BPP & Association for Young People's Health
Building confidence for future growth and sustainability.
About the project
BPP Group, a leading global education business, worked with Pilotlight to support the Association for Young People’s Health (AYPH) through the programme “Pilotlight Direction”.
The programme explored how AYPH’s training for healthcare professionals could reach a wider audience while staying focused on their mission to improve the health and wellbeing of young people.
The goal
AYPH works to improve healthcare and health services for young people aged 10-25.
It uses research and young people’s lived experience to help health professionals and services better understand and respond to young people’s needs, tackle health inequalities and make services more youth friendly.
AYPH’s goal was to better understand how to expand its reach in a way that was both financially sustainable and aligned with its core purpose.
The collaboration
During the programme, facilitated by a Pilotlight project manager, a team of six BPP leaders worked collaboratively with AYPH’s team, starting by exploring the charity’s needs and the challenges they are facing.
As the sessions progressed, the group shared perspectives and new ideas, looked at different approaches and identified practical next steps for the charity to implement.
The outcome
The programme delivered meaningful benefits for both organisations.
For AYPH
Greater clarity on growth, resilience and sustainable delivery.
The project confirmed AYPH’s unique youth-led training offer. This message was particularly affirming as it came from experts across the training field and was based on comprehensive market research.
The project highlighted the value of their training in a crowded marketplace, and how the charity can communicate this to the diverse sectors they work with. It also helped build on their existing strengths, including their networks and credibility, while finding practical ways to work within their capacity and increase visibility.
For BPP
Development of leadership skills, strategic thinking, tackling complex challenges and cross-functional collaboration.
The programme offered BPP participants a leadership development experience that went beyond traditional training.
They applied their experience and strategic thinking skills to a real organisational challenge, strengthened relationships with colleagues from other departments, and witnessed how their expertise could create value and long-term impact for a non-profit organisation tackling important social challenges.
Wrap up
This partnership showed how skilled volunteering can create value on both sides: it helped the charity access insight and advice, while giving business leaders purposeful and practical development opportunities.
"The team's commitment to understanding our charity - the work we do and the challenges we face - was incredibly helpful. The amount of work they carried out, the detailed conversations in meetings and the number of resources they provided at the end of the process to support us was significantly above our expectations - thank you!"
Vicky Robinson, AYPH
Visit AYPH's website to read more about the project.
"I’ve really enjoyed being part of the programme. One of the highlights has been getting to know the amazing people at AYPH, visiting their site, and meeting some of the young people they support. Seeing their work first-hand made the experience particularly meaningful.
Reflecting on my participation in the programme, it significantly boosted my confidence in my own ability to collaborate effectively in a high-performing team and to demonstrate effective leadership skills in a group context.
The project also helped me to diversify my professional network and to feel more comfortable showing up as a leader who can add value when faced with a challenge. In summary, it helped me and my team to demonstrate BPP's values in a very tangible way."
Tadhg O'Connell - Director, Product Strategy, Digital Education Division, BPP Group