Ian Kinnery

Team Massive Results

How did you first become involved with Daisy Chain?

I have been a long-time believer in supporting one good cause rather than trying to do a little bit for everyone and back in 2005 when I first established Team Massive Results I asked the team which should be our chosen cause. The team did their research and nominated Daisy Chain. I think it was the farm and the animals as much as the really generous and welcoming atmosphere. That is how it all started. 

I then contacted Daisy Chain and asked them how we could support them best and they replied “coach us”. And so, I started working, pro bono with the leaders of the organisation helping them to grow, so I am very proud to have helped Daisy Chain to develop into the fantastic organisation that it is today. We have been active supporters for about 13 years now.

What made you decide to take the step from supporter to trustee?

When Judith Haysmore became CEO and as Daisy Chain grew, it was important to improve the governance of the organisation and I got a phone call one afternoon from Judith asking me if I would become a trustee. I was proud to be asked. In many ways, it was a natural progression but it also gave me the opportunity to become even more involved in the growth of Daisy Chain at a different level. Over time, the board has become more and more professional, organised and competent and that has catalysed similar changes in the organisation.

What skills from the business world do you need to transfer across for when you have your trustee hat on?

I know businesses and charities are different, but there are very many similarities. They are both organisations with a purpose. The skills, attitudes and drive that help businesses to thrive can also help charities to be more sustainable and more effective. Daisy Chain has been one of the fastest growing charities in the region for a number of years now and as it scales up it faces different challenges every day. I am familiar with similar challenges in business. 

Success in Daisy Chain as in any successful business depends upon everyone working well together to provide great value to the people we are here to serve and it is a challenge that I am up for, as are the trustees and the team.

Now Daisy Chain is coming to the end of its 15th year, how do you see the future for Daisy Chain and the local business community?

The rate of change is breath-taking and Daisy Chain cannot be immune from that. We have been fortunate that our funding is quite well distributed so we aren’t so vulnerable should one source dry up. We have been incredibly well supported for many years by the local business community, in fact the Day Centre was built, in part, on generous donations in kind from the business community. That gives us a great strength and a special place in the heart of the community. It has become something unique about Daisy Chain and a relationship I am proud of and want to see flourish into the future.

We are very different from what we were 15 years ago and we will continue to evolve but I would like to think that the business community will continue to value Daisy Chain as we value them and we will continue to support each other far into the future.

We have asked everyone that we have interviewed this year to share with us your favourite Daisy Chain memory over the last 15 years, no matter how big or small?

There are many. One in particular goes back to when we first opened the superstore and the coffee shop. We were experimenting at using the coffee shop to help some of the older students prepare for the world of work for the first time. One student was asked to come to a board meeting and speak to the trustees. It would be daunting for anyone but this particular young man came confidently into the board meeting. He towered above his mum, who I sense was more nervous than him. He proceeded to tell the trustees with pride of his experiences and what he had learned with huge enthusiasm but when he spoke of our team member who had masterminded the whole thing his gratitude and love was immense. I could see in that moment the difference that Daisy Chain was capable of making and how important it is that we impact as many lives as we can in such a profound way. I still smile when I think of that story.