THE 11-strong all-female management team at St Vincent’s Hospice in Renfrewshire is celebrating today after being given the chance to learn from some of the country’s top businesses – including Chivas Brothers – Pernod Ricard, Q Hotels Cameron House Lodges and Scottish Enterprise – as part of a £60,000 leadership training programme which was generously gifted to the hospice by Stirling-based consultancy, The Leadership Factory.
It is believed to be the first donation of its kind to a hospice in Scotland.
Over the past six months, the St Vincent’s Hospice management team has benefited from over 600 hours of time and expertise from a total of 28 consultants and business mentors, providing a mix of workshops, coaching and mentoring.
Kate Lennon, chief executive of St Vincent’s Hospice, said: “We feel very fortunate to be the recipients of such a unique gift.
“We have learned so much about ourselves and our business and the way in which we can work together more effectively for the benefit of the hospice and all those whose lives are touched by the care services we deliver.
“The team at the Leadership Factory has been outstanding throughout the programme, and their expertise together with the commercial advice and guidance gained from the network of business mentors has been invaluable.
“We feel truly honoured that directors and senior management from some of Scotland’s top businesses and organisations – including Brewdog Bars, Cancer Support Scotland, Chivas Brothers – Pernod Ricard, Flex Medical Solutions, Jumpstart UK, Lindsays, McDougall Johnstone, ML Photography, Q Lodges at Cameron House, Scottish Enterprise and Tractus – should give up their time to share their knowledge with the team at St Vincent’s Hospice.”
While many businesses help to fundraise for charities by scaling Ben Nevis or abseiling down buildings, this is believed to be the first time a Scottish hospice has been gifted a development support programme for its management team with the opportunity to gain invaluable commercial skills from top industry professionals.
The ambitious project was the brainchild of Victoria Russell, principal consultant at The Leadership Factory, Scotland’s fastest-growing business management consultancy:
Said Victoria: “The idea to offer our time and expertise rather than simply participate in fundraising activities came about after speaking with St Vincent’s Hospice chief executive, Kate Lennon.
“Kate was keen to put a leadership programme together to help her team develop and implement a new strategy for the hospice but with a limited budget, the programme would only have been able to scratch the surface of what was required.
“After speaking to The Leadership Factory directors, Andy Kelly and Brian Glennie, we agreed to donate a full-service programme and we’ve been very fortunate to be able to tap into our extensive network of business professionals, all of whom have been delighted to gift their time and expertise for such a worthy cause.”
For further information, please contact Lesley Miller, fundraising and communications manager at St Vincent’s Hospice on t: 01505 705635 m: 07552 127109
or e: Lesley.miller@svh.co.uk
Additional quotes:
Elaine Rae, family support service manager, who was mentored by Joe Arciero, sourcing director of Chivas Brothers – Pernod Ricard, said:
“Meeting Joe from Chivas Brothers has been a real benefit of the work we’ve been doing with The Leadership Factory.
“His mentoring offered me the opportunity to move out my comfort zone in public health and into the world of manufacturing.
“Startlingly, we found we had commonalities in risk management, planning, testing and even how we influenced change in senior teams.
“The most valuable aspect I took from the experience was being given time to explore the strengths and limitations of ideas with a willing listener and successful leader.
“Joe’s objective feedback gave me the confidence to make changes, trust my skills and drive forward with the actions required.”
Director of Care at St Vincent’s Hospice, Brona McGee, who was mentored by Katrina Pascazio, operations manager for Q Lodges at Cameron House, said: “Having Katrina as a mentor has been an invaluable experience.
“She has been supportive, encouraging and enthusiastically embraced the mentorship role. It has been really interesting thinking about leading and managing diverse teams, as Katrina and I both do, and getting a perspective that is different from healthcare.
“Although our areas of work are different – palliative care and hospitality – it is clear that we are focused on individualised patient or customer care and satisfaction. I would like to thank Katrina for her input to this leadership training opportunity we have had, and to Q Lodges for supporting Katrina’s involvement.”
Linda Lawrie, community nursing manager for St Vincent’s Hospice, who was mentored by Stuart Robertson, of Scottish Enterprise, said: “Stuart’s dedicated time for me as a business coach has proven to be absolutely invaluable.
“We come from very different work environments, however many of the challenges that we face are similar. He has provided me with sound advice, suggested business models and reading to use along with The Leadership Factory Workshops which have dovetailed very well.
“His skilled expertise in managing people and difficulties that arise, have moved me from thinking of these as challenges but opportunities. This is giving me the confidence to grow in this particular area. I cannot thank Scottish Enterprise and Stuart Robertson enough for this fantastic opportunity.”
Notes to news editors:
1. St Vincent’s Hospice is a charitable organisation at the heart of the community. Since 1988, we have cared for people throughout Renfrewshire and surrounding areas with life limiting illnesses.
Our services are available to all, free of charge, thanks to the generosity of our local communities.
It costs £5,000 per day to run our hospice and community services, over half of which comes from donations and fundraising. We are proud that for every pound donated, over 80p goes directly towards patient care.
Learn more about the hospice at www.svh.co.uk or follow us on twitter @StVincentsHosp and Facebook www.facebook.com/StVincentsHospice
2. The Leadership Factory was founded in Stirling in 2007 by local businesspeople, Andy Kelly and Brian Glennie. Since that time, the business has grown significantly gaining international recognition for world-class development programmes which it has delivered throughout the UK with clients such as Innis & Gunn, Ingenico, Babcock and Whyte & MacKay.
The Leadership Factory team comprises 16 members of staff with expertise in strategy, leadership, management, organisational development and coaching.
To learn more about the work of The Leadership Factory visit www.leadershipfactory.co.uk
MEDIA RELEASE issued by St Vincent’s Hospice. You too can post media releases (aka press releases) on allmediascotland.com. Email here for more information.
Check out twitter.com/nonstopstories for your very own media releases feed…
To catch up on all the media releases recently posted on to allmediascotland.com, you need only click the link icon that you see towards the bottom right of our two media release ‘gateway boxes’.
It’s this icon, here. It’s your route straight into the rich archive.
—
St Vincent’s Hospice contact details…
Contact: Lesley Miller
Phone: 07552127109
Email: lesley.miller@svh.co.uk
Website: http://www.svh.co.uk
