Shaping a brighter future for families in South Yorkshire

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Buzz offers comprehensive support to families facing conflict and separation in South Yorkshire and has recently extended its services to a broader area in Yorkshire. Its vision is that every separated family in its area of operation chooses to access its services to find positive solutions to cooperative parenting rather than going to court. 

Buzz’s mission is to offer holistic, solution-focussed support to separated families as early as possible to avoid any lasting harm to the child and to ensure the child has the best possible opportunities in life with their co-parents.

It provides a service accessible to everyone who needs it regardless of their financial means. 

Kath Mardles, Chief Executive, shares their reflection of the impact of the Pilotlight 360 programme after winning the Weston Charity Awards.

What motivated you to apply for the Weston Charity Awards? 

We undertook a strategic transformation of the charity following a pivotal decision in early 2021. This was partly planned and in response to a 200% increase in enquiries and referrals. As well as a change to the services on offer in Sheffield as two child contact centres had closed permanently. 

We had to put things into place quickly to ensure we maintained the impetus and momentum to respond to the rise in referrals and provide the same quality of service delivery during the period of exponential growth. That also included winding down other areas of work and a crossover of the two. 

The swan metaphor summed our situation up! We were paddling so hard beneath the surface, and we were in danger of being swept away. We knew we needed to pause and regroup. While we were at the forefront of practice and innovation in our industry, we were lagging in implementing the necessary strategy, systems, and governance to achieve our objectives and ambitions.

How did the Pilotlight 360 programme go? 

The process was really clear throughout. 

Our Project Manager guided us through the process with enviable efficiency! She ensured we kept on track and held us accountable while also being a pleasure to work with. 
The Pilotlighters listened and took time to understand our area of work, offering insights, ideas, and challenges. 

They empowered us.  We really valued that. 

I think because of that approach we felt safe and could be open, honest and vulnerable.

What have been the results? 

We developed a strategic plan with an action plan that we use to keep the Pilotlight momentum going!
We reviewed the division of responsibilities in the team and how we hold ourselves and the team accountable for outcomes. We updated the team structure, freeing our manager, Paula Higgins,     up to bring the strategic plan to life. 

We created new financial systems, the most important one being how we monitor and track payments. We’ve also brought in an external accountant to work an agreed hours a month for troubleshooting and to support us to manage a complex budget. 

We successfully recruited six new trustees in the areas we were lacking previously and need for the future to achieve our aims and ambitions. They are already adding value to our work, at the next meeting we are reviewing the division of governance responsibilities. 

We organised two ‘Change’ sessions for the team run by an external consultant to explore how change affects us personally and as a team to learn some techniques to navigate through times of change.

Could you provide a sentence or two describing your experience of the programme? 

Pilotlight 360 and the Weston Charity Awards were gold dust for our organisation. It was challenging, energising and transformative. We have a renewed sense of purpose and a clear vision for the future.

As a leader of a small charity, I valued the collaborative and supportive approach, the coaching, insights, and expertise.

My top takeaways from the programme: 

• Give it your all! Be ready to put in the work.
• Be open, approach it with a growth mindset.
• Don’t do it on your own. If that's not possible or practical, bring a colleague on board.
• Keep your charity’s team up to speed, find out how they are feeling and give your support, there will be a lot of change and adaptive challenges for them.