Read Pilotlight’s latest news.
Pilotlight Scotland holds Christmas drinks social
Pilotlight Scotland is holding its Christmas drinks event, hosted by Adam & Company, on 10th December. An informal evening with canapés and drinks, this is also an opportunity to hear about some of the latest updates from Pilotlight Scotland, as well as catch up with our other supporters. The event will take place at Adam & Company’s offices in Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, from 6-8pm. If you have not already responded to our invitation, or you are hearing about it for the first time and want to attend, please contact Fiona Ramsay at [email protected] or call 0131 243 2765.
Pilotlight London welcomes Katherine Pruski and Crystal Waldman
The London office would like to officially welcome Katherine Pruski, Administrator, and Crystal Waldman, Project Manager to its team. Before joining Pilotlight, Katherine (Kat) worked at the Welsh Assembly as an Executive Assistant on a support programme for start up businesses in Wales. She provides administrative support for the Pilotlight London office. Crystal joins us following working for three years in Brussels for No Peace Without Justice, an international human rights organisation. She joins the Project Management team, and is already brokering relationships with five charities and their teams of Pilotlighters including those supporting victims of domestic violence, bullied children, older people experiencing abuse and our first environmental organisation since Pilotlight made the decision to pilot work in this field.
Pilotlight Scotland Partner Charity The Jeely Piece secures funding from Cinven
Pilotlight Scotland is currently working with The Jeely Piece, a charity that focuses on supporting and engaging with young people of Castlemilk, an area of Glasgow. Recently, The Jeely Piece put in a bid for sponsorship from one of Pilotlight Scotland’s corporate partners, Cinven. The charity received help in structuring the bid from some of its current Pilotlighter project team. As a result, The Jeely Piece is pleased to have secured £46,500, which will enable them to tackle territorialism in the area by funding one of their projects for three years as well as purchasing a minibus.For more information about The Jeely Piece, click here.
Pilotlight Featured in Spear's Wealth Management Survey
The Winter 2008/09 edition of Spear’s Wealth Management Survey contains a story about Pilotlight in their article focusing on philanthrocapitalism titled "Payback Time." Thank you to Clive Barton from Serco Group and Sam Berwick from Mizuho International for supporting Pilotlight and taking the time to be interviewed for the story. Please click here to read the article.
The Trinity Centre launches book called “New Londoners: Reflections on Home” at Tate Modern
One of Pilotlight London’s charity partners, The Trinity Centre, has recently completed a book of photo stories called “New Londoners: Reflections on Home” which launched at the Tate Modern this autumn. The book covers the stories of 15 young refugees from all over the world and shares how they are recreating their lives in London.
Of the 15 participants in the project, most are currently supported or have been supported by Dost, which is based at The Trinity Centre in Manor Park. Dost supports vulnerable children, including those who have suffered trauma, abuse and neglect, and young separated refugees fleeing violent conflict by providing education, play, advice, advocacy and therapeutic support. For more information on The Trinity Centre, click here.
Westminster Children’s Society
Westminster Children’s Society (WCS), who worked with Pilotlight London in 2006-7, recently received two very distinct honours, being voted Chain of the Year at the inaugural World Nursery Awards and also receiving a personal visit from the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, and his Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling. The Prime Minister commented, “I would like to congratulate Westminster Children’s Society on winning the Nursery Chain of the Year Award. We want every child to get the best possible start in life which is why high-quality, affordable early learning like this is so important." To learn more about WCS, click here. To learn more about WCS, click here.
Tender receives Runner Up in Unboxed Awards
Pilotlight London’s charity partner, Tender, was a runner-up at the Unboxed Awards held at the end of November. The judges highly commended the Trust Project for “Excellence in positive activities for young people that maximise youth participation, empowerment and potential.” Out of 102 entries, Tender’s project made the finalists’ list of just three organisations. The public vote received 150 responses from practitioners. For more information about Tender, click here.
Pilotlight Scotland Seeks Members for the Following Charity Projects:
C-Level – Glasgow
C-level provides support for Hepatitis C patients and conducts an impressive amount of outreach work. They won a GlaxoSmithKline Impact Award last year, with attached funding of £25k. They also provide training for various organisations, helping to increase awareness of the disease.
This team will need Pilotlighters with skills in marketing and branding, HR, models for business growth and evaluation, besides strategic planning skills. The work will offer Pilotlighters the opportunity to, among other things, develop their abilities in relation to coaching skills, to increase their knowledge of the challenges facing people living with Hep C and to help a small organisation grow into a national brand. To learn more about C-Level, click here.
Signpost – Livingston
Signpost offers an information and support ‘one stop shop’ to families with children with a disability or Additional Support Need (ASN) living in West Lothian. They focus not only on providing information, but on helping families use it. They run a helpline and drop-in advice and info service, and also organise social events, training events and outreach sessions.
Signpost needs Pilotlighters who can help with areas such as marketing, HR, health and safety, besides strategic planning and business development. Development opportunities for the Pilotlighter team will include developing knowledge of the challenges facing families with a child with a disability; the chance to develop creative problem-solving skills; the opportunity to help coach and develop the charity to develop their strategic and business planning skills and abilities; and the chance to step outside their area of specialty, and gain a holistic view of a developing organisation. For more information on Signpost Livingston, click here.
Pilotlight London has begun work with 18 new partner charities in the last six months, here are just three:
Kidscape offers a telephone helpline for parents seeking advice on how to support their bullied child. They are the only charity which offers free assertiveness training to severely bullied children to improve their self-esteem and self-confidence. For more information on Kidscape, click here.
CoastNet works with communities in coastal regions to improve their quality of life and to safeguard the natural resources upon which they and future generations depend. The charity partners with communities, government and business to put sustainable development into practice. For more information on CoastNet, click here.
Mainliners provides a range of support services for people living with, or at risk of, blood-borne diseases, including Hep C and HIV/AIDS. Their approach seeks to remove the barriers to improving the quality of life, as well as challenge discrimination against drug users and those who have contracted BBV’s through drug use. To learn more about Mainliners, click here.
Please note: Pilotlight offices will be closed 24th December - 2nd January
The Pilotlight Group, Pilotlight London, and Pilotlight Scotland offices will all be closed for the holidays, starting on 24th December. The offices will reopen on 5th January 2009. Happy Holidays from all of us at Pilotlight.