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P3 Charity has launched its latest workplace development programme, Emerging Leaders, delivered in partnership with Homeless Link, bringing together 16 managers from across the organisation to strengthen leadership skills, build confidence and support future growth.
Managers from across P3 came together on Wednesday 20 May to celebrate the launch of Emerging Leaders, a new workplace development programme designed to support the next generation of leaders across the organisation. Held in Derby city centre, the first cohort of 16 current P3 managers travelled from services across the country to connect, reflect and begin building relationships that will continue throughout the programme.
Designed to support colleagues in strengthening their leadership skills and confidence, Emerging Leaders aims to help participants grow their leadership practice while strengthening the support they provide to their teams and, ultimately, the people and communities we work alongside.
Delivered in partnership with Homeless Link, the ILM-recognised programme brings together learning and expertise from across the sector. Through a series of structured modules, colleagues will explore topics including leadership identity, effective leadership within charities and personal development.
From networking and shared learning to conversations around authentic leadership, the launch day offered colleagues their first opportunity to explore the journey ahead and the impact strong, compassionate leadership can have across P3.
The day kicked off with welcome messages from P3 Charity’s CEO, Mark Simms OBE, and Homeless Link’s CEO, Rick Henderson, who spoke about the importance of investing in people and creating opportunities for leadership growth across the sector. Participants also met their programme leaders from Homeless Link, Syane Findlay and Fran Borg-Wheeler, who led the first leadership identity and networking sessions, bringing colleagues together through icebreaker activities and sharing current experiences of management ahead of the programme itself.
Throughout the day, programme co-founders P3 Charity’s Amy Winter and Caroline Houlton – Director of Support and Community Services and Director of People and Culture – alongside Homeless Link’s Lucy Horitz – Senior Learning Development Manager – introduced participants to the programme’s aims, structure and content.
Discussions focused on themes including authentic leadership, self-development and understanding what success looks like within the third sector, encouraging participants to think about the type of leaders they want to become and the impact they want to have on their teams and services.
Speaking about what the cohort can expect from the programme, Amy said, “Emerging Leaders is the second phase of our leadership development course, this is aimed at people who are already in management positions across our operations and core departments.”
“This course is different to the first phase we ran – Aspiring Leaders – which was aimed at our frontline workers who have no management experience, whereas [Emerging Leaders] is for our managers already in position. The first course is about unlocking potential around leadership, the second is about exploring and deepening leadership for our cohort.”
For Lucy, P3’s leadership programmes are helping shape stronger leaders and inspire change across the sector. She said, “[At] Homeless Link, we really value our partnership with P3. We believe in investing in leaders in our sector because strong, confident leaders make more resilient organisations and ultimately, more impact in supporting people out of homelessness.
“We really see P3 as such pioneers in this area, we ran the first Aspiring Leaders in-house programme with P3, and it was great to see the impact on all the young leaders there and we’re really excited to now be running this Emerging Leaders programme. Other organisations are now following suit and realising the value of investing in their leaders.”
The cohort were also introduced to Sharon Thompson, Former Deputy Mayor of the West Midlands Combined Authority, who spoke about what it means to lead in the homelessness sector. Sharon addressed personal challenges and gave advice on a 1-1 basis.
Focused on creating connections and building a supportive environment where colleagues could learn from one another, the launch day offered an insight into what the cohort could expect from the programme.
Amy Baxter, Data and Digital Optimisation Manager for P3 Charity, spoke about her expectations of the programme: “I’m excited and proud to be a part of Emerging Leaders, it’s a really valuable opportunity for all of us here to get to learn from each other and work with mentors who are experts in leadership across P3 and the wider sector.
“But also, for me, it’s an excellent opportunity for me to be able to work with my own self-awareness, understanding my own skills and where to develop them so I can become a much stronger, culture-led leader.
“[I’m looking forward] to working with such a diverse cohort, there’s people here from all different areas of P3 Charity, people who work with people in our services and people who work on the core side of P3. It’s the ability to draw on those skills [of others] that I expect will help me to develop into a much stronger leader.”
With ambitions to expand both leadership programmes across the wider homelessness and social care sector in the future, Emerging Leaders represents an investment not only in P3’s future leaders, but in strengthening compassionate leadership across the sector as a whole.
Amy Winter closes the day by saying, “Workforce development, not only at P3 but within the wider homelessness sector, is really prevalent at the moment. Research shows that people want more training and more coaching in skill areas such as leadership, communication and EDI. So, we’re really committed to working with Homeless Link internally and externally to show we are committed to making sure we have really strong leaders and strong staff teams within the sector.
“Our sector is growing in complexity and size, so we want to make sure everyone at P3 has the skills to be able to do their job, feel confident in it and give the best support they can to people in our services.”
As a values-driven organisation, P3 recruits for values and trains for skill, creating opportunities for colleagues to grow, develop and make a meaningful difference in the communities they support.
