I am one of the newest members of the team. I can see my role making a real difference to our members and their families. I will be point of contact for our parent and carers when they need some help in supporting their child or young person. Sometimes just having somebody at the end of a phone or on the screen to listen and provide support and information makes a big difference. I am hoping my role will help military families know that they are not alone and that there is a team of people here at Scotty’s that care about them and want to provide the best support they can.


My role will enable parents and carers to share openly about what is concerning them and to provide information, workshops and forums to discuss bereavement and what they can do to support our bereaved military children and young people.



What does your role involve?
My role is to support the parents and carers of our members. I am here to support and signpost to enable parents and carers to help their children and young people in the best way possible. This could be through signposting to other organisations or sharing of useful information. It involves making information available on our Families Zone, leading workshops aimed at helping parents and carers to help their children and young people and arranging online meet ups such as Grab a Glass and Coffee Mornings.

Support will always be tailored to our members and so my role is to enable parents and carers to receive the best information and support they can, so they are well resourced to help their children and young people. 


What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s?
Before I moved to Scotty’s, I was families worker at an RAF Chaplaincy. In this role I supported military families and led our stations family work including running toddler and baby groups, activity and coffee mornings, in addition to offering 1:1 pastoral support. I have had a variety of jobs and before this pursued my passion in Outdoor Education and worked as an Outdoor Instructor and Forest Ranger.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s?
Being a part of the most amazing team of people who are passionate about what they do. Being with people that genuinely want to make a difference in the lives of others.

How does your role at Scotty’s make a difference?
Every child and young person at Scotty’s has experienced a death of a parent who served in the military, so many factors can affect their development and transition into adulthood. Supporting our children and young people to succeed in their education journey and not be at a disadvantage to their peers is a vital part of my role. It’s brilliant being able to offer a programme which supports members to break down barriers and pursue their next steps. Our Springboard members are entering university, employment or completing life milestones such as buying their first house, getting married or having children of their own. I’m honoured I can support and provide guidance along the way. It’s great to watch our members grow and thrive.

What does your role involve?
My role at Scotty’s it to develop and deliver our Strides and Springboard Programmes.
Strides has two strands, one is to support Scotty members and Springboarders to access grants, the other focuses on educational development and supporting young people with significant key milestones within their educational setting, such as year 6 & P7 transitions, preparing for exams and assessing what their options are when they leave school.
Springboard is a new programme for 18–25-year-olds. I support all Springboarders with their post 18 destinations, this could be accessing education and vocational training, apprenticeships, or employment opportunities. A large part of my role is offering up to date information and guidance and providing a variety of resources.

What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s? 
I previously worked for Cambridgeshire County Council as their Project Co-ordinator for East Cambridgeshire and Fenland. I designed and developed programmes to support young people to improve their social mobility and opportunities for the future. I also supported third sector organisations to launch projects and engage young people to become an active and positive part of their local community. Previous to this I was a Young People’s Worker providing one to one intensive support for a caseload of young people, this involved planning, organising and delivering targeted activities and projects within secondary schools and community settings across Cambridgeshire.  

What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s?
I love speaking to our children and young people and finding out how Scotty’s has and continues to support them. It's really lovely to hear positive stories and to be able to support our members onto their next journey. Most of all I love being part of a passionate and driven team. It’s great to be working in a forward-thinking environment where everyone believes in the same goal.

How does your role at Scotty’s make a difference?
My role at Scotty’s makes a difference because it’s often the first experience that a new bereaved military family has with Scotty’s. I then engage with them throughout their time at Scotty’s, which is years and years for the majority of our members. A lot of what I do is about bringing smiles to the faces of children and young people of have experienced so much in their young lives. By building trust, we develop a relationship with our military families which means they feel more comfortable to reach out for support when times get particularly tough. 

