I began my grant funding career in 1998 when I became a Grant Funding Adviser with Cheshire County Council. My role involved working with schools, charities, community groups and other public sector organisations to help them secure grant funding from UK sources such as government grants, the National Lottery and charitable trusts. I decided to leave local government at the end of February 2010 to set up my own consultancy, Grant Funding Skills Ltd.

As fundraising is becoming more important than ever, my support to schools is varied. For example, I enjoy delivering training courses to show schools how to fundraise and apply for grants themselves. However, I realise some schools need more hands-on assistance and can help with informally assessing their draft applications before they are submitted or writing bids from scratch.

As securing grant funding is becoming more competitive than ever, I get the same buzz from helping a small community group secure £500 as I do a large public sector organisation millions. To date, I have written and advised on grant applications which have secured approximately £50m into Cheshire, £7.5m of which has benefited Cheshire schools.

Securing additional funding and resources is becoming more important than ever for schools and pre-schools. This course will enable delegates to learn good practice relating to fundraising. The relaxed and informative session will help you prepare an application or appeal to stand the best chance of success.