Inspired Managers Ltd
I am a highly experienced senior executive with a distinguished record in strategic planning, commissioning and grant distribution across local government social care, health and the charity sector. I am particularly committed to the care, support and safeguarding of children and young people and to empowering individuals and communities.
My career has included roles as a charity CEO as well as Assistant Director for Commissioning roles in several local authorities, where I have worked with many charities as both service providers and strategic partners. Consultancy roles include working with a range of charities supporting children, young people and communities.
My Non-Executive roles include trusteeships with a national children’s charity and a local youth and community centre, as well as a strategic advisory role for a national grant funder. I am also a Pilotlighter, coaching CEOs and Boards of small and medium charities to support specific projects or issues. I also have experience as a trustee of a small animal rescue charity.
I have over 30 years generalist management and business planning experience and can offer support across the range of planning, risk management, measuring performance and project management activities. However, particular specialisms include:
- Strategic planning (understanding need, designing services to meet that need and measuring impact). Creating the golden thread between the charity’s aims and daily activities)
- Contracting – particular experience from the commissioner’s perspective to support effective tendering and demonstrating impact of services
- Grant funding – my direct experience as both a grant funder and a bid writer can support in writing effective grant applications
- Governance and policy development – ensuring the right framework is in place to run the charity effectively and keep appropriate records.
I am passionate about supporting voluntary sector organisations to achieve great outcomes and remain sustainable.
As a commissioner I have worked with a range of charities providing services to children and families (including family centres, children’s homes, fostering, mental health support, edge of care services etc.). These partnerships often involved working with the charity to develop services and also their performance frameworks so that they were able to demonstrate their impact and compete for other contracts and funding.
I have also worked directly with:
St Francis’ Children’s Society (Adoption)
Worcestershire Homelessness Appeal (including Droitwich Community Pantry)
BBC Children in Need (grant making)
St Christopher’s Fellowship (children and young people)
CCP (Caring for Communities and People) (homeless support)
Birmingham Voluntary Services Council (employment support)
Teckels Animal Sanctuaries (animal rescue)
I regularly support my own CPD through attendance at information and networking events as well as conferences which are relevant to my work and sector. My most relevant formal qualifications include:
Certificate in Coaching & Mentoring – CIPD
Executive Certificate in Strategic Commissioning – University of Birmingham
Managing Successful Programmes (Foundation & Practitioner)
Certificate in Commissioning & Purchasing for Public Care – Oxford Brookes University
NLP Practitioner and Master Practitioner
Post Graduate Certificate in Management – Anglia University
Marketing Certificate and Diploma – Chartered Institute of Marketing
I also believe that we learn the most from the people and organisations that we work with.
After an early career in marketing and business management (including working for Barnardo’s and the Children & Family Courts Advisory and Support Service) I launched Inspired Managers in 2007, to design and execute a broad range of change projects, many selected for their impact and beneficial outcomes on children’s services. These included:
- turning around the operational performance of an adoption charity to enable a merger with a partner charity
- independent review of a charity providing a homeless support service to support their retention of a contract
- the assessment and validation of a nationally funded employment support programme for 18-25 year olds to enable release of a further £350k funding
- turnaround of a local authority Troubled Families programme which was failing to ensure effective delivery and secure second stage government funding
- Introducing the commissioning cycle to a local authority, beginning with Needs Analysis, service planning and market analysis to deliver better planned services for looked after children and achieve cost savings
- Supported the charity registration for a small local charity, ensuring appropriate policies and constitution were in place to achieve CIO registration
- Developing systems for several clients to support participation by and direct feedback from service users
I also have direct experience as a trustee of several charities and as a charity CEO. Having sat in several different ‘seats’ around the table (as a trustee, CEO, grant maker and local authority partner / commissioner) has given me a rounded view of how these roles work best together.