Date published: 16 January 2017 by Anna Jackson

This week, Zillah Bingley joined Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity as our new Chief Executive. Here she shares with us some of her first thoughts.

What attracted you to Rainbow Trust?

The emotional and practical support that Rainbow Trust offers to families is unique. I have experienced first-hand the heart-break that the serious illness and death of a family member can bring. I am particularly passionate about ensuring children and families have the emotional and practical support they need at one of the toughest times imaginable.

What is your vision for Rainbow Trust?

It’s early days yet and I think our priority should absolutely be supporting more families and continuing to develop partnerships in new areas, for example, working with other charities and with hospices.

Are you planning to change anything?

At the moment, I’ve no idea if anything needs changing – I’ll need to understand what works well, what, if anything, could be improved, and if anything could be, what we’re going to do about it together as a team.

What inspired the move from corporate to charity sector?

I did a lot of voluntary work for charities whilst working as a corporate lawyer. I worked in Romania as a volunteer helping to build homes and taught maths to children. A lot of skills are transferable and I felt my business skills could contribute to making a difference.

What do you think are the biggest vulnerabilities for the charity sector?

It has to be money. Raising money is becoming harder and harder for charities. It’s a huge challenge. An area in which I have witnessed dramatic change, is corporate funding, which is increasingly becoming foundation based. This will impact on where they spend money. The main advantage Rainbow Trust has is the uniqueness of our tailored approach to supporting families – we know every family is different.

What are your top priorities in the first six months?

Remembering everyone’s names! Learning how the organisation does things and understanding what works well and why. I’ll also be getting to know and understand the organisation – I want to go out and meet all the care teams around the country. A key priority is to write and implement my 100-day plan which will drive the next stage.