We sat down with Sarah to find out more about why she has chosen to support Groundwork NE and Cumbria, Dynamo North East, and the Whitley Bay Junior Park Run, and why she believes that giving her team time to work on causes they care about is more than just a nice thing to do…
Over to you Sarah!
You sit as a voluntary director for the environmental, sustainable charity, Groundwork NE and Cumbria. How did you get involved with the team there?
“Sustainability wasn’t something that was always front of mind when Cat and I started the business, but as I learnt more about the issues facing the events sector and our global communities, it has become something that I am really passionate about. When I first started looking at taking on a trustee role back in 2019, after researching a few different charities, I found Groundwork NE and Cumbria and thought it would be a great fit. I loved their environmental work, but it was also their societal projects focussing on improving people’s prospects that made them stand out to me. The team delivers amazing initiatives that provide opportunities for communities across the North East and Cumbria, from projects for young people to build their confidence, through to using gardening as a focus to bring together older men who might be isolated, and an enterprise scheme to encourage entrepreneurship.
I became involved with Groundwork NE and Cumbria in 2019 as a trustee for the main charity and as I found out more, I also became a voluntary Director of their trading arm, The Greenhouse Company (Groundwork). After a year or two, I realised that my skills and experience were well placed to help this side of the organisation thrive so in 2022 I decided to focus on the trading arm which raises crucial funds that go straight back into the core charity, and I became Chair and stood down from the main Charity board.
Supporting the trading arm of the business means that I am using my skills to steer and support the brilliant team to generate revenues so the charity can deliver even more projects, positively impact more people, and create greener places in our region. We are currently working on how to grow the trading arm using our experience managing buildings such as the sustainable business centre, The Greenhouse in Stanley, the visitor centre, and the Land of Oak and Iron in Gateshead which is really exciting to be part of. The non-for-profit sector is not my background, and alongside being able to volunteer my time and experience, I have learnt a lot from the team and other trustees about things like charity legislation, reporting and funding, and sitting as a trustee has played a huge part in my personal development and continued learning as a business leader.”
Tell me about your role at tech network Dynamo North East?
“I have been involved with Dynamo since its inception in 2014 and as a volunteer director since 2019, and in the early days that role very much focused on using my skills in business management to support the founders to set activities up that furthered the reach and impact of the north east’s tech sector. The tech sector is fascinating to me, especially here in the North East, and Dynamo is a community interest company that supports the tech sector by investing time and resources into projects that celebrate tech companies in the North East and help them to flourish. Recently the organisation has merged with Sunderland Software City which has meant we have benefited from wider expertise and teams and my role has become more hands-off as the fantastic executive team develops the organisation and drives it forward which is fantastic to see. I am passionate about tech for purpose and at the moment I’m excited to be working with the team to drive impact through the development of new events and initiatives which I find really exciting. I enjoy finding inspiration from what other areas of the UK are doing and looking at how that can be translated into what we do here in the North East; that is where I feel like I can add real value to my role at Dynamo, which is an evolution from the early days when it was much more tactical.
For both Dynamo and for Groundwork NE and Cumbria I like the opportunity to do that strategic thinking piece and be the ambitious voice in the room on where we can develop opportunities and evolve as an organisation. I think that is where I add value and it aligns with the role I have here at BeaconHouse Events.”
You use your event experience to help get kids into sport through Whitley Bay Junior Park Run, is that a cause that is close to your heart?
As a business owner, I’m a big believer in finding something that brings you joy and fulfilment. I’m a big sports fan, especially encouraging young people to get involved and seeing people’s personal achievements through sports, so being a volunteer run director for the Junior Park Run in my local area is a complete departure from work and something I love being part of. While I only have to ‘direct’ a run every six weeks or so, I get involved as a marshal, scanner or in other roles most weeks in between. Being a run director means making sure that week’s run happens in a safe and fun way, which includes shout-outs for volunteers, managing the roster, setting up the course, and making sure everyone is where they are meant to be on the day, which isn’t a million miles away from my early days as an event manager, I guess! There are seven-run directors and we take it in turns; it is just such a fun team to be part of, though it doesn’t always feel like that in the winter months’ wind and rain!
Do you also encourage the team at BeaconHouse Events to get involved with causes that they care about?
I think it is essential, especially when you run or work in a small organisation like ours, to gain experience from outside. Catherine and I always encourage the team to take time to find charities or causes to get involved with outside of their day-to-day roles. As well as being fantastic for their personal development, it also invigorates them and brings new energy, inspiration, and creativity to the projects that they are delivering for BeaconHouse.
Being involved in other organisations as a volunteer or trustee allows you to be immersed in other ways of thinking and operating and that is incredible for personal development. It doesn’t always have to be something as time-consuming or ‘grand’ as sitting on a board, it could be simply volunteering a few hours each year with a charity project like the tree planting initiative we recently supported at The Children’s Foundation. It’s about getting insight into what’s important to other people and seeing how those projects are delivered.
We have grown as a business and certainly, since COVID people’s expectations have changed around where they find fulfilment at work. Where in the past we may have looked more at training opportunities directly linked to job roles, today we take a more holistic approach and look at where our team can experience things that are seemingly unrelated to the events sector. Every one of those experiences will add value to the individuals taking part and they will bring that back to BeaconHouse and add real value to our growth and the success of our clients.
To speak to the team about your event ambitions for 2024 or to find out more about current opportunities to work together email info@beaconhouse-events.co.uk