
What's the Chari-tea?
Host Louise Dawtry speaks with people who work in charities and non-profits — paid staff, volunteers, trustees, and supporters — about the realities of the third sector. Each episode shares behind-the-scenes stories and honest insights into what it's really like working for a good cause. The show aims to connect those involved in charity work and offer a candid look at the challenges and rewards.
Episodes

Is the Charity Career Ladder Broken?
I'm back with another solo episode this week and this one is all about the charity career ladder...is it broken?If you want to keep the conversation going you can subscribe to the What's the Chari-tea? weekly newsletter - get Your Sector Survival Guide hereI'd love to see you at the next Chari-tea Talk for more info click hereAnd don't forget to join the waitlist for our very first WTC Live Event

We need to stop telling charity people to be more resilient
Ok here are my thoughts on burnout and reflections on my conversation from Ep 1 with Dr Claire Ashley aka The Burnout Doctor.If you want to keep the conversation going you can subscribe to the What's the Chari-tea? weekly newsletter - get Your Sector Survival Guide hereI'd love to see you at the next Chari-tea Talk for more info click hereAnd don't forget to join the waitlist for our very first WT

"I don't sugarcoat volunteering" - Louise Dawtry & Rachel King spill the chari-tea...
Rachel King is the National Volunteering Manager for Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) charity. I was delighted to have her join me in the studio to talk about her career as in the VM community, the realities of the charity sector as well as her lived experience of living working with bipolar. If you want to keep the conversation going you can subscribe to the What's the Chari-tea? weekly

What's the Chari-tea? S02Ep04 - Louise Dawtry & Katie Stevens from Demelza
Katie Stevens is the Director of Clinical Services at Demelza Children's Hospice. I was delighted to have her join me in the studio to talk about her career journey from an NHS Nurse to Demelza, a charity that has a special place in her heart. We talk about what nonprofit life is really like, the amazing bits and the challenges, and as always we reflect on our own wellbeing and share thoughts on

What's the Chari-tea? S02Ep03 - Louise Dawtry & Luke Barrow - CEO at Two Pints Deep
Luke Barrow is the Founder and CEO of Two Pints Deep, a mens mental health and suicide prevention charity. I was delighted to have him join me in the studio to talk about how his lived experience of mental health difficulties and bereavement shaped who he is and developed into a social change movement. We talk about life and lessons learned as a grassroots charity CEO, and as always we reflect on

What's the Chari-tea? S02Ep02 - Louise Dawtry & Stef Sword-Williams - What is a Career Comedown?
This episode features the incredible Stef Sword-Williams, author of ‘F*ck Being Humble’ and ‘Career Comedown’, and professional development speaker. As well as all this she founded a community support group called, This Might Help, offering support to those caring for people with mental health difficulties.I was delighted to have Stef on the show and discuss her experiences, insights and thought l

S02Ep01 - Louise Dawtry & Dr Claire Ashley - The Burnout Doctor
Series 2 begins with Dr Claire Ashley, GP, burnout specialist and author of ‘The Burnout Doctor’ to cut through all the noise around the term burnout and help us understand what burnout is, how we can prevent it and what we need to recover from it. I love to read your messages about what has resonated on each episode so please do keep them coming! And if you can spare a few mins please leave us a

What's the Chari-tea? with Louise Dawtry | S01Ep06 - That's a Wrap!
Series 1 of What’s the Chari-tea - that’s a wrap! In this episode I share my hot takes from the last 5 episodes of Series 1. Grab a cuppa and let’s chat through everything we learned from our 6 incredible guests that joined me for our very first series of the podcast. I also express my deepest thanks to you all for listening, sharing, commenting and supporting this journey.Stay tuned for Series 2…

What's the Chari-tea? with Louise Dawtry | S01Ep05 - Emma Kirby
Emma Kirby is the Deputy Director of Digital at The National Lottery Community Fund, and has previously worked some other amazing organisations in both the charity world (Comic Relief, Yorkshire Cancer Research) and the private sector too (ITV, Skipton Building Society). Emma is incredibly knowledgable on all things digital transformation and we talk about this and more, including her experience o

What's the Chari-tea? with Louise Dawtry | S01 Ep04 - Eleshea Williams
Eleshea Williams is the Social Media Officer at Amnesty International, LinkedIn Top Voice, Speaker and thought leader on social media marketing. I was delighted to have her join me (all the way from Surrey!) on the What’s the Chari-tea? sofa to talk all things nonprofit life. We talk about how Eleshea harnessed a passion for education and social justice into a career within the charity sector, as

What's the Chari-tea? with Louise Dawtry | S01 Ep03 - Eloise Bell
Eloise Bell is the Director of People, Culture and Governance at Leeds Mind. She is also my wonderful manager and I was so grateful to have her join me on the What's the Chari-tea? sofa to talk all things nonprofit life. We discuss her path from the corporate world to the charity sector, her passion for health and wellbeing and how she ensures she demonstrates her boundaries to her teams.If you’ve

What's the Chari-tea? with Louise Dawtry | S01 Ep02 - Rob & Heather Huggins
Heather and Rob Huggins. Rob is founder and CEO of Liberdade, disability arts charity, and with Heather they also run Gosforth Civic Theatre. We talk about a lot of aspects nonprofit life, the best bits; harnessing their passion for drama and dance to create something incredibly special for and with their community. But they also share vulnerable moments; the challenges of starting and scaling a c

What's the Chari-tea? with Louise Dawtry | S01 Ep01 - Louise Sleightholm
Louise Sleightholm is a Chartered Accountant by day, and the Wonder Woman by night! Not only does Lou have over 300k followers on her Instagram and TikTok channels for @louscorporatelife, but she also Volunteers for SmartWorks Leeds and runs a social enterprise, Leeds Young Professionals. She opens up about her love of nonprofit life, her reasons for wanting to volunteer and how she came to co-fou











