STAK.life was born from every parent’s worst nightmare. Following the death of Tristan and Emma’s 15-year-old autistic son, Stefan, who died by suicide in 2022 after experiencing a lack of understanding and insufficient support, they made a promise that his life would not be defined by how it ended. Instead, his legacy would become one of hope, compassion and change.

Today, everything STAK.life does is driven by a determination to ensure that no neurodivergent person or family has to endure the pain, barriers and devastating loss that they did.

STAK.life is a neurodivergent-led and neuro-affirming social enterprise based in Thanet, Kent, working across mental health, neurodivergence, suicide prevention, training and community support.

They serve neurodivergent people, families and young people, as well as offering training to professionals and organisations.,

They’re a very small team doing big work with big impact, and proving big impact matters as much as delivering it. That is where iTrust comes in.

The Challenge STAK.life Faces

STAK.life is a small, community-led organisation trusted by the people, families and professionals we support. When they approach funders, commissioners and partner organisations, they all want to know one thing: does the work actually make a difference?

For a social enterprise without a communications team or in-house data analysts, demonstrating impact and gathering meaningful feedback isn’t straightforward.

Before iTrust, feedback at STAK.life came from evaluation forms, surveys, emails, messages and verbal conversations. Useful information was being collected, but it was scattered, and STAK.life was always the one gathering and presenting feedback about its own work. That created a credibility gap. Claiming impact is one thing. Showing it, through the voices of the people who actually experienced it, is another.

Why did STAK.life choose iTrust?

STAK.life wanted something more transparent and independent, a way of collecting honest feedback across their programmes from mental health services to wellbeing workshops. iTrust lets people they support speak for themselves rather than relying on STAK.life to speak on their behalf, so the feedback they gather to evidence impact carries more credibility.

“If we are asking funders, commissioners and organisations to trust STAK.life, we felt it was important to demonstrate that trust rather than simply claim it,” says Tristan Kluibenschadl, Director and Co-founder of STAK.life.

Simplicity mattered just as much. As a neurodivergent-led organisation, STAK.life recognises that clear, accessible design benefits everyone. Feedback should be easy to understand and complete, allowing people to focus on sharing their experiences rather than navigating complicated processes. iTrust is straightforward to set up and equally straightforward for users to engage with.

“The setup was straightforward, but just as importantly it works for the people we support,” says Tristan Kluibenschadl, Co-Founder and Director of STAK.life. “We’re always looking to remove unnecessary barriers. When giving feedback is quick, accessible and can be done in someone’s own time, people are far more likely to share honest, meaningful experiences. That’s invaluable in helping us continually improve what we do.”

What Feedback Did iTrust Provide for STAK.life?

iTrust gives STAK.life structured, independent feedback from the people who attend its training, workshops and programmes. As an instant feedback tool, it’s well suited to social enterprises and charities, giving organisations like STAK.life evidence they can use for evaluation, impact reporting, funding applications and service development.

One of the biggest shifts has been the ability to spot patterns rather than relying on isolated comments. Feedback from STAK.life’s neurodivergence work, for example, has repeatedly shown that people value feeling safe, understood and able to participate without judgement.

“When the same themes appear repeatedly, that becomes meaningful evidence and helps us shape future delivery around what people are actually telling us. Without a system like iTrust, we might still have received those individual comments, but they could easily have remained as separate emails, conversations or pieces of paper. iTrust helps turn individual experiences into organisational learning.” Tristan Kluibenschadl

The benefit reaches across our organisation and our community. The team uses feedback to evaluate programmes and develop training, the people delivering the work can see what is landing well and what needs to change, and most importantly, the people using STAK.life’s services get a real voice in shaping what happens next.

How iTrust feedback is making a difference for STAK.life?

For STAK.life, iTrust has made it possible to demonstrate accountability, not just talk about it.

“The iTrust certification is valuable, but for us the real value is what sits behind the badge. It is the willingness to ask people what they think, listen to the answer and, when necessary, change what we do.” Tristan Kluibenschadl

That willingness to listen, and to act, is what is helping STAK.life turn everyday feedback into evidence it can stand behind.

“iTrust helps us turn trust into evidence. It gives the people we work with an independent voice and gives us credible insight that helps us improve, demonstrate impact and be accountable.” Tristan Kluibenschadl

Feedback that matters.