In his latest blog, Gareth looks back on his first 12 months at CEO
Gareth’s blog: Reflections on my first year as CEO
Over in an instant! Reflections on my first 12 months as CEO
I really can’t believe it – I’m already 12 months into the role of CEO at Forget Me Not. 12 months! Where has that time gone?!
There’s lots I could reflect on from my first 12 months in post, but I want to focus on just 3 key things.
1. Staying true to our values and working together
It’s true what they say, isn’t it? A lot can happen in 12 months and, boy, have we seen that!
I think it’s fair to say that there are many external factors currently doing their utmost to derail businesses, charities and anyone else trying to make headway in very challenging times.
It’s at these times when I know that our organisational values can be relied upon to keep moving us forward.
Caring, Courageous, Pioneering, Positive, Genuine
It’s these values that keep colleagues and volunteers at Forget Me Not focussed on what matters, and working together as #oneteam.
It’s these values that help us to remain resilient, adaptive and agile as an organisation.
And it’s these values that help us to provide the best possible support to children and their families.
Every day, I see examples of people going above and beyond as they strive to uphold these values, and I’m so proud of everyone across all of our teams who work tirelessly to support the children and families we support. I’ve always known that it takes a #oneteam approach to do what we do as a charity, but I appreciate that even more since becoming CEO.
Every day, I see examples of people going above and beyond as they strive to uphold our values, and I’m so proud of everyone across all of our teams who work tirelessly to support the children and families we support. I’ve always known that it takes a #oneteam approach to do what we do as a charity, but I appreciate that even more since becoming CEO.
Gareth Pierce, CEO
2. Every day is a school day
Sounds like a cliché right? Trust me, it’s not.
Every single day this year, I have learned something new.
From learning about new and innovative ways that we are supporting children and families (like our new hydrotherapy pool based music therapy sessions) and then sharing those stories across the sector so that others might benefit.
To listening to families who we are supporting and understanding the challenges and chaos that they face and then working out how we can better support them to help them to overcome those challenges.
To understanding the complex financial model for hospices that is, quite frankly, broken and won’t improve until there is a fundamental change to the system right across the UK.
And trying to figure out: what does a children’s hospice of the future look like? And what do we need to do in order to be sustainable and resilient if we’re to delivery our promise for years to come.
3. Writing our next chapter… becoming fit for the future!
It’s an important time for the charity.
A year ago, I outlined our priorities:
1. Protect our future
2. Deliver our promise
Sounds simple right?
Trust me, we know it’s really not that simple, but over the course of the last year, we have achieved real clarity on what we need to do to achieve our two simple goals and have been busy laying the foundations for the next part of our journey.
Our plan sits around 4 key pillars:
Families
Making sure that our model of care and family support is flexible and adaptable to meet the increasingly complex needs of children and families not just now but in the future. This work will see us adopt a key-worker approach that will include understanding the wider challenges that families face and signposting to other services if we know that we don’t have the right skills or expertise to support with particular problems through structured collaborations with other services and charities. It will also see us develop our volunteer service so that we can widen our range of support services.
Finances
To meet current and future demands, we know that over time, we will need to significantly increase our income capacity. To do this, we are currently working on a range of plans to bring that vision to a reality. This will mean growing existing income streams, opening more shops and looking at innovative ways to diversify our income streams.
Facilities
Our facilities and infrastructure need to be fit for the future too. We are investing in new, cost effective systems that will help us to reduce administration, increase productivity and bring resilience – so that our time, money and resources can be spent on the important work of supporting children and families. We’ll also make sure that our building, which is now over 12 years old is fit for the next 10 years by making improvements and repairs and making the best use of space.
Foundations
We have to build strong foundations if we’re to deliver our promise not just now but in the future too, and that means ensuring that Forget Me Not, its people, our systems and infrastructure are fit for the future.
So, what will year 2 bring?
Well – whatever it is, I’m ready for it, and so is this incredible charity, its colleagues, its volunteers and its supporters… bring it on!
Over the course of the last year, we have achieved real clarity on what we need to do to achieve our two simple goals and have been busy laying the foundations for the next part of our journey.
Gareth Pierce, CEO
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