Case Studies

"The charity has grown from strength to strength through this programme and we've been successful of other large grants during this time of the Pilotlighters support."

"The Weston Charity Awards has helped us to rewrite our strategic plan. We've now got a new vision and mission and a very clear idea of what our journey is going to be over the next five years. It's provided a lot of clarity to everybody on the team."

"It can feel quite tumultuous to start with because you're taking everything apart, but actually, there is that lightbulb moment where it all seems to coalesce and start to make sense. So yeah. Keep the faith. It's worth it."

“The Pilotlighters were such a friendly, interested, knowledgeable and generous bunch of people, who gave time and thought to Imara and were genuinely interested in hearing more about our service."

“Our Pilotlighters gave us a number of things to consider across different areas of the project, based on their experience. They helped us think about possible routes to market, and were particularly helpful in ensuring we maximised the commercial potential.”

"The whole process was very well organised and supported. Having access to a wealth of experience, although not directly linked to the charity sector, allowed outside-of-the-box thinking in a condensed short time, we all agreed that this was a very useful exercise."

Via the Pilotlight Direction programme, Lindsey and her team were matched with five Barclays Pilotlighters, who were tasked with the challenge: How does Advice Services Alliance (ASA) best scale it’s impact and establish a sustainable income stream?

At the end of the programme, the Pilotlighters presented Jade and Ben with a variety of considerations and recommendations for different growth models. This included a risk framework, financial growth model tool and suggestions for standardised governance documents.

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.

“This programme gave me the license to set some time aside and focus, I’m not sure if I would’ve done so otherwise. I’ve come to realise we have the seedling now and it’s time to figure out how big a pot we now need to repot it in.”

“Working with the Pilotlighters was a great experience not only for our organisation, but for me personally, as it provided me with the time and opportunity to sit back and look at the issue from a different perspective.”

"This has been one of the most life-changing experiences for my organisation and myself. The work conducted has helped us accelerate our growth and better define our objectives."