The time has finally come. The lovely Laura – Beacon’s Senior Corporate Fundraiser – is leaving the organisation after three and half fantastic years. We are so sorry to see Laura go, but incredibly thankful for the years she has given us and the brilliant work she has done in helping to secure countless grants, sponsorship and corporate partnerships that have enabled Beacon to thrive.
We hope you’ll all join us in saying a fond farewell to Laura and wish her all the best for her on-going endeavours. Before she, we’ve asked Laura to summarise her time at Beacon – we hope you enjoy reading!
Can you sum up your time at Beacon for us?
I have loved working for Beacon, so much so that I do have to pinch myself that I am leaving.
I have experienced so much working here, starting in a team of 4 where we suddenly found ourselves in lockdown, I very quickly settled into our wonderful team. I now find myself working with a group of people who have become amazing friends and who I will keep in my life long after I leave! The team really are one of a kind!
The last three years have provided me personally with many ups and downs, I can honestly say that the support and flexibility I have been offered by this amazing workplace to manage motherhood and family care responsibilities has been a life saver! Beacon keep their staff wellbeing as a priority and, for this, I am so grateful!
My role has been so exciting. As a small team we have always been given the opportunity to contribute to the development and wider strategy of the charity.
I have learnt new skills such as working directly with corporate partners and developing those relationships, making budgets for our various programmes and my working knowledge of Excel has increased massively – which has involved many hours of Rick explaining calculations in various spreadsheets (Huge thanks to Rick for being so patient with me!)
I have felt honoured to work in the rare disease space and meet many patients, parents, carers and professionals working tirelessly to raise awareness, offer support and develop research and treatments for their individual conditions.
The resilience, passion and dedication I have seen in our beneficiaries has inspired me throughout my time here. I will forever be in awe of the amazing achievements made my patient groups and the wider community. You are truly impressive, fierce and wonderful in every single way!
What will you be doing after Beacon?
I am leaving Beacon to dedicate more time to running Dig It Community Allotment; a small charity I run in Saffron Walden delivering growing, horticulture & outdoors activities in the local community.
The project works with individuals who face isolation and barriers to employment due to disability, physical or mental health. I am looking forward to spending less time on my laptop and more time working outdoors.
I will also be trying to deliver more Gong & Mediation sessions – this has been a passion of mine for sometime and I am excited to being able to follow my passion in this area.
As always I will be spending more time with my son Ethan, my partner Lee and hopefully working towards our dream of owning a house in France!
What are some highlights from your time at Beacon?
Highlights of my time at Beacon have included attending and exhibiting at the World Orphan Drug Congress 2019 in Barcelona – back when we were still called Findacure!
This was my first task as Fundraising Manager and was an incredible opportunity to be given. It was my first introduction to patient group leaders and industry.
I was thrown in at the deep end and had a lot to learn very quickly but it was a great experience that taught me a lot early on about the needs and challenges faced by the rare disease community, including all the fantastic work being done in this incredible space.
Working through lockdown also had unexpected highlights. It was such a challenging time to be in the world but there was an incredible community spirit that came across the whole team and community. We worked together to transform our delivery entirely online and increased our delivery to ensure we responded to the needs of our beneficiaries at that time.
The team really pulled together at this time and we all contributed to the increase in delivery. Considering it was a time where no relationships were made in person, I felt very connected to the community and even got to sneak in some wellbeing sessions alongside our additional projects.
Taking part in RareChat’s was one of the best experiences at this time. It allowed me to meet with patient groups we engaged with, hear their stories and share experiences with them while facilitating conversations allowing the opportunity for peer support. This was a difficult time for us all and it was wonderful to be a part of a project that offered the chance to socialise over an online cup of tea and offer support when it was needed more than ever.
What is your greatest achievement at Beacon?
My greatest achievement has been developing our partnerships and securing long term support from those I have connected with. When I started my role, many relationships were being formed from scratch or by re-connecting with previous supporters.
I like talking to people, learning about the work they do and getting to know them so having a job where I could use those skills to grow support from various organisations, companies and individuals to develop Beacon has been the biggest pleasure.
We now have an extensive network of partners and funders that contribute to our work not only financially but by sharing their expertise within our different projects.
I am proud to have developed these relationships, to have raised so much awareness of the work we do and the rare disease community we work with.
Apply to be our new Fundraising Manager!
Following Laura’s departure, we are now seeking an experienced Fundraising Manager to bring knowledge, initiative and fresh ideas to help establish a new fundraising strategy and set the charity for its next decade.
Key details
- Salary: £30,000 – £34,000 (pro rata)
- Hours: Part-time (22.5 hours per week minimum, with potential to go up to 30 hours)
- Location: Hybrid, with approximately 50% of time (or more if desired) spent in our Cambridge officer
- Starting date: August – September 2023
View the full job description, including responsibilities, personal specification and benefits here.
Applications are open until 26th July!
