GIFTED PHILANTHROPY - Key Persons


Adela Appleby

Job Titles:
  • Senior Fundraising Consultant
I've spent my 30-year career in the charity sector and love it. It's an honour to introduce people to a cause that inspires them and a responsibility to show them the difference their gift or support makes. I've worked for national and local charities starting as a sole fundraiser to leading teams and taking strategic responsibility for key developments. I've mostly worked for health organisations including national charities, hospices and hospital charities. As a fundraising consultant my experience extends to other causes including sport, heritage, environment, and religious. I put donor relationships at the heart my fundraising, listening to their interests and how they want to help, explaining the impact of their support and guiding them to be part of the solution. In doing so I help organisations to effectively tell their story by creating a strong case for support and together we cultivate new donor relationships. In taking this approach, I've run successful capital campaigns for state-of-the-art equipment or new facilities, and secured funding for innovations and new services. Throughout I've advised influential and committed volunteers including peers, politicians, lawyers and leading business people, on the most effective way to fundraise for the causes they believe in. Alongside my role with Gifted I am the Head of Community Relationships (Fundraising) at Treetops Hospice, responsible for all income other than retail.

Amy Stevens - CEO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive
Leeds is my home. As a Yorkshire girl, born in Sheffield, I came to Leeds for university. Now, after more than 15 years advising Third Sector organisations, it's a really exciting place to be working in. Not surprisingly, I'm really proud of the way we've grown the business in the North. As Chief Executive of Gifted, I'm committed to strengthening our presence here and at the same time building exceptional fundraising partnerships across the UK and overseas. Our work in Ireland, Italy, Thailand, Dubai and Nepal has involved everything from feasibility studies to strategy development, capital campaigns and bid writing. And, our work at home continues to respond to new challenges and the demands of fundraising in an ever changing economic landscape.

Andrew Day - Chairman

Job Titles:
  • Chairman
  • Director
One of the fundamental principles of fundraising is that to succeed, you must always act with integrity, staying true to your values and making sure that your vision reflects these. It's no different in our role as fundraising consultants - if you lose touch with your reason for being, you also risk losing your way. That's why I'm so keen to make sure that the future we build at Gifted is grounded in the people and partnerships that keep us thriving. It's about sharing our expertise and experience in a field that continues to excite us - philanthropy.

Bryn Abbott

Job Titles:
  • Fundraising Consultant
My communications background has been the ideal partner to a career in fundraising. For the past 15 years, it's given me the confidence to keep clients focused on their message and their mission. I studied MA Design at Leeds University (specialising in design as a medium for social change) and spent 10 years as a graphic designer and strategic communications consultant before moving into fundraising and leadership roles. This consulting and fundraising experience has helped me to bring a balanced perspective to the work I do. I know, first hand, about the frequent challenges that charities face, but I also appreciate that every organisation has deep-rooted and unique complexity. Over the last 5 years, I've worked with charities to help them navigate and move beyond the tumultuous Covid years; from providing targeted advice, to managing situations that involved a complete rethink of their fundraising and communication strategies.

Chris Brooks

Job Titles:
  • Senior Fundraising Consultant
Collaboration, partnership and building trusted relationships has been at the heart of my career for over 20 years. I spent many years at the British Council, promoting Further and Higher Education, developing mutually beneficial international arts projects, driving corporate sponsorship programmes, and implementing the organisation's global change programme. I then had the privilege of leading a Leeds based charity, helping refugee and asylum seekers settle and integrate in West Yorkshire. This was my first encounter with the extraordinary power of the human story, the benevolent spirit of community and how the world of fundraising and communications have an inexorable link with making a difference to the lives of others. From there I spent almost 10 years at Save the Children, building sustainable partnerships withphilanthropists across the UK, Middle East and Africa. I also led a number of transformational fundraising partnerships, focused on poverty alleviation in the UK, nutrition programming in India and community education empowerment in Sierra Leone. Most recently, I've stepped into the role of Head of Global Philanthropy at the University of Leeds.

Chris Goldie

Job Titles:
  • Director
Growing up in a theatrical family, taught me about teamwork. Watching cast and crew use their skills to achieve the exceptional, shaped my early understanding of what makes a successful partnership. The best productions were those that celebrated individual talent, but drew on the strength of the Company as a whole. The effort was always collaborative and the achievement, collective. When the opportunity came for me to pursue my other great love, cricket, I witnessed the same energy at play in the professional game. The most effective partnerships and team efforts, were based on persistence, courage and trust - and in many ways, these qualities are also at the heart of achieving step-change fundraising, too. When clients come to us, they expect wisdom, innovation and a pragmatic approach to bringing in the money. They also see us as part of the home team, wholly immersed in the process of securing gifts and deeply interested in their work long after the campaign reaches target or our contract is completed.

