Welcome to the team

Over the summer, we’ve been delighted to welcome two, new senior fundraising consultants to the team at Gifted.

Alison Gilbody

Alison joins us after five years, as Head of Income Generation and Communications at St Ann’s Hospice in Manchester. She brings more than 20 years of fundraising experience to her new role, working alongside Gifted’s director in the North, Amy Stevens. Her extensive knowledge of developing fundraising and communication strategies across the Third Sector - including key, North West attractions like Blue Planet Aquarium, The Museum of Science and Industry and Chester Zoo – will be a huge benefit to our clients in the region. ‘Alison has an established career as a great fundraiser, an accomplished networker and a superb manager,’ says Chief Executive, Andrew Day. ‘She also understands what it means to walk the talk, having personally served in a number of volunteer roles, in her local community.’

James Dyer

We’re also really pleased to announce the appointment of James Dyer, as campaign manager with the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Historic Churches Trust. James comes to us from Peterborough Cathedral, where he spent four years managing the strategic direction of the £10 million, ‘Peterborough 900’ Campaign. His experience in securing major gifts, running donor membership programmes and developing legacy giving, within an ecclesiastical context, will be a tremendous asset to the fundraising activities of the Trust. James will be running the £3 million, Jubilee Campaign and working with Trustees to engage the support of major givers, corporate partners and Trusts and Foundations. He’ll also be using his previous experience of building a solid membership base at the Cathedral, to create a strong community of Jubilee supporters at the Trust. ‘I’m very excited to be working with Amy and Andrew again, to shape a healthy, sustainable future for the stunning collection of historic churches in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire,’ says James. ‘As someone who’s grown up with churches and had the privilege of singing in many of them, I think the contribution they make to our heritage and culture is enormous.’