What does your role involve?
My role is to be the first point of contact for our members when accessing the four Family programmes Scotty’s offer - Smiles, Support, Strides and Springboard. I answer their queries and signpost to the relevant team member. I also work closely with Nikki on all new membership enquiries and go through the process with that family from start to finish. Once they become a member, I arrange an introduction call to tell them all about Scotty’s and what to expect along the way.

I engage with existing members and Springboarders by selecting and sending gifts and vouchers at extra difficult times of the year, including Remembrance, birthdays and Christmas. I also coordinate the Scotty respite breaks for the families and I assist in the planning and preparation of our Xmas party, as well as arranging fun activities and competitions throughout the year.

What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s?
Before Scotty’s I worked as a customer advisor in the construction education sector. I looked after the customers in the south of the county supporting them using the testing platform which enabled them to deliver different aspects of training. When I was there, I joined the charity committee which led to my role at Scotty’s.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s?
It’s really hard to say my favourite thing about working at Scotty’s because there’s so many. I love everything - all of what we do, why we do it and how we go about it. Everyday I’m learning from the team and that helps me to be the absolute best I can be for the children and young people that we support.

How does your role at Scotty’s make a difference?
I bring some strategic thinking, project planning and specialist childhood bereavement knowledge to the team. I really hope my passion for working to support bereaved children and young people helps the Families Team to create and deliver effective support services. If we get things right, then we can really make a difference to a bereaved military child’s life.

What does your role involve?
My role revolves around the development of Scotty’s services for bereaved military children and young people. It involves researching, creating, developing and delivering a wide range of projects and initiatives that support the bereavement needs of our Members and Springboarders. My role is varied and interesting and covers our four family programmes, Smiles, Strides, Support and Springboard. I help coordinate all the great work being carried out by our Families Team. I also have an extra responsibility helping to promote the charity externally to prospective bereavement support partners and exploring exciting ways we can work in partnership to help fulfil our mission.

What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s?
I was working for a local child bereavement support charity. My role initially involved the face-to-face support of bereaved children and young people, as well as providing guidance to families. I also helped to lead numerous therapeutic bereavement residential weekends, supporting children and young people aged 0-18 years old. Towards the latter part of my 10 years with the charity, I was involved in the development of various bereavement projects, and I was responsible for their young volunteer’s scheme. Prior to working with the charity, I worked with Victim Support, Norfolk County Council Youth Services, and the Army Welfare Service as a Community Development Worker. I am a qualified Youth Worker and have always enjoyed my various roles delivering youth and community work.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s?
The Scotty’s team are kind, committed and passionate about what they do. They are welcoming and thoughtful and strive to make a difference to bereaved military families. This means the team are always willing to listen whenever I come up with an idea or a project plan, regardless of how bizarre, wild or innovative it might seem!

How does your role at Scotty’s make a difference?
I offer bereavement support to children who have experienced the death of a parent who served in the Armed Forces. This support helps them to move forward in their everyday life and gain confidence, which allows our members to create their new normal.

What does your role involve?
I work directly with bereaved military children and young people. I promote positive emotional health and wellbeing support to help minimise any negative impacts of their bereavement. This can be with a one-to-one session or working in a group.

My support role leads me to work directly with parents, carers, schools and colleges. Gaining valuable information and knowledge about our members via assessments, which then gives me a great insight on the best way to support them.

What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s?
I spent 18 years in the motor trade, then 6 years as a property manager, then I was taken in a completely different direction. I started to volunteer for a child bereavement charity, which then led me to my role at Scotty’s.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s?
Being inspired in so many different ways - From working as part of a fantastic smaller team, ie the Families team, to being part of an awesome wider team, which makes me see the difference Scotty’s makes.

How does your role at Scotty’s make a difference?
I am heavily involved in making sure the charity is sustainable for the future and that it is providing the very best support to meet the needs of our beneficiaries. I help to make sure the team are staying true to the mission and that the families are always at the heart of everything we do.

What does your role involve?
As the founder my role can be very varied, but the most important part of my role is to be the family's champion. I speak out on behalf of the families to ensure the Scotty’s team act in the families’ best interests at all times.