Jennifer Millard

Job Titles:
  • Senior Fundraising Consultant
It's great to bring together my understanding of large property and capital projects and to call on this experience within the context of fundraising. After University and a Graduate Training Scheme, I was drawn to Surveying and more specifically Land Agency. 15 years in the Fenlands working principally in Estate Management mostly for Charities provided a great grounding for a more definite move into the Third Sector. The skills I learnt in private practice and the experiences of planning, development, and strategic management have all provided a great platform for fundraising work, mostly based on projects involving properties or building. It's great to bring together my understanding of large property and capital projects and to call on this experience within the context of fundraising. It's also a privilege to be part of such a dynamic team with so many different skill sets and such a wealth of experience.

Julie Day

Job Titles:
  • Director, Marketing
I took my first steps in fundraising over twenty years ago. I'd left an account management role with a UK advertising agency and jumped into a $30 million campaign for the Sydney Children's Hospital in Australia. It was a memorable way to cut my teeth in a new sector. Eighteen months later, the campaign reached its target and I couldn't have asked for a better introduction to capital fundraising and the power of philanthropic giving. Later, when I took a sideways step into Education, the skills I'd gained as a campaign manager served me really well. Training staff, co-ordinating in-house fundraising appeals and delivering student well-being programmes, often meant drawing on my experience of running capital campaigns. Although I didn't know it at the time, I also think my degree in Theology was an early marker for the work I'm doing now. Back then, I was fascinated by what made people want to stake their life on something. Not many of our clients would describe their ambitions with quite that level of intensity, but their commitment to a particular cause is often just as compelling. At Gifted, alongside my role as Marketing and Communications lead, I'm fortunate to be working with visionary clients; people who trust us to tell their fundraising story and have faith in our ability to help them achieve inspirational results. Whether this is about creating a powerful case for support or responding to a wider brief for a suite of capital campaign materials, our goal is always to deliver work that combines a deep understanding of the sector with professional design expertise.

Konna Beeson

Job Titles:
  • Senior Fundraising Consultant

Leigh Titman

Job Titles:
  • Senior Creative Consultant
For more than a decade, I have worked with Third Sector clients and have been a key member of the Gifted design team since the Company's inception.

Nene Park

Job Titles:
  • Trust / Trent Rowing Club / Ullswater Yacht Club

Robin Langrishe

Job Titles:
  • Senior Fundraising Consultant
Working collaboratively we can build strong effective relationships and leave a lasting legacy for our communities. I started my voluntary sector career in 2000 and worked with a local charity before spending 8 years at Cancer Research UK. These formative years built my knowledge around all aspects of charity fundraising, until I subsequently moved into fundraising consultancy in 2010. Throughout my career, I've believed that trusting relationships, integrity and expertise are the keys to fundraising success, whether that be with stakeholders, donors, staff or volunteers. My experience includes working as a Director Fundraising, Director of Development, Major Donor Campaign Manager, Bid Writer, Marketing and Branding, and Feasibility Study Consultant across healthcare, schools and community charities. For 8 years, I was also a Director of the Association of Fundraising Consultants, assisting charities to develop their fundraising potential and create impact. This same passion for philanthropy has inspired several personal fundraising activities, including the London Marathon, the Inca Trail and some challenging cycle rides.

Sue Sargent

Job Titles:
  • Senior Fundraising Consultant
I started my career in marketing campaign management but quickly moved into the charitable sector. Here, I've spent almost 20 years, largely with higher education institutions. I have held the positions of Deputy Director and Director of Director of Development and Alumni Relations at Loughborough University and am currently with the University of Auckland as a regional director for the UK and Europe. Throughout my career I have witnessed the importance of philanthropy and its power to accelerate progress. When we work together, it's possible to effect real change in every aspect of the world around us.

Susan Lane - CFO

Job Titles:
  • Finance Director
When I qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young in Birmingham, I was fresh out of university and unsure of how my career in finance would evolve.

Victoria Baths

Job Titles:
  • Trust

Wren Hall

Job Titles:
  • Trust