Pick of the Month - December 2025

Welcome to December's Pick of the Month! We’re excited to feature individuals who are making a real impact in the charity world. From creative social innovators to tireless charity leaders, their work is all about driving change and improving lives. We’ll take a closer look at their unique paths, the challenges they’ve navigated, and the incredible contributions they’re making to communities across the UK. Come join us in celebrating their inspiring efforts! 

Trustee of the Month - Bradley Sewell, Llanelli Mind

Llanelli Mind has provided services to local people since 1986 and delivers a range of mental health and wellbeing services locally and wider across Carmarthenshire 

We spoke to Bradley Sewell, a current Trustee at Llanelli Mind.  

Bradley told us a little bit about his mission is:  

"Our mission is to promote appropriate and timely support for those with mental ill health, their carers and families."

We asked Bradley how he got to where he is today and what his role involves:  

"Advocacy and improving the lives of others has been at the core of my career. As a healthcare professional, health policy officer and now an academic programme lead, improving outcomes for individuals and communities feels like my purpose. I have held national and local advocacy roles during my career and volunteering my time as a Trustee felt like the next move; I saw an opportunity to bring my leadership, policy and healthcare experience to a charity with a mission I connected with. As a disabled leader, with mental health lived experience, I feel honoured to be able to help drive the charity forward at board level."

Bradley shared some advice for aspiring leaders: 

"For me, leadership is a continuous journey. I have found leadership mentoring and coaching extremely valuable in developing my confidence and skills. Like our values, I think being responsive and working together with your team is key. Being open to working on my weaknesses and having self-awareness has unlocked a strength in my leadership. Proactive development, such as using Cause4 courses and other learning opportunities only continues to strengthen your leadership."

Finally, Bradley discussed what he's passionate about seeing change in the sector:  

"Reducing stigma around mental health is an area I am passionate about. This is why I took on my trusteeship, being a visible healthcare leader with lived experience. Whilst progress has been made in this space, we know there is plenty more to be done. Our charity works hard to make services accessible and encourage people to reach out for help. Regardless of our background, job and identity, mental health support should be available to all."

Read more about the work at Llanelli Mind. 

Charity Leader of the Month - Vijay Mistry - Artistic Director, 2FunkyArts

At 2Funky Arts, its mission is to champion music and the arts of Black origin, nurture emerging talent and create lasting platforms where culture thrives. Based in Leicester, it has been pursuing this mission for nearly 29 years now. Over the years, it has produced events spanning comedy, dance, visual arts and live music.  

We spoke to Vijay Mistry, Artistic Director at 2FunkyArts.

We asked Vijat how he got to where he is today and what his role involves:

"My journey began in 1997 when I opened 2Funky Records, an independent store specialising in Black music that ran until 2012 and earned an international reputation among DJs, artists and tastemakers. In 2007 I established 2Funky Arts as a social enterprise to bring this passion into the community, creating opportunities across live venues, training programmes, record labels, club nights, exhibitions, radio — you name it.  

Our work has included: running major artist-booked events at venues such as the Curve Theatre and De Montfort Hall; programming for festivals and exhibitions; launching radio (Radio2Funky) and our own venue 2Funky Complex in Leicester’s West End. What drives us is making sure our projects build real careers, real opportunities and real community impact rather than being one-off activations. 

In my current role I combine creative direction, partnership development, mentoring and organisational leadership. My guiding principle is to remain close to the artists and communities we serve, keeping the creativity rooted and relevant."

Vijay shared some advice for aspiring leaders: 

"For those aspiring to lead within the arts or community-sector, my advice would be: stay grounded in purpose and audience. Don’t let the paperwork or the funding always lead you - the best sparks come from listening to the grassroots. Make room for younger and often overlooked voices and let their energy shape your next steps."

Finally, Vijay discussed what he’s passionate about seeing change in the sector:  

"What I’d most like to see changed in the arts sector is a stronger, sustained commitment to grassroots talent development. The rhetoric around inclusion is there, but we need long-term investment and trust in organisations embedded in their communities. That’s how real change happens."

Read more about the work at 2Funky Arts. 

Social Entrepreneur of the Month - Adam Joolia, AudioActive Founder and CEO

AudioActive grew from grassroots community projects into a movement rooted in the sounds and social influence of Black and underground music. Over time, its work expanded beyond Brighton, connecting a network of artists, mentors and young people experimenting across genres. Today, it is a thriving charity shaping the next generation of creative talent and social change across Sussex.  