On a day-to-day basis, I sit within the Families Team making sure the services we offer our bereaved military children and young people through our four family programmes, are in line with the charity’s overall mission, promises and core values.

I look after the Family Comms, so any communication going out to our families is done through myself. That way we can ensure Scotty’s tone is consistent and echoed throughout the charity. I communicate regularly with our families through emails and our Facebook group to ensure that they are kept informed about the work of the charity, aware of the service we provide and ways we can help. I also work closely with the Supporter Engagement team whenever a family are sharing their story publicly.
The other key part of my role is helping to raise the charities profile. As the ‘Founder/Face of the charity and being the ‘spokesperson’ (although I like to think of it as being the voice for the children and young people we support and helping them to be heard). This could be in the form of public speaking opportunities, being a guest on podcasts, being interviewed for TV, radio etc.

What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s?
I worked in nursery schools and public houses so no previous experience of working in the third sector. Since starting Scotty’s though, I have realised that many of the skills I learnt at my previous places of employment have helped me with my work at Scotty’s. My own personal experiences have helped shape and develop Scotty’s and still does to this very day.
 
What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s?
One, is the culture of Scotty’s. I love how the team at Scotty’s work so hard and their passion for supporting bereaved children and young people shines through. There is no better place to work.
The second is, seeing the positive impact the charity has on our Members and Springboarders. I love nothing more than receiving feedback from our bereaved military families about how Scotty’s has helped them. It just makes all the hard work worth it.

How does your role at Scotty’s make a difference?

I support our online fundraisers through their challenges. I ensure that our supporters have their fundraising pages set up and that they have an overall great experience while raising funds and awareness of Scotty's. Without these supporters, we would not be able to provide the services we do to our beneficiaries.

What does your role involve?

My role is primarily to ensure that our supporters have the best experience while raising funds through our online challenges. I set up the challenges, ensuring that we have a wide range for our supporters to choose from. This can be anything from cycling, walking, push ups etc. Setting up the challenges involves working with the wider team, creating graphics, advertisements, articles and designing rewards for each challenge. I manage the Facebook groups for each challenge, encouraging the team and helping them to reach their fundraising target. My role also includes responding to comments and queries on Scotty's social media channels.

What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s?

Before joining Scotty's, I worked mainly in retail. However, before re-locating to Norfolk, I was given the opportunity to work on a company's social media pages. This is where I realised that I loved working with social media, and proceeded to complete social media marketing courses. Scotty's gave me the opportunity to pursue this love and I am now in a role where I truly love what I do.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s?

The best thing about working at Scotty's is that everyone is passionate about what they do. We all work extremely hard for our beneficiaries and it creates an amazing atmosphere within the team.

How does your role at Scotty’s make a difference?
Like so many other charities, Scotty’s Little Soldiers’ income relies entirely on the generosity of the public, whether that be individual fundraising and donations, funds from Trusts and Foundations or working with corporate partners.
Securing funding from grants as part of an overall fundraising effort means the charity can exist to fulfil its promises to our beneficiaries.

What does your role involve? 
My role is to raise funding from grant giving organisations to support Scotty’s Little Soldiers work with bereaved Forces children and young people.
I manage the process in its entirety, from researching potential new opportunities, to writing grant applications, to managing the grant post award and developing relationships with our key supporters.
I work closely with the Families Team to develop and understand the work and projects they need funding for, so they can offer the best support to bereaved Forces children and young people. I also liaise with the Operations Team, reviewing the core costs the charity requires grant funding for, ensuring we achieve our budget income.

What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s? 
Before I came to Scotty’s I spent several years as a bid-writer and marketing coordinator in preconstruction, working for a regional construction contractor. I am also the vice chairman of a local performing arts charity and had experience in grant fundraising and grant project management following a large refurbishment project at our headquarters.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s?
It doesn’t feel like work. Everyone at Scotty’s is so passionate about what they do and we have a shared belief and attitude towards our work, creating a positive culture.

