Birds of Paradise Theatre Company is seeking an excellent, experienced and dedicated fundraiser to join the company for a fixed-term contract.

BOP is entering its 30th year and is seeking to build on its success over the past three decades by securing greater capacity and resources. Our goal is to use such capacity to meet our mission of putting the stories of disabled people on stage and developing the next generation of disabled artists. We are seeking to bring a fundraiser into the core of the company to learn about our work, develop our fundraising strategy with us and secure funding from new routes and partners.

This is a new role within the company and we are excited to appoint someone who will join our small and highly committed team. We want the successful post holder to work closely with us so they build a strong understanding of the company and are able to contribute to the company and its work. This post-holder will be a core staff member during their contact and not in an arms-length role, tasked purely with writing funding applications.

Access

BOP understands that Disabled people may experience barriers in the course of completing their work.

Upon appointing someone to this position, we will ask the successful candidate to complete an Access Requirements Form, so we know how to best facilitate an environment that is accessible to them.

BOP operates budget lines within the company, and will cover any costs related to someone’s access requirements.

Where there are higher or more regular costs related to someone’s access requirements, we will undertake an Access to Work claim with them.

Key Tasks

• Participating in the planning and further development of BOP Fundraising strategy
• Setting realistic fundraising targets and moving towards these
• Communicating clearly with the wider team about delegated tasks and work
• Attending team meetings and building a strong working relationship with the rest of the BOP team and an understanding of the current and future activities of the company
• Coordinating the completion of funding applications in collaboration with the wider BOP team
• Identifying, researching and targeting new sources of income and support
• Developing relationships with future and existing funders and partners
• Writing funding applications and accompanying budgets
• Evaluation and reporting to funders and stakeholders
• Supporting the development of donation based fundraising models, such as the BOP Friends scheme – The Bird Hoose, and a legacy donations plan
• Any other duties appropriate to the post and in accordance with the fundraising activities of the company

Essential Skills

• Minimum two years’ experience in similar roles
• Knowledge of UK trusts and foundations landscape as applicable to BOP
• Proven knowledge and experience of successful fundraising within any transferable context
• Ability to work independently
• High proficiency in reading, writing, numeracy and IT
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and presentational skills
• Experience of working as part of a team and pulling together to complete tasks
• The flexibility to work irregular and sometimes unsociable hours

Desirable Skills

• Proven knowledge/experience in successful fundraising within and arts and/or disability context
• Knowledge/experience of working in the arts and/or disability sectors
• Knowledge/experience of accessible arts practice, disability equality and a commitment to equality of opportunity
• Full working knowledge of online systems/Office/etc
• Excellent organisational, administration and documentation skills
• A track record of reliability and trustworthiness

Join a Team of Passionate People Transforming Lives Across the North East

No matter what your job is at shmu, everyone’s work is about the same thing – transforming the lives of individuals and communities across North East Scotland. We are looking for an exceptional, innovative, community minded individual to join our team as our Community Development Manager; a pivotal leadership role within our organisation that will play a key role in supporting our programmes to re-energise our communities across the North East.

We passionately believe in supporting people to expand their horizons and achieve their full potential. Our approach, methods, projects and initiatives are nationally recognised, positioning us as a centre of excellence for the work we do.

This approach also applies to our staff team. We believe in supporting the members of our team to achieve their full potential and offer:

• support to undertake relevant training and qualifications
• regular support and supervision
• flexible working hours and a TOIL system
• initial paid holiday entitlement of 34 days (inclusive of any public/bank holidays which you may choose to request)
• a company sick pay scheme, effective from the first day of employment
• a stakeholder pension, with an annually reviewed employer contribution (currently 4%)
• a hybrid/office occasional working model to allow for working from home.

We appreciate the importance of good mental health and wellbeing amongst our team and strive to provide a working environment which supports people to achieve this.

We are also committed to supporting the wellbeing of all those who engage with our services - hear more about the impact of our work in this area in this short film

Our work has always involved supporting disadvantaged communities and the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of inclusion and creating opportunities for all. Through our community media outlets, we provide unparalleled access to community media opportunities, training and support for our volunteers, based primarily in the regeneration areas of Aberdeen.

Collectively, our platforms provide opportunities for underrepresented voices to be heard, while developing a range of new skills. The initiative creates an engaging and inclusive process for community members to produce content which accurately reflects their lives, share information with other residents, while holding those in power to account.

Our projects combine to create a wide range of benefits for individuals and communities, fostering a spirit of engagement and partnership working, developing transferrable skills in participants and contributing towards increased social capital.

Our Community Development Manager will play a key role within the organisation, working alongside the Chief Executive to design, manage and coordinate all strategic and operational aspects of all community engagement and outreach services across the organisation.

The postholder will lead on the development and implementation of our Community Development & Engagement Strategy, including a review of all our existing community services and engagement with a range of our community partners, and play a key role in ensuring the impact of our community development work is recognised and valued.

This short film offers further insight into the role and what it's like to work at shmu

Do you want to help us transform lives through reading and writing?

We’re seeking a confident proactive manager to shape and share best practice of our programmes across the learning community.

Scottish Book Trust is a national charity that believes books, reading and writing have the power to change lives. A love of reading inspires creativity, improves employment opportunities, mental health and wellbeing and is one of the most effective ways to help break the poverty cycle. We work towards a Scotland where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive through literacy.

The School Communities team delivers a range of programmes that inspire children and young people to engage with reading and writing.

The role leads on the development and delivery of the outreach work carried out in schools which supports the impact and effectiveness of our School Communities programmes. The post works closely with the School Communities team to ensure co-ordinated delivery and optimum impact for our school community audiences.

Do you want to help us transform lives through reading and writing?

We have a position available for an outgoing, driven person based in Highland, supporting schools to engage with our programmes.

Scottish Book Trust is a national charity that believes books, reading and writing have the power to change lives. A love of reading inspires creativity, improves employment opportunities, mental health and wellbeing and is one of the most effective ways to help break the poverty cycle. We work towards a Scotland where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive through literacy.

The School Communities Regional Outreach Coordinator works closely with the School Communities Manager on the administration, development, and delivery of the School Communities Outreach programme in the Highland local authority.

The role involves working closely with individual schools or key stakeholders in Highland Council to identify ways that they can engage with, and benefit from, our School Communities programmes. They will also deliver professional learning opportunities to a range of audiences, in-person and online via Zoom or Teams, to support the School Communities programmes.

The School Communities team delivers a range of programmes that inspire children and young people to engage with reading and writing.

The post holder will also work alongside the School Communities Team and Scottish Book Trust colleagues to ensure co-ordinated delivery and optimum impact for our school community audiences.