About
My story
20 years ago, I was steeped in the ‘loads of money’ culture (some of you might remember the Harry Enfield character from the ‘90s?) I took an adult gap year in Australia and had my Damascene moment while working with women and children on an Aboriginal community 50 kilometres from Alice Springs.
So what happened? Frankly, the women of Kulpitara. They were themselves poorly educated but knew if their children were going to have a chance, they needed a good education. And boy, were they passionate about it! I’m not going to go into detail about the community here other than to say, that those women showed me that what I had taken for granted, education – was the root of success and prosperity.
I returned to the UK, gave up my sales career and retrained as a careers adviser working with long term and disadvantaged adults in south London. That was my first step.
20+ years later, I have had extensive senior management experience and have been responsible for financial sustainability at an £80m turnover organisation. I have been on the board of a successful social enterprise and am now a trustee with Directory for Social Change – strap line ‘helping you to help others’ which perfectly reflects what I’m all about.
I’m passionate about trying to make a positive difference so that everyone is given the opportunity to grow and have a good life. I’m now a consultant specifically working with small and medium size charities, social enterprises and community interest companies to help them make a difference.
I have been privileged to support two amazing charities as a trustee. From 2011 to 2016 at Hill Holt Wood, a thriving charity and social enterprise which provides education and training for excluded 14-19 year olds, adult education courses in woodland, countryside and forestry management, provision of green space for people with mental health issues, and eco design and architecture. Since 2017 I have been a trustee at the Directory of Social Change, supporting their campaigning on behalf of the third sector, working to make the UK a better environment for charities to thrive in, and help those who work for the charities to better support their mission.
I worked for Prospects Services, a not-for-profit organisation which supports vulnerable adults and young people to develop their potential, keeping them safe and improving their life chances. Joining Prospects in 2001 as a trainee careers adviser, my career included secondment to a local college to deliver a European Social Funded contract aimed at helping long-term unemployed people, particularly lone parents and people with low or no skills, to find suitable work. Returning to Prospects, I became Development and Communications Manager for the new adult information, advice and guidance service including managing a team of advisers. In 2006 I joined the business development team and learnt how to find funding, bid for it and win! I became the Deputy Director in 2010 and Director in 2015.
In the last two years, as an independent consultant, I have worked with social businesses ranging from small to several million turnover and led successful applications to National Lottery, Social Enterprise Support Fund, London Community Response Fund and trusts and foundations including Garfield Weston, Assura Community Fund, BBC Children in Need, Baily Thomas, Skipton Building Society and Henry Smith. I have also won places on frameworks for support and accommodation for looked after children and care leavers and vulnerable adults in Bradford, West Sussex, Ealing, Kirklees and others.
In a (big) nutshell my experience is diverse but specifically focused on strategic development, developing, managing, writing, and winning funding from public sector funders, government, local authorities, trusts and foundations.
I am an alumnus of Cass Business School having completed an MSc. Charity Finance and Leadership in 2017.
Let’s talk
I’m happy to do that face-to-face on Zoom or Skype etc. We can find out whether or not we would suit each other. Working on bids can be intense and it helps if you know your bid writer and conversely if the bid writer knows and understands your goals. Contact me using the form or by using the email shown below.
phyllida@visionmission.co.uk