Senior Philanthropy Manager at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Stacey Lavery has been a fundraiser for 16 years, spending the last 7 years at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), the oldest and first institution of its kind dedicated to research and education in that field. Stacey has worked for organisations such as The Liverpool Comedy Trust (who she is now a Trustee for) and The Royal Court Trust, whilst undertaking consultancy work for a variety of organisations including The Anthony Walker Foundation, Capoeria CIC, The Liverpool Athenaeum, St George’s Quarter CIC, Employability Solutions, and the James Bulger Trust.
She is a member of the CIoF National Convention Board and recently stepped into the role of Chair of the North-West Committee. Stacey is passionate about the impact that philanthropy can make and, as a Scouser born and bred, is delighted to represent the professional development needs of fundraisers in the North-West.
Outside of work Stacey enjoys walks in the hills and mountains, wild camping and learning to map read.
Head of Fundraising at Stick’n’Step
Having begun her career in modern languages and retail, followed by time in hospitality, Sarah’s charity journey began 17 years ago with a three-month internship at Mines Advisory Group in Manchester. She has since worked with local and national charities including North West Air Ambulance, Kidney Research UK, PDSA, Hope House Children’s Hospices, St Ann’s Hospice and Adoption Matters. She is now the Head of Fundraising at Stick ‘n’ Step, a North West charity which supports children with cerebral palsy and their families.
Fundraising Manager at Pets at Home Foundation
Amy has been working in the charity sector for over 20 years, having started her fundraising career at Macmillan Cancer Support, running an appeal to fund 3 nurses, which transitioned into £1.5m building appeal following receipt of a legacy. Upon completion Amy moved to East Cheshire Hospice where she headed up the Fundraising Team before moving to Pets at Home to establish their charitable trust – The Pets at Home Foundation, who raise money to support rescue and rehoming centres who work to find loving homes for pets.
As the trust grew, Amy is now responsible for all of the fundraising activity across all 460 Pet at Home stores, vet groups, Support Office and Distribution Centres. Combining her love of pets and fundraising, Amy has also been a member of the North West CIofF Committee for over 8 years and is currently the Treasurer for the Committee and champions corporate fundraising having seen both sides of the activity.
Outside of work Amy enjoys the outdoors, with her rescue dog Wilma!
Fundraising Integration Lead at Marie Curie UK
Zoe started her career in fundraising 15 years ago at Marie Curie, so has come full circle to be working with the charity again. In the interim Zoe has worked in Scotland for Children 1st, Friends of the Earth Scotland and the Scottish Wildlife Trust before returning to the North West. She worked at St Joseph’s Hospice in Liverpool and is now at Marie Curie UK.
Outside of work Zoe is often out in nature, preferably with dogs.. or relaxing at home, with dogs!
Regional Fundraising Manager at Action for Children
Kerry started her working life in the world of journalism in the US and worked for several newspapers as a copy editor, magazine editor, and bureau chief. She started her fundraising career in the UK over 12 years ago at Stick ‘n’ Step, a charity that provides conductive education for children with cerebral palsy. She has gone on to work for other organisations such as The Brain Tumour Charity and The Lullaby Trust. For the past two years she has been the regional fundraising manager for the North West and North Wales at Action for Children. She joined the CIOF North West Committee in 2019 and has championed smaller charities in that time.
North West Regional Manager – RABI
After starting her career as a fundraiser in 2015 on a North West Conference bursary, Lauren has worked in a variety of roles and charities across the North West. Including roles and experience at Blackpool Carers Centre, Blue Skies Hospitals Fund and Trinity Hospice. Currently, Lauren is the North West Regional Manager for an agricultural charity, supporting farming people across England and Wales, RABI. Lauren joined the committee in 2022 after offering volunteering to the national CIOF Convention and seeing the need for developing a strong network for fundraisers across the North West. With a strong passion to creating a better future for the lives of others, she is keen to support and develop a strong and supportive environment for everyone in the fundraising sector.
Head of Development at the Lowry
Shirley has recently returned to freelance work in the cultural sector and also holds a senior role as Head of Development at The Lowry. Before that she headed up a new national business resilience programme for the small to medium sized part of the Heritage Sector at Cause 4, recruiting and supporting 250 organisations through Covid 19. She was previously Partnership Director at Northern Ballet for Leeds Dance Partnership, an organisation which aims to develop Leeds as an international centre of excellence for dance.
Shirley has 20 years’ management experience in Local Government, most recently at Salford City Council as Strategic Development Manager for Culture and Leisure, developing new and existing cultural partnerships in the city and attracting inward investment.
Shirley is committed to mentoring and has been a mentor for Arts Council England & Local Government partnerships, Business in the Arts Northwest, Job Centre Plus, Koestler Arts the leading prison arts charity in the UK and for various museums and heritage organisations. She has been a Quality Assessor for Arts Council England and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a board member for Fabric a strategic dance development organisation created from a merger of DanceXchange and Dance4.
Fundraising Manager at RNLI
Sophie has been a Fundraising Manager with the Royal National Lifeboat Institute, the charity that saves lives at sea, for 12 years and is also trained in Executive Coaching. Working with a passion for people and partnerships, she regularly delivers innovative training, coaching, and mentoring both virtually and face to face to collaboratively empower and achieve goals.
Prior to working with RNLI, Sophie was the National Coordinator for Disability Snowsport UK, ensuring anyone with any disability can access the slopes. Outside of work Sophie enjoys wild water swimming, singing in her local choir, cooking and travelling.
Fundraising Consultant
Laura has held leadership positions for over 18 years including 15 years in fundraising at a range of regional and national charities. As Head of Development at Tate Liverpool this included setting the strategy for a £25m capital project alongside creating and achieving the fundraising plan for the exhibitions and community programmes. Prior to Tate, Laura led teams as Director of Fundraising at Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation; Head of Events, Corporate and Community at North West Air Ambulance and Senior Fundraiser for Clatterbridge Cancer Research and Claire House Children’s Hospice. Outside of the Third Sector, Laura was a Manager at John Lewis Partnership and Business Development Director for a property company which expanded her skills in HR, Marketing, Sales, and Customer Service.
As a freelance consultant Laura supports charities to develop and implement effective fundraising plans and activities which ensure sustainable growth and excellent donor stewardship across all areas of giving. Clients include Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation, Wirral Youth Zone, Tate, Bluecoat, Turn End Trust, Shakespeare North Playhouse and Harewood House. Laura has been a member of the North West Committee since October 2022 and co-ordinates our training events and supports the annual conference.