Aged 19, Meg Jones was about to begin university when her life was turned upside down. She was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour and her family was shocked to find there was little coordinated support available. After sending Meg to America for successful surgery, her family set up their own charity to help others facing a similar situation in the UK. brainstrust provides funding for the support and treatment of those diagnosed with primary brain cancer and their families.
“We didn’t want other families to experience what we went through. People had no-one else to talk to and we wanted to put our wealth of knowledge to good use,” says Meg’s mum and director of brainstrust, Helen Bulbeck.
Although it had grown rapidly in the three years following its foundation in 2006, brainstrust turned to Pilotlight because it wanted to invest resources and develop its infrastructure supported by a new business plan.
“The Pilotlight process was like therapy,” says Will Jones, Meg’s brother and brainstrust’s development director . “The Pilotlighters spent a lot of time listening and asking questions. It was almost like Pilotlight offered us a mirror. They took time to understand our processes and asked incisive questions which allowed us to get to where we wanted to be. They never told us what to do. They didn’t start offering us advice without first knowing what we were all about.”
A brighter future
Six months after the end of its Pilotlight engagement, brainstrust is reaping the benefits. The charity has seen an eight per cent increase in gross income while unrestricted income is 30 per cent higher. The number of people they are helping has doubled.
“We feel more confident in what we’re doing,” Will says. “We have a business plan that we’re very happy and comfortable with and our trustees and staff are fully engaged with our plan. Where we are now compared to where we were has been down to Pilotlight,” he says. “Our increased income has allowed us to expand our resources and employ more people.”
Meg is now fully recovered and, appropriately as brainstrust’s icon, she now works for the charity full-time.