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Charity Partner

Empowering Buzz to shape a brighter future for South Yorkshire families

How winning a place on Pilotlight 360 through the Weston Charity Awards has supported organisational growth and development.

About the project

Buzz is a South Yorkshire based charity offering comprehensive support to families facing conflict and separation.

The charity provides holistic, solution-focused support to separated families as early as possible to avoid any lasting harm to children and to ensure they have the best possible opportunities in life.

In 2024 the charity won a Weston Charity Award, receiving an unrestricted grant and a year of strategic support via the Pilotlight 360 programme.

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What is it like to participate?

Chief Executive Officer of Buzz, Kath Mardles, shares her insights on winning an award and taking part in the Pilotlight 360 programme.

What is Pilotlight 360?

Explore the programme

Pilotlight 360 is an intensive 8 month programme bringing together charity leaders and expert business partners.

Through focused exploration and expert coaching, the business experts share their skills to help charities address pressing challenges and strengthen their strategy and governance. In tandem, the business experts develop their professional skills while creating a positive, direct impact.

  • Charities who participate in our Pilotlight 360 programme increase their income by an average of 48% (two years after working with us).

  • Nine out of 10 charity leaders say the Pilotlight 360 programme has a major positive impact on strategic vision.

<p>Contact us to find out more</p>

 

Kath Mardles - CEO - Buzz

Q: What motivated you to apply for the Weston Charity Awards?

A: We undertook a strategic transformation of the charity following a pivotal decision in early 2021. This was partly planned and in response to a 200% increase in enquiries and referrals, in part due to two child contact centres in Sheffield closing permanently. 

We had to put things into place quickly to ensure we maintained the impetus and momentum to respond to the rise in referrals and provide the same quality of service delivery during the period of exponential growth. 

 

We were paddling so hard beneath the surface, and we were in danger of being swept away.

 

We knew we needed to pause and regroup. While we were at the forefront of practice and innovation in our industry, we were lagging in implementing the necessary strategy, systems, and governance to achieve our objectives and ambitions.

Q: What impact has participating in Pilotlight 360 had on your charity?

A:  We developed a strategic plan with an action plan that we use to keep the Pilotlight momentum going!

The programme has helped strengthen key areas of our charity, from governance and organisational structure to finance and income development.

We've reviewed the division of responsibilities in the team and how we hold ourselves accountable for outcomes. This enabled us to update the team structure, freeing up our manager to bring the strategic plan to life. 

We created new financial systems, the most important one being how we monitor and track payments, and brought in an external accountant. 

Additionally we've appointed a new Chair of Trustees and recruited six new board members from across key areas of expertise.

And last but not least, we're taking our first steps in expanding our work to a national level - taking on a new child contact centre in Ipswich and trialing a new accreditation partnership with an organisation in Leeds.

 

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Kath's key takeaways for Pilotlight 360

Give it your all!
Be ready to put in the work.

Be open
Approach it with a growth mindset.

Don’t do it on your own
Bring a colleague on board.

Keep your team up to speed
Find out how they are feeling and give your support. There will be a lot of change and adaptive challenges for them.

“Pilotlight 360 and the Weston Charity Awards were gold dust for our organisation. It was challenging, energising and transformative. We have a renewed sense of purpose and a clear vision for the future.”

 

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