In this episode of the Charity Changemakers Podcast, Adam is joined by Ru Watkins, Chief Executive of Hamelin, a learning disability and autism charity growing rapidly across Essex and East Anglia. Ru brings a career unlike most in the sector. After 23 years in the British Army, he moved into corporate roles with BT and others before a phone call from a headhunter changed his direction entirely. That call led him to Noah's Ark Children's Hospice in North London, a struggling organisation with something worth saving.

It was the first of what would become a defining theme across his leadership career: walking into complexity, listening hard, and building something better. His arrival at Hamelin tells that story at its most vivid. He was called in to close the charity down. Instead, he walked the sites, listened to families, and went back to the board with a different proposition entirely: invest and grow. Four and a quarter years later, Hamelin supports nearly 1,750 people and families, has moved from 100% statutory reliance to 60% self-generated income, and holds significant reserves. In this conversation, Adam and Ru explore:

• How a chance phone call took Ru from corporate burnout to charity leadership
• What 23 years in the military actually teaches you about listening, chaos, and getting things done
• Why Ru walked into Hamelin's board interview and told them not to close it
• The Klingon Cloak of Care and what it costs people with learning disabilities and autism
• Why community building is the most important thing charities can do right now
• The danger of chief executives confusing their ambition with organisational readiness
• What chief exec loneliness really looks like and how Ru manages it
• Why letting a support worker leave to train as a nurse is a mark of success, not failure
• How Hamelin is getting young adults with learning disabilities into employment

Ru is direct, self-aware, and genuinely funny. This is a conversation about what bold, values-led leadership looks like in practice, not in theory.