In these first weeks, I’ve spent time listening: to charity leaders navigating relentless pressure; to volunteers and partners who want to give more, but need better routes to do so; and to the team at Pilotlight, who are ambitious, values-driven, and impatient for change in the best possible way.
What I have heard consistently is this: the sector is at a tipping point.
Charities today are being asked to do more than ever before with less certainty, fewer unrestricted resources, and increasing complexity. Demand is rising. Costs are escalating. Policy environments are shifting.
At the same time, leaders are carrying an extraordinary weight: delivering impact, sustaining teams, diversifying income, navigating digital transformation, and responding to widening inequality often all at once.
Alongside these pressures, there is also a growing recognition across business, philanthropy and civil society that traditional models alone are no longer enough. Grants, while vital, cannot meet the moment on their own. Volunteering is evolving. And leadership courageous, collaborative, systems-focused leadership is increasingly recognised as the real unlock.
This is where Pilotlight comes in.
Pilotlight sits at a powerful intersection: where skilled people meet social purpose, and where leadership development becomes a catalyst for organisational and system change.
Over the past three months, I’ve seen first-hand how structured, skills-based volunteering can strengthen charity leadership at critical moments, build long-term organisational capability, and create meaningful, reciprocal value for volunteers and businesses alike.
I’ve also seen how this work comes to life most powerfully when we bring people together in person and digitally around real challenges.
At the Kindness Summit in London, Pilotlight convened business leaders and charity leaders in the same room to explore how skills, leadership and collaboration can unlock social impact at both local and national levels.
In Birmingham, through one of our nationwide strategic business partnerships, business leaders shared their expertise openly. Charities spoke candidly about the pressures they are facing. Together, they worked through live organisational challenges. Crucially, the conversations didn’t end when the event closed. They continued through follow-up digital sessions, shared learning spaces and ongoing connections extending the value far beyond a single moment in time.
This is what modern skills-based volunteering looks like: rooted in human connection, strengthened by digital platforms, and designed to build lasting capability.
In 2026, Pilotlight will mark 30 years since it was founded on a simple but radical idea: that charities deserve access to the same quality of expertise and leadership support as any organisation in the private sector.
That idea has never been more relevant or more necessary.
Our 30th anniversary will not be a moment to look back nostalgically. It will be a moment to reignite a call to action: grounded in real examples of what works, and focused firmly on what the sector needs next.
Because this is not a “business as usual” moment.
It is a moment that calls for system leadership.
It is a moment that rewards collaboration.
It is a moment that asks us to invest in people supported by the right tools, platforms and partnerships as essential infrastructure for social change.
As we approach Pilotlight’s 30th anniversary, this is an open invitation.
If you are a charity leader navigating change, a business leader seeking purposeful impact, or a skilled professional ready to use your expertise for good, join us. Be part of a growing movement that connects people across sectors, places and platforms to strengthen leadership where it is needed most.
Join us as we mark 30 years of Pilotlight and help shape what comes next.
Hopeful because I’ve seen what happens when leaders sit side by side and truly listen.
Hopeful because I’ve seen generosity of skills turn into confidence and action.
Hopeful because when we combine human connection with the right structures and digital support, impact doesn’t just grow it compounds.
The challenges are real. But so is the opportunity.
And together, the next chapter of Pilotlight and the sector it serves can be our most impactful yet.