How does your role at Scotty’s make a difference?

My role gives me the chance to help our Scotty Members, Springboarders and fundraisers tell their stories. We’re very lucky to have lots of inspirational people supporting the us, and by sharing some of the amazing things they’ve done we want to inspire even more! It’s also my job to keep people updated on all the latest new from Scotty’s HQ. By writing about what we’re doing, how we’re doing it and the positive impact it’s having, I’m able to keep our supporters in the loop on everything going on within the charity and show just why what we’re doing is so important.

What does your role involve?

Raising awareness of Scotty’s Little Soldiers through written content. We always have lots going on and the type of content I’m writing can change by the day, but my main focus is creating articles that we can host on Scotty’s website. These range from amazing fundraising challenges our supporters have undertaken to interviews with inspirational guests, stories about our Scotty Members or pieces celebrating the life of their parent. My goal is to create interesting written content that engages our readers and takes them on our journey with us. Some of the content I write is aimed at our members, and because of this I frequently liaise with the Families Team to make sure everything we put on our website has as much value to them as possible.

What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s?

Before joining Scotty’s, I worked as a freelance writer for multiple film and entertainment websites. This involved writing reviews and feature articles, interviewing filmmakers and occasionally attending film festivals as a member of the press – including Cannes 2019. I also spent two years volunteering at a local homeless charity, where I took responsibility for all their written content. At the same time, I worked for the Norfolk Library Service as both an Information Assistant and Relief Library Manager – loaning books, providing IT assistance, hosting events and taking over managerial duties whenever required.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s?

Getting to speak to so many of our Scotty Members and supporters about everything they’ve achieved is always such a privilege – hearing first-hand how Scotty’s have made a difference to their life is amazing. I also love chatting to our supporters about the incredible challenges they’ve undertaken to raise money for bereaved military children, which never fails to be inspiring.

How does your role at Scotty’s make a difference?
Our online audience is growing daily and our supporters are more engaged than ever. The more people we can reach and demonstrate to them the work we do, the more fundraising support we receive and opportunities arise such as potential partnerships with other organisations. Most importantly, as Scotty’s profile grows, we are able to reach new Scotty members and give bereaved Forces children and young people the support they need.

What does your role involve?
My role is to help raise awareness of the work Scotty’s Little Soldiers does with bereaved Forces children and young people through digital marketing. I promote Scotty’s to our established online audience and focus on reaching new potential supporters. My goal is to keep our supporters engaged and take them on our journey with us. I manage Scotty’s social media channels and create social and email marketing campaigns that align with the Scotty’s messaging. I liaise with the creative team on content creation projects to promote events, challenges and video content that we produce. Another element to my role is managing our website, web projects and paid ad campaigns.

What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s?
I’ve worked as a journalist for multiple newspapers across the East of England. This is also where I first came across Scotty’s when I interviewed Nikki in the early days of the charity. Since then, I’ve managed a marketing team of 20 in Melbourne, Australia and launched my own award-winning travel and lifestyle blog, Absolutely Lucy. I worked in SEO while living in Germany and created content for The Independent, The Evening Standard and The Telegraph websites. More recently, I launched the digital marketing strategy for Duty To Care, a charity which launched at the height of the pandemic to provide mental health and wellbeing services for NHS staff.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s?
I love working alongside such a passionate and talented team because I feel like I learn something new every day. But what I love the most is the structure of Scotty’s – we work with a flat hierarchy which is different to a lot of charities and organisations. I think this structure leaves so much room for opportunity, collaboration and growth. It also means that from the second you start working with Scotty’s, you have the chance to make a real difference.

How does your role at Scotty’s make a difference?
Sadly, there’s so many bereaved Forces children and young people out there that desperately need support. We therefore need people to know Scotty’s is here for two very important reasons; 1 – We want to reach all the children that have experienced the death of their parent in the Forces so we can help them; 2 – In order to continue our work we need funding. We are lucky to have some great supporters, but there must be so many more people out there that could support Scotty’s but don’t know about us or fully understand what we do. It’s my job to reach as many people as possible through different means.

