Disability Support - Nottingham is an organisation that has both lived and learnt experiences of disability, care, and age-related needs and the barriers faced by people in these marginalised groups. Disability Support is an information, advice and guidance service for disabled people, older people, and carers. It has also become an important resource for statutory and voluntary services alike.
Why Pilotlight Direction?
When embarking on the Pilotlight Direction programme, Disability Support was responding to a dramatic increase in requests for welfare support and advice. The Welfare Rights Team were booked solid for at least four weeks in advance, meaning people that needed urgent support were having to wait. With overwhelming demand for services, the CEO of Disability Support, Charlotte Throssel, came to Pilotlight aiming for guidance on clarifying the organisation’s goals and structure, and also for support developing corporate sponsorship opportunities.
Results
Responding to day-to-day challenges made it challenging for Charlotte to work more strategically when leading Disability Support. Implementing recommendations the Pilotlighters made related to the structure of Disability Support, including creating a new key role of Services Manager, has had a positive effect. Charlotte now has more time and space to take on strategically important external-facing work, such as training engagements with the NHS. The external engagements has created new opportunities for potential corporate partnership, which the team are now pursuing.
The conversations and challenging discussions with the Pilotlighters throughout the meetings helped Charlotte when putting together funding applications, and Disability Support has since secured new long-term funding with a major corporate partner.
I was a little sceptical at first and also felt quite vulnerable, telling complete strangers where I believed the weaknesses were within my business. However, the support was fantastic, and I never once felt as if I was put on the spot or made to feel inadequate. It's been great to be able to utilise the advice and expertise as well as the reassurance from people who took the time to understand my charity and what we stand for. I am really grateful to have been able to take up this opportunity.
Charlotte Throssel, CEO and Founder