As part of our getting to know our staff, volunteers and Board series, this week we spoke to Scott Coutts, one of our Trustees on our Board. 

Scott has been on the Board at Home-Start West Lothian for the last 18 months, providing marketing advice and direction for the charity, using his experience and knowledge from working in a marketing role at West Lothian College.

When we spoke to Scott he said: 

I decided to join Home-Start in the Spring of 2019 after hearing about the charity and all they do to support local families who need it – the main factor being that it is a local charity, one who help people in my community; making West Lothian a better place to live and have a family. 

Part of my role, in addition to supporting the overall strategic direction of the charity, is working with the team at Home-Start West Lothian to ensure that we achieve the 4 main marketing objectives, which are: 

1 – Attracting enough volunteers to meet the demand for families 

2 – Raising awareness within the community so that families who need us know we are here to support them 

3 – Raising awareness and attracting potential funders to ensure that the charity has enough money to continue operating and providing a service in the local community 

4 – Highlight the excellent service provided by the charity to influencers, such as local Councillors and MSPs

To support these objectives I work with key colleagues at Home-Start West Lothian to provide direction and advice for advertising, branding, events and communications. This includes helping with identifying the target markets and how we reach them, what we should write about to raise awareness and engagement, setting up digital adverts, providing guidance on the brand and how this should be communicated, supporting events and setting the marketing strategy for the charity. This week for example we launched a new digital campaign to attract more volunteers in to our next training session, which takes place later in the year. Working with staff at the charity we identified and analysed the analytics on what posts work best, who we should target, what content we should use and when is the best time to run the campaign to increase awareness, engagement and sign ups. 

Although the last few months have been tough for everyone, the staff and volunteers at Home-Start West Lothian have been outstanding. I am amazed at how well they have adapted and continued to provide a critical service to all those that need it; using online technologies and changing the way they work to ensure that no family is left without support. 

Home-Start West Lothian continues to grow, going from strength to strength, support more families and attracting an increasing number of volunteers each year. I am privileged to be on the Board for the charity, witnessing the great work undertaken by all staff and volunteers on a daily basis, and I’d like to personally thank them all for their efforts in ensuring that we are providing the best possible service, being there for parents and families when they need us most. /