What does your role involve?
My role is to raise awareness of Scotty’s Little Soldiers and the work we do to support bereaved Forces children and young people.

There’s lots of different elements to my role, but one of the key things is sharing stories about our members so that people understand what they have been through, the impact their parent’s death has had on their life and how Scotty’s has supported them and made a difference. I also work closely with press to ensure Scotty’s is talked about via a number of channels, including print press, TV, radio and podcasts. Our founder, Nikki, has an incredible story to tell, so I put her forward for interviews and public speaking. Another aspect of my role is to work closely with the team on anything that we share externally about the charity to ensure we have a consistent message.

What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s?
Before I worked at Scotty’s, I did TV PR for 16 years. In a nutshell, my job was to promote television programmes. The majority of that time was spent working for ITV and I was lucky enough to work on programmes including Emmerdale, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!, Britain’s Got Talent, Piers Morgan’s Life Stories and the drama Broadchurch. I used to liaise regularly with the national press and these contacts have really helped since joining Scotty’s.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s?
Being part of a passionate team. We all know that what we do makes a big difference, so we work extremely hard and care deeply about what we do. Being part of such a dedicated team is really inspiring.

How does your role at Scotty’s make a difference?
There has been so much hard work that has gone into the last 11 years and the charity is now at a point where income needs to increase so that we can continue developing our Family Programmes, helping to ensure our members have access to all the support required to help them grow into adulthood with confidence and resilience. The introduction of specialist bereavement support is vital addition to what was already an amazing package of services.

In order to achieve all this, we need to ensure our income allows that growth. As well as ensuring our supporters have the best experience, I also spend time monitoring and evaluating our performance across different platforms to see where and how we can perform better. Through some great teamwork we can then look at areas of improvement, investment or development to ensure we achieve our mission.
 
What does your role involve? 
My role is to ensure our supporters have the best experience when choosing to donate to Scotty’s via Overwatch and digitally.

Overwatch is our very special initiative providing supporters with a way to donate with confidence knowing that 100% of their monthly contribution will go directly to our Family Programmes and not towards our core costs such as utility bills. I work with our Engagement, Creative and Families Teams to produce monthly content that gives behind the scenes access to our subscribers, helping to explain how their donations are being used for the benefit of our Scotty’s members. We are always looking to add value to our subscribers and actively encourage them to tell us what else they would like to know via informal feedback and our annual Listening Post survey.

Regular income for a charity provides sustainability and confidence for the Board of Trustees that services can continue uninterrupted. The most important area of our work is the support that we provide which is why Overwatch is dedicated to ensuring funding is always available for our core activities to continue.

What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s? 
Before I worked at Scotty’s, I had spent 14 years working in a local charity who provide specialist bereavement support to children and young people. During my time there, the charity went from supporting 60 children and young people a year to more than 1,000, all made possible thanks to the £6 million raised during that time.

I had a brief spell of working for a local community foundation, distributing grants to charities and voluntary groups across Norfolk. My time there did not last long as I really missed being on the ‘frontline’ and being part of a team who were positively impacting the lives of bereaved children and young people. When I saw an opportunity to join the Scotty’s team, I knew it was something I could not turn down. 

What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s? 
You can’t beat a team that is made up of individuals who all totally believe in what they are doing. The passion this creates as a collective is something to behold and leads to sheer determination to get the job done and to the best of our abilities. We are a mighty force and I am so proud to be a part of it.

How does your role at Scotty’s make a difference?

Digital working is increasing for almost everyone, but Scotty’s operations and the delivery of support for bereaved children and young people are at the forefront of this change. It is essential that Scotty’s has high-quality reliable and secure technology to deliver these services.

