32 BUSINESS WOMEN SCOTLAND profiles
Pilotlight
Elaine Maddison is a busy woman. As part of the management team at Alliance Trust,
the Dundee based investment and savings business, she’s been responsible for over
a hundred members of staff and thousands of customers. So, it’s not surprising that
volunteering was not top of her to do list. Indeed, when her CEO first suggested she
consider giving her time and skills through the charity Pilotlight, Elaine admits her
immediate thought was: “that’s very interesting, now how on earth do I do this? How
do I juggle volunteering with not just my work but my family life as well?”
L
ike many people, Elaine’s experience of
charities was limited. “I had given money
and been encouraged to volunteer through
my company but I always found it really hard
to fit in. I would plan to go and volunteer at a
soup kitchen but then I’d never quite manage to do it.”
Indeed, Pilotlight was set-up over ten years ago
because it recognised that senior business people
had a lot to offer charities in terms of their skills
but were short of time. Any successful relationship
would need to be structured and well managed to fit
easily into a busy work life. So, the business teams
put together by Pilotlight work with a charity over the
course of a year, meeting once a month to mentor and
coach the charity chief executive.
Elaine says it was this structured approach that
really appealed. Being placed in a team with other
senior business people was also a real eye opener
and Elaine says she learnt a lot from working with
the charity and other senior executives in this way. “It
made me remember the passion that I have for what
I do and I was able to take that back into my own
organisation. It also gave me a fresh perspective and
re-invigorated me when I went back to work. There
was also something very powerful about focusing on
something else for those three hours a month. You
put your blackberry away, you switched off from your
Elaine Maddison
Alliance Trust,
Investment and Savings
bank.
day-to-day business life and gave it your full attention.
I loved it!”
Pilotlight says it’s a common reaction from the
business people they work with. In a recent survey, over
85% of the people who worked with charities through
Pilotlight said the experience increased their sense of
wellbeing as well as their coaching skills.
As charities face a rising level of demand for their
services and a tougher funding environment, it’s no
surprise that the offer of the support of a top business
team is appealing.
Keymoves, which provides temporary emergency
accommodation for homeless and vulnerable
women in Edinburgh, was finding things hard when
they were matched up with Elaine and three other
business executives. Rose Turnbull, Chief Executive
of Keymoves, says they knew it was the right time for
some strategic support: “As a charity we are constantly
battling to secure continuous funding so that we can
survive and be sustainable. So, coming to Pilotlight
enabled us to step outside our day-to-day work and
have the time to look at the bigger picture.”
The charity now has a five-year business plan in
place and is much more confident about its future.
As well as helping charities to thrive, skills
volunteering can also offer professionals a new
lease of life when it comes to their own working
Liz McRobb
Energy and Utilities
Lawyer with UK law firm
Shepherd and
Wedderburn