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Insight Story: Talking Strategy with Pregnancy Counselling Care

Our Specialist Volunteer Network (SVN) is an impressive collective of over 500 professionals who lend their expertise and time to the charity sector for free, saving not only those all-important funds, but time

Due to increasing demand for services and the ever-changing funding landscape, charities are finding it more difficult to carry out their day-to-day activity whilst maintaining their core mission and values. The lack of time to reflect can cause charities to unknowingly move away from these values and without a plan for the future, can be detrimental to their development.  

New to post Lucy, Chief Executive at Pregnancy Counselling Care (PCC), didn’t want to fall into this trap and wanted to know everything about the organisation and then formulate a strategy for the next few years.  

An outside perspective

After identifying the need, Lucy then contacted our Specialist Volunteer Network (SVN) for support. She sat down with our SVN Executive Elaine who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the third sector – from understanding the needs of the charity to matching them with the perfect professional volunteer.  

After Lucy’s chat with Elaine she was connected with Sarah Griffiths, one of 500 in our network of professional volunteers which includes lawyers, accountants, communications experts and more all ready and waiting to hear from charities needing free professional support.   

Sarah is what’s known in the business as a ‘Facilitator of Change’. She does this by creating and facilitating strategy sessions to further organisational development. She has a proven track record of hosting strategy sessions for charities in Scotland including Humanist Society Scotland and Fair Deal Glasgow. Along with this, Sarah was part of the Childcare Availability Task Force in New York which tackled childcare issues, perfectly placing her to support the development of PCC’s strategy.  

PCC are an Edinburgh-based charity, who receive funding from our Perinatal and Infant Mental Health fund. They provide practical and emotional support to anyone struggling due to childbirth, pregnancy, miscarriage or infertility. Alongside counselling, they also run a Baby Bank which provides supplies for newborns and young children to families in Edinburgh and the Lothians. 

Sarah’s ‘no one size fits all’ approach

Sarah takes great pride in her meticulous preparation as she believes this is what allows her to elevate the answers that are already there and achieves this by asking good questions to facilitate a helpful conversation.  

She explained that when approaching these sessions, she always takes a collaborative, no size fits all approach. Every single organisation is unique, and they present with their own set of challenges, needs and goals. 

She says: 

“It is important to make sure that the organisation feels empowered and motivated. PCC are a small organisation who are doing very important work and so it is important that they use the skills and tools that they already have available to make a difference in the community.” 

Sarah implemented this robust approach when preparing for PCC’s strategy day. She delivered 13 pro bono hours of preparation worth over £2,500. This included two brainstorming sessions with Lucy and a trustee prior to the day. Once the plan was set, Sarah was then able to facilitate PCC’s team strategy day. 

Bringing the team together

To have the most success possible Sarah felt it was best to invite everyone from the PCC team to the strategy day. From the volunteers to the board, everyone had their say in defining the future of the organisation with the goals of:  

• Creating alignment around what’s important. 
• Revisiting the vision, mission and values for alignment and recalibrate for future direction. 
• Building a 3-year vision for PCC. 
• Aligning the board and staff around realistic expectations for growth. 

Sarah said:  

“With PCC, it was important to have their volunteers attending the team day so that their voices were all heard and integrated into the process as they provide a vital perspective.”   

As an organisation that is constantly looking to improve, PCC were able to develop a plan which will enable them to continue their goal of becoming a more professional, accessible and accountable service. 

The team at PCC were eager to share their thoughts on Sarah’s session.  

Chef Executive Lucy said:  

“Sarah, you gave such an excellent lightness of touch to the day, that let these conversations flow – it was brilliant.” 

It’s hard to put into words just how much we all appreciate what you did for us.? It came at a perfect time, as there’s so many ideas in our heads, and this will really help us to put a structure around it, creating a realistic plan. Also, so helpful for the board to meet the staff, as this hadn’t happened before and there was a shift in understanding from the board about just how hard we all work – and recognition that they want to support more where they can.” 

Got a request?

PCC are one of over 200 organisations that were supported by our SVN last year, ranging across various skillsets including business development, marketing and employment law. 

Does your charity have a problem you think our SVN could help with? Get in touch with elaine@inspiringscotland.org.uk or Tommy@inspiringscotland.org.uk