Case Study: The Kepplewray Trust

Commercial action to meet the mission of the charity.

The Kepplewray Trust is a very special outdoor pursuits centre where able-bodied and disabled young people can learn together. It had been running as a charity for 20 years and had never made a profit, only staying afloat with donations from its trustees. I was asked to join a small development team with a brief to prove the charity had potential or organise a tidy closure of the establishment.

Issue

It was clear very quickly to us that the problem was the charity had been very inward looking, relying on an existing client base that had been there since the outset. What was required was to

• build a clear ‘story’ for the charity
• identify new potential client bases, new potential partners and ambassadors
• build a robust new financial plan and management structure
• start to spread the word.

Solution

The development team identified a huge need in impoverished areas where young people had little opportunities, little support, and consequently no self-esteem. Some could see the hills of the Lake District from their homes but they had never been on them.

A great deal of cold calling, emailing and visiting, started to build relationships for the centre with schools and Government youth initiatives from within the private, voluntary and educational sectors. One trustee who was a builder brought a team in to completely redecorate the centre ready for its new client base.

After 14-months the Development Team had stabilised the charity and it was operating in the black with a new management team in place.

Testimony

Mark played a key role, bringing his business and marketing skills into the team that profoundly changed and encouraged the business of our charity. His ability to relate both to our staff team and to our potential customer base, challenged and changed our business model and very significantly improved performance. This yielded a sense of sustainability that had been missing for a number of years.”

Canon John Libby,
Chair of Trustees, The Kepplewray Trust.

To learn more about how Mark Hurley Consulting helped The Kepplewray Trust, please email Mark Hurley.