Earlier this year we held a Pilotlight Impact Day which brought together colleagues at one of our Partner Businesses to help tackle key challenges faced by charities tackling food insecurity, including the charity Trussell.
From strategic thinking to industry expertise, teams from across our Partner Business used their skills to help find solutions to such important causes.
Sarah Fullick, Head of Impact & Evidence at Trussell, shares her experience of Pilotlight Impact Day
Trussell is an anti-poverty charity and community of food banks. It works together to ensure no one in the UK needs a food bank to survive, while providing food and practical support to people left without enough money to live on. Together, it is: 1,400 food bank locations, 36,000 volunteers, 100,000s of community groups and schools, and millions of people around the UK.
What motivated you to apply for Pilotlight Impact Day?
We have excellent working relationships with a number of corporate partners and have benefited from their support and guidance. We knew having an opportunity to engage in this event would draw on the depth and breadth of expertise of the Pilotlighters and Pilotlight, which would be incredibly beneficial in terms of fostering innovation and collaboration, bringing together diverse talents to solve challenges or to drive improvements. This opportunity provided exposure to a range of talented and experienced teams as well as offering valuable networking opportunities and resources, while giving the time and space to really weigh up and consider a variety of options to help us drive positive change across our work.
How did the day go?
We knew the programme would be fruitful but were blown away by the enthusiasm and energy combined with the innovative yet pragmatic solutions being developed at speed. Not only did we get to meet an amazing team of Pilotlighters who brought a wealth of expertise and knowledge to the table, we were able to verify some of our thoughts on how to progress and identify new ideas that we believe are viable. Having the head space, support and guidance so fantastic, we really couldn’t recommend the event enough and it is something we would love to be involved in again in the future.
Pilotlight was exceptional. We are a busy charity, but the team made sure there wasn’t any stress, instead excited and interest to see how the day would run. Our experience, end-to-end, was great, the energy we came away with alongside a myriad of ideas, approaches and strategies made it a standout day for me.
What have been the results after the programme?
We are coming to the end of our strategic cycle and are taking the time develop our new strategy, so this event was really timely in helping the team and I think through what some of the key areas of work we will need to plan for to achieve our objectives over the next strategic period. The wealth of information and resource gained has and will be invaluable for that process.
My top takeaways for other organisations looking to apply for Pilotlight Impact Day:
- Really think through something ‘real’ whether a challenge or idea that would benefit from the support, rather than it being conceptual
- Be open to ideas but be clear on parameters i.e. we are very innovative, but we need pragmatism and value for money
- Think about team members to bring with you that will really add value and benefit from the day. Think about how you will take the information and resource back and use them.