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New Life Case Study
BUILDING LEADERSHIP FOR GROWTH: How IGNITE Performance Consultancy was the perfect fit to help Newlife, the Charity for Disabled Children, to define its culture and support the development of its people.
Background
Newlife, the Charity for Disabled Children, has been changing the lives of disabled children and their families for more than 35 years. Founded in 1991 by Sheila Brown OBE and co-founder Leonard Lewis, the charity has grown from its original mission of funding research into birth defects into one of the UK's leading providers of support for disabled children and their families.
Today, Newlife provides specialist equipment, nurse support and trusted advice to families across the UK. This vital work is funded through a combination of income generated from the sale of donated end-of-line stock from leading high street brands, as well as fundraising through the generosity of its supporters.
We spoke to Fiona Robinson, the charity's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who told us this:
“We’re committed to being there for disabled children and their families. We’re here to help navigate that journey, whether their child is born with a disability or it’s something that develops later in their childhood, we’re there to give additional support and make grants and loans available for much needed equipment and toys. This all takes money and to raise the funds needed, we take end-of-line stock, kindly donated by well-known high-street brands, which we sell in our nine retail shops. It’s clothing that would otherwise be disposed of and we’re able to give it another life"
Alongside its retail operation, Newlife has grown into a significant national organisation, supported by a diverse workforce of 375 colleagues who work alongside a volunteer community of around 200 people, a number which is currently growing.
About the primary challenges
With ambitious plans to strengthen the charity for the future and support even more children, Fiona and her team recognised the need to modernise Newlife and prepare the organisation for its next stage of growth. This meant evolving the charity’s brand and digital capability, improving systems and connectivity, and creating more effective ways for teams to work together.
At the heart of this transformation was culture. Fiona recognised that lasting change required a clear set of shared values and behaviours, supported by the right leadership approach, to strengthen collaboration, break down silos and align colleagues behind Newlife’s purpose, vision, and long-term ambitions.
Fiona Robinson explains:
“At Newlife we were embarking on a programme of ground-up transformation that covered virtually all areas of our organisation, and we were doing it all simultaneously. This was a radical strategy for a charity and one area that I felt we needed top level external support was in people development, specifically, embedding new values and behaviours across the charity.”
How did Newlife hear about IGNITE and what solutions were provided to help overcome these challenges
Fiona was already aware of our Director and Co-Founder, Matt Bullock and had met him previously, as she recalled when she told us this:
“We knew we needed someone from the outside who had the experience, credibility, and gravitas to support our Executive Team and Senior Leadership Team through this significant period of change. Having met Matt previously, I was confident he had exactly the qualities and expertise we were looking for."
The Work led to positive change within the charity:
Development and delivery of a leadership development programme:
Creating and delivering the plan to launch new values and behaviours across the charity:
Creating and delivering the plan to launch new values and behaviours across the charity:
"Matt led the entire programme, starting with a series of focused leadership workshops. From the outset, I was impressed by his approach and had complete confidence that he was the right person to guide our Senior Team through this journey. Through a combination of leadership development sessions, Insights Discovery profiling and individual 360-degree feedback, Matt helped our leaders gain a much deeper understanding of how colleagues perceived them and where they could have the greatest impact. Collectively, this has transformed the way we all work together and has helped align teams across every part of the charity."
Creating and delivering the plan to launch new values and behaviours across the charity:
Creating and delivering the plan to launch new values and behaviours across the charity:
Creating and delivering the plan to launch new values and behaviours across the charity:
“Matt will be central to our next phase, which is the rollout and implementation of the plan across the entire charity Working closely with our Head of HR, he has designed an engaging, inclusive programme that ensures every colleague has the opportunity to understand, contribute to and embrace our new culture. Nobody will be left behind, everyone becomes part of the journey, helping to embed the values and behaviours that will shape the future of Newlife."
Delivery of Insights Discovery:
Creation of a behavioural framework aligned to organisational values:
Creation of a behavioural framework aligned to organisational values:
“Through one-to-one discovery sessions, Matt helped us gain some really valuable insights into our individual preferences, behaviours, and leadership styles. We spent three days off-site exploring everything from colour energies to personality preferences, helping us understand not only why we work the way we do, but also how we can work more effectively together. It gave us a much greater appreciation of each other's strengths and created a shared understanding that has strengthened collaboration across the leadership team.”
Creation of a behavioural framework aligned to organisational values:
Creation of a behavioural framework aligned to organisational values:
Creation of a behavioural framework aligned to organisational values:
“The key to successfully turning the insights provided into an actionable plan was that the process was led by someone external. Matt took the time to develop a deep understanding of our people, our values, and the way we worked as an organisation. That insight shaped both the advice he provided to me as CEO and the behavioural framework he helped us develop, ensuring it genuinely reflected who we are and the culture we wanted to build.”
Fiona Robinsons' experience of working with IGN
“Matt’s manner is excellent and his approach really has been a game changer for us. He's intuitive, empathetic, and quickly developed a real understanding of who we are as a charity. Since working with Matt, I've seen a significant difference in how our leadership team operates and communicates. The programme has reignited positivity across the organisation and transformed the way people work together. Changing the culture of an organisation that's been established for more than 35 years is no small task, but that's exactly what IGNITE has helped us achieve. Our values and behaviours are now embedded across the charity, providing a strong foundation for the future, and Matt has been an invaluable partner throughout that journey. “