Happen have put their innovation skills towards a good cause with a pro bono project for volunteering charity TimeBank. TimeBank is a national charity offering volunteering to individuals, large corporations, and small businesses focusing on mentoring and youth-led volunteering. They approached us in need of a defined business plan and a clear strategy of where they needed to be as an organisation. Happen facilitated a two day interactive session with the Senior Management Team, supporting them to break down the barriers that were preventing them from getting to where they needed to be and tackling them in small manageable chunks. With our innovation tools we helped TimeBank refocus their vision, mission and values, establishing an aligned strategic direction and a new brand for the charity.

In order to align and inspire the whole charity with these new brand values, as stage two of the project we facilitated an away day. We helped the team engage with the new TimeBank by providing them with exercises that introduced them to new ways of thinking. By providing them with the tools to think in new ways, the team came up with fresh ideas that were aligned to the new vision. We sparked ideas around specific challenges, the best of which were worked up by the teams, leaving the charity with tangible platforms to take with them into the future.

The day finished up, as they often do, in the local pub, a revitalised and realigned team ready to take on the world. From Happen's perspective it was fantastic to work with a group of people who are so passionate about what they do and to put our innovation techniques towards such a good cause. Since finishing the project we were deeply saddened to learn that TimeBank have had its Government funding pulled.

Over the past decade the charity has made such an important contribution to mobilizing an army of 300,000 volunteers and improving the quality of volunteering across the board. Without this vital core funding TimeBank won't be able to continue to deliver the level of service that they pride themselves on. To show your support and find out what you can do to help please call 020 3111 0702 or visit their website www.timebank.org.uk.