Although Covid-19 has been highly damaging at a personal and global level, in addition to major advances in rapid vaccine development, it is believed to have helped advance the adoption of digital technologies by around 3 to 4 years. We certainly see that in Scotty’s, with children, young people, parents, and guardians now very familiar with using technologies such as Teams and Zoom. With the help of transformation grants Scotty’s has nimbly adapted its operations, fund-raising and delivery and is a leader in this area.

What does your role involve?

IT has many specialist roles. In Scotty’s, I cover all these roles from software, hardware, networking, security, IT support, Business Analyst and even including electrician! I also work with our IT and Communications partners and suppliers, many of whom generously provide pro-bono services. I have come from a commercial background, so my goal is to provide “enterprise” level IT services and equipment at the lowest possible cost – ideally at zero cost, so that more of our funds are directed towards providing member services.

What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s?

Before joining Scotty’s, I had a 40-year career in leadership roles in all areas of IT, most recently as Outsourcing Director leading large-scale IT and Business Process outsourcing operations. This included managing large multi-football pitch size Tier 4 data centres. We provided IT and business services to demanding customers across central and local government, the MOD, and the private sector.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s?

It is really hard to find just one favourite thing, so I will share some of my first impressions when I joined Scotty’s in early 2022. I was impressed with the obvious passion and the broad skills and backgrounds of the entire Scotty’s team. I was also pleasantly surprised with how this skilled, but modestly sized team, are using a broad range of advanced technology to help deliver comprehensive support for our bereaved child Members and young people Springboarders right up the age of twenty-five. The ambition and effectiveness of Scotty’s use of technology exceeds that of most of the larger companies that I have previously worked with.

It’s this constant drive to use our passion, empathy, skill and technology to continuously review and improve ways to support our bereaved families, in ways that provide a tangible and meaningful impact, which is my favourite thing about working at Scotty’s. It is also sometimes a challenge, albeit a pleasant one, for me to keep up my colleagues who are always looking for new more modern ways to communicate and interact with our digitally savvy young, bereaved members.

How does your role at Scotty’s make a difference?
In my role at Scotty’s I help to make fun and engaging resources for our members, seeing them smile at events at some of the playful graphics on banners is always an amazing feeling and makes me love what I do even more. I also help to make external information clear, concise and accessible in various graphic forms such as infographics, so that as a charity we can be open, honest and transparent with our supporters and what their support helps us to achieve. Lastly, I make graphics internally to have around the office to help inspire the team - infographics and posters that show what we have done as a team, what our mission is, our promises and our core values. This helps to inspire and remind us, every day, why we do what we do.

What does your role involve?
My role is to work with all of the team members at Scotty’s to create fun, engaging and interesting documents and graphics for many different uses. These can include graphics and documents that go out to our beneficiaries and their families, or to our supporters. From graphics for events, fundraising challenges and merchandise designs, I’m involved in practically anything Scotty’s creates. We also have a few other team members that help produce visual content, so I try to make sure as a team we use the Scotty’s colours and branding where possible.

What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s?
Long story short – Education. Before I worked at Scotty’s I studied Graphic Design at Norwich University of the Arts and graduated in July of 2019. I came to Scotty’s as an intern and thankfully they subsequently offered me a job!

What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s?
Being part of an amazing, passionate team that gets stuff done. There is never a moment where the team is quiet and doing nothing, they are always innovating and working on delivering better support every day. Everyone has their place and enables the next team member to grow. Without the rest of the team, it wouldn’t be possible for me to be creative every day and do what I love.

How does your role at Scotty’s make a difference?

Finances are key in any business, but especially to a charity where others have donated their hard earned money to us. My role is to ensure the money we have gratefully received is reported, managed and spent efficiently to help us achieve our mission of supporting bereaved British Forces children.

What does your role involve?

Everything finance! This ranges from working with the external auditor to prepare the year end accounts; to creating budgets, forecasts and reports to help us make great decisions throughout the year; to ensuring our financial systems and processes are running effectively and efficiently.

What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s?

Prior to working at Scotty’s I worked for several accountancy firms as a Chartered accountant, assisting with the accounts, audit and tax planning; but also providing financial, business and strategic advice to a range of different businesses.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s?

