Funding Socials: Inspiring Scotland (Inverness) 28th November

Funding Socials is an inspiring in-person event series designed for charity and social enterprise leaders looking for fresh ideas and connections to help boost income generation.

For this Funding Social in Inverness, we will meet at Eden Court, a very special venue and a fantastic charity. You will have the chance to hear directly from both Funders and local organisations working to raise funds.

The event is designed to help you cross the divide and connect with both funders and new peers, who can help you on your journey.

We will break up into small groups for you to meet and ask questions of:

• Elaine Crichton, Specialist Volunteer Network Executive and Fund Manager and Tommy Seymour, Specialist Volunteer Network Coordinator and Fund Manager at Inspiring Scotland which matches amazing volunteers with professional skills to charities which have an expertise gap that is holding back their development.
• James Turner, Head of Strengthening Communities, Highlands and Islands Enterprise which supports organisations to grow, supports communities with the purpose to generate sustainable economic growth in every part of the Highlands and Islands.
• Marion MacNeil, Development Officer at Highland Third Sector Interface
• Jaci Douglas, Chief Executive of Care and Learning Alliance (CALA) who will share her experience of the specialist volunteer network, securing funding and developing new income streams including taking on social investment.
• Alastair Davis, CEO of Social Investment Scotland and Kieran Daly, Head of Market Building at Social Investment Scotland.

Jane Bruce of Brilliant Leaders will facilitate the session with the aim of creating an informal and accessible event.

Elaine, Tommy, James, Alastair and Kieran will explain the support and funds they offer charities and social enterprises and be ready to answer any questions you have.

You will be given a warm welcome with teas/coffees on arrival and the session will close with a light lunch, where you will have the chance to mix with funders and peers and make some new connections.

10.00 - 10.30: Arrival and networking

10.30 - 11.30: Small Group presentations

11:30 - 12.00: Working out your funding next steps

12.00 - 13.00: Networking lunch

Elaine Crichton | Specialist Volunteer Network Executive and Fund Manager

Elaine leads the Specialist Volunteer Network and is passionate about bringing a wide network of people together to create successful lasting relationships between Inspiring Scotland’s professional volunteers and charities.

She frequently lends her own expertise and insight to organisations, garnered through nearly 30 years in financial services. Alongside her role leading the Specialist Volunteer Network, Elaine has worked within the Thrive Outdoors and Building Brighter Futures Funds at Inspiring Scotland, and joined the Learning Disability team in 2018. She holds a number of Board positions including the Treasurer role with a small grant giving trust, and delivered over 60 bespoke Board training sessions last year.

Tommy Seymour | Specialist Volunteer Network Coordinator and Fund Manager

Tommy initially worked offshore with an oilfield service company then changed career paths, in search of a more rewarding role. Tommy found himself in the world of Supported Employment and over six years, worked on a range of programmes throughout Edinburgh, the Lothians and the Lanarkshires.

Since joining Inspiring Scotland, Tommy has supported the coordination and development of the Specialist Volunteer Network, coordinated an Inclusive Leaders programme for the Survivors of Childhood Abuse Support Fund and facilitated the South of Scotland Additional Support Needs Learning Network supported by South of Scotland Enterprise. He has recently joined the CashBack for Communities team as Fund Manager.

James Turner , Head of Strengthening Communities, Highlands and Islands Enterprise

Based in the heart of the Scottish Highlands and qualified in Sustainable Development I have experience of working in the private, public and third sectors. I pride myself on focussing on solutions and considering the ‘art of the possible’ to build genuine, lasting relationships and deliver on a range of projects that will make a difference for people who live in the Inner Moray Firth area.

As Head of Strengthening Communities, I lead a team of passionate and skilled professionals who are committed to achieving positive and meaningful results for both our clients and Scotland’s economic development agency for the Highlands and Islands.

Through a blend of support that includes advice, signposting to and collaboration with partners and grant funding, we work to understand and enable the development aspirations of communities and social enterprises using a place-based approach and a focus on sustainability.

Jaci Douglas, Chief Executive, Care and Learning Alliance (CALA)

Jaci Douglas is the Chief Executive of the Care and Learning Alliance (CALA) - the largest early years and childcare charity in the north that delivers a wide range of children, family and play services across Highland and beyond.

Marion MacNeil, Development Officer, Highland Third Sector Interface

Marion has worked in the third sector for more than thirty years in various roles, including managing services for families with long-term health conditions, developing volunteer support and delivering training. More recent involvement has been in community development, and focusing on defining and measuring success. Marion is a member of Evaluation Support Scotland's community of practice for supporting others with evaluation.

Marion joined HTSI in April 2022, where her role focuses on improving access to funds that support grassroots initiatives in local communities and to help build capacity within Highland’s third sector. Marion manages the Communities Mental Health & Wellbeing Fund for Adults on behalf of Scottish Government, now in its fourth year. She also manages funds on behalf of Highland Alcohol & Drugs Partnership and has worked with the Highland Whole Family Wellbeing Programme team and other partnerships, to help them with distributing funds to benefit families in Highland.

In addition, Marion offers guidance and training to community groups within Highland's third sector on community engagement, self-evaluation, and using evidence from these activities to secure funding for your organisation.

Alastair Davis, Chief Executive Officer, Social Investment Scotland

Alastair joined SIS in 2009 to run the investment team and became SIS’s Chief Executive two years later. Alastair is currently an Investment Committee member at the Access Foundation and the advisory board of Scottish EDGE. In 2021, he was named SCVO Director of the Year – Third Sector by The Institute of Directors (IoD) Scotland.

Before joining SIS, Alastair worked in community banking for the Bank of Scotland, where he developed his broad and extensive knowledge of social investment. In 2012, he completed the prestigious Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management programme at Harvard Business School and in 2017 was awarded a Fellowship of the Chartered Banker Institute.

We will also be joined by an Inspiring Scotland beneficiary, who will talk about their journey to receiving support and what that meant to the future plans and opportunities for their organisation.

The hosts for this session are Jane Bruce, Brilliant Leaders

Jane is the Founder of Brilliant Leaders, a social business which offers coaching and development programmes to leaders and teams with a social purpose. Jane is a former charity/social enterprise CEO, accredited Executive Coach and experienced facilitator.

Before setting up Brilliant Leaders, Jane was Chief Executive of Social Bite in Scotland. In this role, Jane led a team of 100+ staff and 90 volunteers to run a chain of social enterprise cafes, mass fundraising events and innovative housing programmes. Previously, Jane was Chief Executive of Venture Scotland, which provides a wilderness-based development programme to young people facing tough challenges.

Alongside Brilliant Leaders, Jane is a qualified football coach having previously played football in the Scottish Women’s Premier League.

and Kieran Daly, Head of Market Building, Social Investment Scotland

Kieran started his career as a youth worker at The Prince’s Trust, devising and delivering training programmes. He has held senior management roles in business development for a range of arts, volunteering and youth organisations for over 15 years.

Kieran was Chief Operating Officer at food waste and food poverty fighting organisation, FoodCycle. While there, he grew the organisation’s presence from 14 to 30 locations around England in under two years, through a social franchising model.

Most recently, Kieran was Scotland Manager for Big Issue Invest, where he delivered a multi-agency partnership, engaging the private, public and third sectors in mentoring and lending money to early-stage social ventures. He is a keen cyclist who enjoys giving back by being on the Board of Social Enterprise Scotland.