give to the community. This is particularly the case for skilled volunteering – where you are using your workplace or professional skills to make a difference. Seven out of ten charities are looking for support in the form of professional skills, but only four out of ten find it. Charities need skilled support.

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People swimming

Learning to swim: lessons in leadership

Sam Matthews | 24 January 2023

My first leadership experience was when I was quite young. Soon after leaving university, I found myself leading a small grassroots project in South Africa providing training to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS. I knew very little about running a project, and equally little about leadership. I had the job title of a leader and people to be led but really, I didn’t know what to do.

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Person in coffee shop

Research: £17bn impact of ‘workout’ culture

25 October 2022

New research from Pilotlight highlights the strong demand from the UK workforce for their employers to do more to support skills-based volunteering in the community. The research, published today in a report called 'Give your culture a workout', includes new attitudinal research on the public support for employers to do more in this area and outlines the tangible benefits this would bring for the employers themselves.

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Two people laughing on a bench

Growing support for carers both locally and nationally

Kathy Verges | 28 June 2022

When we worked with Kathy Verges in 2010, she was CEO at Crossroads Care Havering, which had a turnover of around £600k. Kathy retired as Chief Officer in January 2022. After a series of mergers Kathy led the charity on to re-brand to create TuVida, which had national reach and a turnover of £14m. She reflects on her work with Pilotlight.

Charity Trustee News

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People swimming

Creating better charity boards

Iain McNicol | 14 November 2023

Governance can be a challenge for charities. It's also often the key to the door that needs to be unlocked before a charity can get to the next stage in its development. Each board faces individual challenges, but over time, we have seen certain trends emerge when exploring the governance of an organisation.

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Mixed race woman standing in an office holding a laptop

Becoming a better board member

Bruce McCombie | 19 February 2020

Over my time at Pilotlight, I’ve worked with all kinds of charity boards — the good, bad and even the ugly. I’ve also had the delight in seeing many of our Pilotlighters go from working with a charity for the first time, to being inspired enough to become a trustee after participating in one our programmes.

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A group of children running towards the camera

The purposeful leader: how I became the chair of a small charity

Steve Bright | 19 June 2019

I’ve spent my career focused on how to build organisations that engage employees so they give their best. I’ve experienced economic booms and busts, a technological revolution in the way we live and work, and the increased globalisation of business. The consistent theme throughout my 35 year career, is that people give their best when they truly believe in their organisation’s mission.

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