I love that the work I do has a direct impact on such a worthwhile cause for our beneficiaries. It’s also extremely rewarding to be part of such a forward thinking and passionate team!

How does your role at Scotty’s make a difference?
We can’t deliver the support our members need without money, so it’s important that I keep across the charity’s finances to ensure everything runs smoothly.

What does your role involve?
My role is to keep on top of the charity’s finances. This includes recording all donations, fundraising and grants received, and making sure bills are paid on time and that families receive their Members Grants when needed.

It is my job to ensure that the bank account is reconciled at the end of the month and the Monthly Management Accounts are done showing how the charity has performed.

What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s?
Before working for Scotty’s, I worked for a large insurance company, first as a Banking Assistant and then as a Collector, making sure overdue money was paid to our insured customers on time. Whilst taking time off to look after my young family I put myself through college to obtain my AAT Levels 1, 2 & 3.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s?
My favourite part about working for Scotty’s is meeting the families at the Christmas party, seeing how strong they all are, dealing with one of the hardest things any child could deal with. The stories from the Families Team are inspiring. We all work above and beyond at Scotty’s to support the families.

How does your role at Scotty’s make a difference?
Having an online digital presence has become ever more important in recent years which makes my role vital in promoting our work. Videos enable us to demonstrate how we are supporting bereaved Armed Forces children and young people and without having to pay for advertising or publicity we can share our stories, our films, our case studies, just by the power of social media and our supporters. They can click play and be given the information at their fingertips, they can go back and watch it whenever they want, they can share it with their friends and family at the click of a button.

What does your role involve?
My role here at Scotty’s Little Soldiers is to film, edit and produce video content for us to publish and share to raise awareness of the work Scotty’s does to support bereaved Forces children and young people.

We try and create lots of content to keep our audience and supporters engaged with the charity, we don’t just do the usual “thanks for your support, here’s a cuddly toy”, we make sure that those who follow us on our journey can see what we are doing for the children and young people throughout the year.

What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s?
Before I joined Scotty’s, I worked in a few different retail jobs but always wanted to pursue my dream career of becoming a filmmaker or content creator. Scotty’s gave me the opportunity I was hoping for and now what was once my hobby is now my job!

What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s?
My favourite thing about working at Scotty’s is that not only can I pursue my dream career, but I get to do what I love whilst promoting the charity and the amazing work it does to help support bereaved British Armed Forces children and young people.

How does your role at Scotty’s make a difference?
I’m not at the sharp end of what we do. We have amazing people who deliver direct support to bereaved families and help us move closer to achieving the mission. My role is to help that process happen and to keep us moving forward towards our goal.

What does your role involve?
My role is to help deliver the Mission. I do this by working with the Trustees and the rest of the team to ensure we’re clear about the direction we’re heading in, and that everyone is on the same page. I’m responsible for ensuring we have the right resources in place, so that could mean the right team members in the right roles, but also that those team members have everything they need to do their jobs – from the tools they use right through to the environment they are working in. We have great team members who are experts in their individual fields – they don’t need me to tell them how to do their jobs, they need me to provide the infrastructure to allow them to do their work.

What did you do before you worked at Scotty’s?
I hadn’t worked in the third sector previously. My experience is very commercial, and I spent many years working in the Food Manufacturing industry managing sales, marketing, and new product development teams across Europe.

I hope that my experience in business has helped Scotty’s to think differently about how a charity can run.

What’s your favourite thing about working at Scotty’s?
I always say there are two parts to our ‘love what you do’ core value at Scotty’s. You need to love being a part of this fantastic team, the work everyone is doing, and the positive impact that work is having on many young lives. But you also need to love your own personal part of it as well. I love being able to help create and grow the charity we would want to support ourselves. One which isn’t afraid to do things differently, that genuinely puts its beneficiaries at the heart of everything it does and understands that our supporters are not fuelling our journey – they are on the journey with us.