“When you first start you feel like you’re putting down all these pieces of a jigsaw, looking for how they fit together. Then the Pilotlighters put down pieces, and you’re not sure if they’re part of the same puzzle! After a while things come together and there’s a kind of lightbulb moment when you start to see the full picture and it all makes sense.” Emma Pears, SELFA
Last month we brought together the sixteen winners of the Weston Charity Awards in 2016 at two Pilotlight Connect sessions, held in Leeds and Birmingham. The purpose of these sessions is to bring together the CEOs from these charities (it’s the first time the CEOs have met since they won the awards in June last year) and give them a space to share their experiences of the Pilotlight programme and explore challenges in the sector. This year’s winners form a diverse group, ranging from healthy eating in Leeds and sight loss support in the Lakes, to ex-offenders and employability in Merseyside and thirteen other organisations who provide support to the most disadvantaged groups across the North of England. This diversity meant that everyone brought something very different to the table, and the CEOs benefitted from exploring one another’s different approaches to their common challenges and opportunities. I’m pleased to say both sessions went well and we were able to cover ground not yet looked at during their usual meetings with us.
Emma Pears’ comment above about feeling like she’s building a jigsaw through her Pilotlight project was echoed by others in the room, as was her mention of “a kind of lightbulb moment”. Understanding and learning from different perspectives is at the heart of what we do. We bring together inspiring and visionary CEOs with experienced and highly-skilled business leaders (Pilotlighters) in all our programmes. We do this because we know there’s a lot to be gained from bringing these sectors that so often feel like two very different worlds, together. Our Pilotlighters gain a greater understanding of the issues faced by so many in our communities, and how charities are tackling them to make people stronger and happier. Charities gain skills and knowledge from the business world, which enable them to build stronger, more resilient organisations that help make even more people to be stronger and happier.
The process of working together with people who think very differently can be difficult. Charity CEOs and Pilotlighters can both find it hard to adapt the way they would usually approach things, and can struggle to see how they can contribute and work on issues they know little about. However, as a Project Manager I know that everyone has a puzzle piece to put down, even if they’re not entirely sure where it fits. Through the process of the Pilotlight programme the different ideas and perspectives within the teams come together, resulting in strategies for our partner charities that allow them to become more sustainable and have a bigger impact on the lives of the people who need them. It’s also why I love doing the work I do and facilitating the process.
These Weston Charity Awards winners will continue to work with their teams of Pilotlighters and are expected to complete their projects over the summer. We look forward to seeing the big plans they will have made, and how they will continue making more and more people stronger and happier.
Everyone has a piece to put down, including you. Get involved.