Andy Cook, Chief Executive Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity
Real Community Support at work
Support from J Gadd Associates’ Real Community Service helped to put Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity on the path to realising its ambitious plan to grow into a nationwide network for people with dyslexia.
Andy Cook, Chief Executive of Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity, describes how a year of support from Jeremy Gadd as a sounding board and mentor helped him to get agreement and backing for his 15-year vision – and ultimately help more people with dyslexia.
Giving something back
“Jeremy Gadd first got in touch back in January 2020, offering support as part of his business’s social responsibility programme. Real Community Service (RCS).
He is dyslexic himself and was keen to work with a cause he felt close to. We were due to meet that March, but then lockdown hit and it wasn’t until June – when we had got through furlough and closures and trying to balance the finances – that we were able to meet for the first time.
We looked at where his support would be most helpful, talking through different ideas and what the charity would do coming out of lockdown. We had a trustees’ awayday in the diary for September and I knew what I wanted to get out of that day. I knew what questions I needed to get answers to: I wanted clarity on our strategic aims post-COVID, to check that our pre-COVID plans were still relevant and I needed support from the trustees.”
An ambitious plan
“My 15-year vision was to grow from being a longstanding but small charity in Farnham to a national campaign with hubs in every region of the UK. It was meant to be ambitious. I wanted to look at how we could build this, the structure of it and how to raise the money to do it – and I wanted to present that vision for the charity to our eight trustees at that awayday.
Jeremy and I had four monthly Zoom calls to set the vision, look at the strategic plan and identify what I needed from the awayday. It was useful to have the support and that monthly date in the diary focussed my mind and made me review where we were. It made sure we were working towards milestones. Jeremy was good at listening and reflecting back what I was thinking, as well as challenging my viewpoints. It was really helpful having someone on the outside to run these things by, with Jeremy giving input and pointers along the way.”
Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity team
“I just wanted to say a huge thank you for your mentorship of Andy and your support of the charity over the last year. Thank you also for facilitating our Strategy session. Our unanimous view is that it was a great success and we are all excited about our shared long term vision. Hopefully we will indeed look back and say - remember the date! Thank you for helping us to hone our thinking and shape the discussion.”
GARY HAY - CHAIR OF TRUSTEES
“
Jeremy was integral in helping to bring my vision for the charity to life. If I had not had his dates in the diary, we would not have progressed so fast. It was a real catalyst for making sure we got there. I could not have broached some things or got decisions made within our timeframe without Jeremy’s coaching.
”
ANDY COOK
Ticking things off the list
“At the awayday, Jeremy joined our strategy session and he helped facilitate the trustees to make the decisions I needed them to make. He was good at stepping in when needed, summarising what we’d decided and moving the conversation along. It was a big decision to become UK-wide and the trustees agreed it was the way we should go. Jeremy made sure we marked the occasion as a date to look back on. Jeremy and I met on three further occasions to look at some of the nuts and bolts. We did an audit of the trustee board and subsequently we agreed to recruit another two trustees now the charity was moving to a national profile. We also looked at trustee meetings to see how we could make them more efficient. We achieved everything I wanted to and got the clarity I needed. We ticked everything off the list that Jeremy and I had drawn up when we first met.”
A benefit to all of us
“Being a Chief Executive, it was invaluable to have someone like Jeremy to talk to honestly. It’s a safe environment where you can offload without rocking the confidence of your management team or trustees. Our sessions gave me the time and space to talk about strategy, the future and my vision – and that’s exciting. Jeremy was integral in helping to bring my vision for the charity to life. If I had not had his dates in the diary, we would not have progressed so fast. It was a real catalyst for making sure we got there. I could not have broached some things or got decisions made within our timeframe without Jeremy’s coaching.
Everyone at the charity is excited about our plan, which will allow us to help even more dyslexic people, so working with Jeremy has really benefitted us all.”
Summary
Jeremy Gadd from J Gadd Associates (JGA) worked with Andy Cook over the course of 12 months as part of JGA’s Real Community Service social responsibility programme. JGA adopts one charity each year to support as part of this programme, which involves Jeremy providing pro bono personal development coaching, strategic mentoring and workshop facilitation.
About Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity
Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity, based in Farnham in Surrey, is one of the leading specialist centres in the UK, offering both support and advice to people with dyslexia and training for dyslexia specialists. It was founded in 1971 by Helen Arkell MBE, a pioneer in dyslexia education.