We spoke to Adam Joolia, founder and CEO at AudioActive.  

Adam told us a little bit about his work and what his mission is:  

"I’m the CEO of AudioActive, a non-profit music organisation working with young people and emerging artists up to the age of 25. Our mission is to nurture better futures through and for music - we believe every young person should have access to creativity, community and opportunities as a genuine route to thrive personally, creatively and professionally.
We deliver projects across three strands: social change, grassroots talent development, and building a fairer world of work. Those include Equaliser, our session designed for women and non-binary people to learn about music production; Room to Rant, which supports young men’s mental health through rap and lyric writing; SHIFT, our one-to-one music mentoring programme supported by the Youth Endowment Fund; and EMERGE, which helps artists progress towards professional careers. All of this is free at our hubs in Brighton, Crawley and Worthing - we also pop up in Eastbourne, East Grinstead, and other areas across Sussex."

We asked Adam how he got to where he is today and what his role involves:  

"I originally trained as a nurse, going on to run a music venue, and later became a youth worker and worked in alternative education. When I moved to Brighton in 2005, those experiences came together in the early days of AudioActive. We set up as a charity in 2008, and for a long time I was the only member of staff, working with a handful of freelance music leaders. Today, we have 20 salaried staff and more than 30 freelancers. We’re proud to be an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) and a PRS Foundation Talent Development Partner, and we’re leading a nationally significant full efficacy study with the Youth Endowment Fund to demonstrate the impact of one-to-one music mentoring to keep young people out of the criminal justice system.
 

My role now is to provide strategic leadership to AudioActive thinking about the “what next?”, shaping ideas, responding to community needs and ensuring young people’s voices remain central. I also work across strategic forums on community safety and place-based and economic development. It's come a long way since running DJ & Music Production Workshops on an estate in Hangleton & Knoll!"

Adam shared some advice for aspiring leaders: 

"It’s so easy to get caught up in the actual work or keeping the funding or money coming in but don’t neglect the boring stuff. Good governance, systems and processes keep you afloat and safe during those inevitable rocky patches or when you need to scale and having these things sorted gives investors and funders much more confidence. Stay mission-focused and don’t try to shoehorn yourself into fitting everyone else’s priorities. Know what you do well and stick to it. Hindsight is a wonderful thing but if I had followed this advice 20 years ago, I think things would have come together much more quickly for AudioActive."

Finally, Adam discussed what he's passionate about seeing change in the sector: 

"Representation across the creative and charity sectors is still deeply unequal. I’m passionate about modelling change within our own organisation, building teams informed by lived experience and properly supported. With more stability as an NPO, I’m excited to see what our young people can achieve when given more power and access to even better support and resources."

Read more about the work at AudioActive. 

Fellow of the Month - Natalie Armitage, Head of Business Services, British Ceramics Biennial

British Ceramics Biennial is an arts organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent. As Head of Business Services, Natalie is responsible for the financial oversight of the organisation, strategic business development, management of communications and implementation of organisational governance. She was previously Learning & Participation Manager from 2017 – 2024 with BCB and applied for her current role based on the work she had been doing with the Cultural Education Partnership (of which she was Chair and had recently delivered a successful ACE NPO application) and as a board member of Stoke Creates, the city’s cultural compact. 

We spoke to Natalie about her role and the year ahead as a fellow.  

Given the context of the UK right now, we asked Natalie what the key opportunities for her organisation are:  

"A key opportunity for BCB is a capital development project based on the Spode site where we already have an established history with Biennial delivery and our studio space. Delivering a capital project would impact our organisational business model and gives the potential of developing new income streams to support long-term sustainability. Looking at more diverse and sustainable models of funding is a key priority with the changing landscape around trusts and foundations.   There has also been ongoing strategic work in Stoke-on-Trent to engage with philanthropic donation strategies, and this is something that BCB would like the opportunity to develop further."

Thinking about the year ahead, we asked Natalie what she is most looking forward to as part of the Fellowship Programme:  

"I am looking forward to having some time and capacity to look at fundraising strategy within an academic setting and with a group of peers. Developing wider networks and learning more about other organisations and funding/business strategies that I can apply to my own context."

Finally, Natalie discussed what she’s passionate about seeing change in the sector:  

"I would like to see more knowledge exchange and ways of helping to demystify fundraising so that more organisations can have the tools to succeed. As well as developing more advocacy for arts funding so that there is more commitment to investment from government, businesses and philanthropists."

Read more about the work at British Ceramics Biennial.