On 13th May Sarah Brown hosted a Pilotlight event at No.10 Downing Street. The event was a great success, with over 90 attendees.
Sarah Brown had the following to say about her support for Pilotlight:
“Pilotlight is a fantastic concept that brings together business leaders and directors of visionary, grass roots charities to transform the lives of those most disadvantaged in our society. The range of business talent, taken from some of the top companies and individuals in the UK, is immense and its value for the charities and the people they support is priceless. By managing this process from start to finish Pilotlight ensures it's a successful one. I am delighted to support Pilotlight as it builds on its current success and embarks on an exciting time of growth - and I hope others will do the same.”
We also heard from Chief Executive, Fiona Halton; Chair, David Lennan; trustee and donor, Graham Clempson; trustee and Pilotlighter, Sam Berwick; Pilotlight partner charity Fine Cell Work’s director Katy Emck.
Fiona drew together the different viewpoints presented which combine to support Pilotlight's vision for the next five years:
"Pilotlight is about putting together two very different groups of people - charity leaders and senior business people - and that combination having extraordinary power. Pilotlight charities grow seven times faster than the average in the voluntary sector. Pilotlight has now helped more than 100 other charities in London and Scotland.
But Pilotlight needs a third part to the equation: extraordinary people who can help us roll Pilotlight out across the UK. So that it is not just Scotland and London but Wales, Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham and Newcastle that get this too… so we can work with not just 40 but 400 charities across the UK every year."
We were delighted for the fantastic opportunity at Downing Street to drive forward this vision for the growth of Pilotlight's impact for small, visionary charities and social enterprises across the UK.