Reuben’s Retreat is a charity with heart. Based in the North West of England, their mission is to walk alongside families with complexly poorly children and those who have lost a child, offering a space for support, comfort and community. As a growing team delivering emotionally demanding work, collaboration, communication and connection are essential. 

In 2024 and again in 2025, CAPE People Development partnered with Reuben’s Retreat to support their continued growth as a team. Our focus: helping the team deepen their understanding of one another’s working styles, strengthen their connection, and enhance collaboration, with DISC as the foundation. 

Why DISC matters 

At CAPE, we use the DISC personality framework as a practical and accessible way to help individuals and teams build self-awareness and strengthen working relationships. DISC is a behavioural assessment tool that identifies four key personality preferences: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. Each profile reflects how people tend to communicate, make decisions, and respond to challenges. 

Understanding personality preferences matters because it: 

• Helps people recognise their own strengths and blind spots 

• Builds empathy and appreciation for different ways of working 

• Equips teams to adapt and collaborate more effectively 

In emotionally demanding environments like Reuben’s Retreat, these insights help team members understand not just what they do, but how and why they do it, and how that impacts others. 

Our approach: practical, people-first team development 

The most recent half-day team workshop was designed to help the team: 

• Build stronger awareness of each other’s strengths, preferences and working styles 

• Strengthen the sense of team connectedness and trust 

• Reflect on what it means to be part of a high-performing team and the role each person plays 

Pre-work included reviewing individual DISC profiles and reflecting on both personal strengths and potential challenges others might experience when working together. 

The session itself was fast-paced, engaging and reflective. We used visual prompts, interactive exercises and real team scenarios to bring the learning to life. Highlights included: 

• DISC lightning round: A speed-dating style exercise using real-life workplace preferences to spark conversation and insight 

• Four corners team activity: Groups explored the implications of their DISC profiles on collaboration, communication and group dynamics 

• Exploring team values: Connecting the values that guide their support for families with how they show up for and work together as a colleagues 

What they said 

There was such a great energy about our spaces after you left and again this morning, lots of great conversations too! 

We cannot deliver our vital and unique work without our team. Working together is key to our success. We have to acknowledge that we all think, work, hear and beat differently. Understanding some of this is key to how we communicate and for me, there’s nothing more key to the success of a team than open, clear and kind communication. CAPE helped us to achieve this. By delving into our DISC personalities and opening up a new way of acknowledging, thinking and interacting we were able to understand one another much better. It’s the start of something exciting, we are already seeing the rewards of our investment. 

Nicola Graham, Founder & CEO, Reuben’s Retreat 

The session surfaced practical ideas the team could apply straight away and reaffirmed a shared sense of trust and alignment. It was also a moment to pause and appreciate each other, something that can be easy to lose in busy day-to-day work. 

Why it matters 

Team development in the not-for-profit sector is not a luxury, it’s essential. For teams working in high-emotion, high-purpose environments, the ability to understand, appreciate and adapt to one another is key to performance and wellbeing. 

By investing in DISC-based development, Reuben’s Retreat continues to build a team that leads with empathy, works with purpose, and collaborates with intent. 

We’re proud to support their journey. 

📧 Get in touch to explore a bespoke programme for your team.