About:
- Former Pilotlight CEO Ed Mayo awarded MBE in 2026 New Years Honours list for charitable service
- Pilotlight launches new guide to Skilled Volunteering – authored by Mayo – as a lasting legacy to strengthen impact and collaboration across the third sector
- The free‑to‑access guide highlights the value of skilled volunteering and provides practical steps for organisations and volunteers to get involved
Monday, January 5, London
Pilotlight's former CEO Ed Mayo has been awarded an MBE in the 2026 New Years Honours for his contribution to charitable services.
As a lasting legacy to his commitment to skilled volunteering and cross sector collaboration, today Pilotlight launches the ‘Guide to Skilled Volunteering’, a free-to-access resource authored by Mayo, offering practical steps for organisations and volunteers on how to get involved.
Before stepping into retirement in October 2025, Mayo oversaw a period of significant growth at Pilotlight, doubling the number of skilled volunteers deployed to support charities and increasing the organisation’s income by 42 per cent.
Mayo has also been an influential voice in support of voluntary sector co-operation, co-founding the UK Pro Bono Association to bring together organisations promoting skills-based volunteering.
Of his passion for volunteering, he said:
“What I have learned is simple. Success comes when great causes attract great talent. The charity sector at its best is participatory, not just asking for money but welcoming people’s time and skills and being open to the diversity of their lived experience.
“These are the first ever guides to the field of skills-based volunteering. At a time when money is scarce and skills are abundant, this could be transformative for hard-pressed charities across the UK. And a new way to learn for volunteers and business.”
The power of skilled volunteering
Lisa Pearce, CEO of Pilotlight, said:
“Skilled volunteering is one of the most powerful – and under-used – assets we have in tackling complex social challenges. These guides capture what Pilotlight has stood for more than 30 years: that when people bring their expertise, not just their goodwill, charities become stronger, leaders grow in confidence, and impact accelerates.
“Ed Mayo’s legacy is not only his extraordinary service to the sector, now rightly recognised with an MBE, but his unwavering belief that collaboration between business and charities can change systems, not just solve problems.”
To mark Pilotlight’s 30th anniversary, The Guide to Skilled Volunteering is free to download from the Pilotlight website, supporting charities, businesses and individuals to take part in a growing movement for skills-based volunteering.
With the aim of strengthening impact and encouraging pro bono volunteering across the third sector, the guide highlights the transformative outcomes that can be achieved when professionals share their time and expertise.
It also demonstrates the dual benefit of skilled volunteering: enhanced professional development, increased confidence, improved leadership skills and greater wellbeing and job satisfaction for those who volunteer.
Workplace volunteering schemes, such as those run by Pilotlight, can deliver up to £3.60 of benefits for every £1 spent, according to a report published by policy research organisation Pro Bono Economics.
Mayo added: “My advice to anyone starting out is ‘volunteer time at any and every stage of your life’. You will not regret it. And when you are able, commit to volunteer your skills to a purpose you care about. You will be enriched by it, all through your life.”