Sally Williams returns to The Charity Show to talk governance, not philanthropy this time. As chair of trustees at Veterans With Dogs, she's spent two and a half years learning what it really takes to lead a small charity through a founder-to-CEO transition, all while holding down her day job as Head of Philanthropy at the Royal College of Physicians.

Tim and Piers dig into the realities of trusteeship, the impact of assistance dogs on veterans living with PTSD and other trauma-related conditions, and why being small doesn't mean being unambitious.

What's in this episode:

• Sally's 24 years in the British Army and how that experience shaped her move into charity governance
• The origin story of Veterans With Dogs, founded after one veteran noticed his own assistance dog helping an entire support group
• What it's really like governing a small charity through a leadership transition, including stepping into operational gaps without a CEO in place
• How the charity balances demonstrating impact for funders with protecting the privacy and dignity of veterans and their dogs
• The "magic formula" for building an effective board of trustees, and why lived experience matters as much as governance experience
• Third sector news: the London Marathon's move to a two-day event in 2027, and the Big Give's Summer Campaign for Small Charity Week

Plus the usual small charity shoutouts, this week featuring Roundabout Drama Therapy and MK Cat Rescue.

Useful links:

• Veterans With Dogs: veteranswithdogs.org.uk/
• Roundabout Dramatherapy: roundaboutdramatherapy.org.uk/
• MK Cat rescue: mk-cat-rescue.org/

Get involved:

• Listen to The Charity Show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favourite platform
• Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thecharityshowpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• Send a voice message to TheCharityShow
• Find every link you need: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/thecharityshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Enjoyed the episode? Leave a five-star review and follow/subscribe to support the show!

💡 If you enjoyed this episode, hit follow or subscribe on your podcast app, and please leave us a five-star rating — it helps more people find conversations with real charity experts across the UK.

This episode is produced by The Good Studio – Creating great content for good causes. From podcasts and campaigns to film and copywriting, The Good Studio helps charities tell powerful stories that make people care.👉 Find out more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.thegoodstudio.co.uk⁠⁠⁠

Air ambulances are among the most trusted charities in the UK, but most people have no idea how they're funded, what it costs to keep them flying, or the sheer scale of engagement needed to make it all happen.

In this episode, Tim and Piers sit down with Keith Wilson, Director of Income and Engagement at Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, to find out exactly that.

Keith spent a decade at a children's hospice before joining HIOWAA, and in the years since, he's overseen a major transformation in how the charity thinks about fundraising — or rather, why it doesn't call it fundraising at all. He's also led one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the charity's history: a brand new operational airbase near Southampton Airport, complete with a public visitor centre.

It's a fascinating conversation about leadership, engagement, legacy income, volunteers, and the very human reality of funding a life-saving emergency service entirely through charitable support.

In this episode

• How Keith stumbled into the charity sector via a ghost hunt at a Winchester theatre
• How air ambulances actually work and why every one is different
• Why HIOWAA doesn't use the word "fundraising" and what they do instead
• The sim van: a flight simulator in a transit van that opened unexpected doors
• The new airbase and visitor centre and how it creates year-round engagement
• What it costs to keep an air ambulance operational (the answer might surprise you)
• The role of regular giving, legacy income, and why one major gift can change everything
• Volunteers: why 80% of HIOWAA's community events are entirely volunteer-led
• The toughest leadership lesson Keith has learned
• Looking ahead: what the next five years hold for the charity, hopes and honest concerns

Find out more

• Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance: hiowaa.org
• HIOWAA on Facebook: facebook.com/hiowaa
• HIOWAA on LinkedIn and Instagram: @HIOWAA

Get involved:

• Listen to The Charity Show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favourite platform
• Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thecharityshowpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• Send a voice message to TheCharityShow
• Find every link you need: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/thecharityshow⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Enjoyed the episode? Leave a five-star review and follow/subscribe to support the show!

💡 If you enjoyed this episode, hit follow or subscribe on your podcast app, and please leave us a five-star rating — it helps more people find conversations with real charity experts across the UK.

This episode is produced by The Good Studio – Creating great content for good causes. From podcasts and campaigns to film and copywriting, The Good Studio helps charities tell powerful stories that make people care.👉 Find out more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.thegoodstudio.co.uk⁠⁠⁠

You've heard of match funding. But do you really know how to make it work for your charity?

In this episode, we sit down with Alex Day, Managing Director of Big Give, the UK's largest digital match funding platform, to find out what separates the charities that smash their targets from those that don't, and why this tool is far more accessible than many smaller charities assume.

From the origins of Big Give to a bold goal of raising £1 billion by 2030, this is a conversation packed with practical insight for fundraisers of every size.

What you'll hear in this episode

• How match funding actually works and why it's simpler than you think
• What smaller charities need to have in place before applying to Big Give
• The most common mistake charities make with match funding campaigns
• What the charities that consistently smash their targets do differently
• How Big Give is evolving as the fundraising landscape shifts

Useful links

• Big Give: https://donate.biggive.org/
• Alex Day on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-day-63b97b62/
• Big Give Christmas Challenge: https://biggive.org/blog/2026/02/09/reflecting-on-the-2025-christmas-challenge/
• Love Oliver: https://loveoliver.org.uk
• Hartcliffe City Farm: https://hartcliffecityfarm.org.uk

Get involved:

• Listen to The Charity Show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or your favourite platform
• Email us at ⁠⁠⁠⁠thecharityshowpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠
• Send a voice message to TheCharityShow
• Find every link you need: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/thecharityshow⁠⁠⁠⁠

Enjoyed the episode? Leave a five-star review and follow/subscribe to support the show!

💡 If you enjoyed this episode, hit follow or subscribe on your podcast app, and please leave us a five-star rating — it helps more people find conversations with real charity experts across the UK.

This episode is produced by The Good Studio – Creating great content for good causes. From podcasts and campaigns to film and copywriting, The Good Studio helps charities tell powerful stories that make people care.👉 Find out more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.thegoodstudio.co.uk⁠⁠⁠