Meet Luke, Trusts and Grants Fundraiser

Find out more about Luke’s career with Diverse Abilities:

To sum myself up in three words, I would say I’m compassionate, creative and laid-back.

Before I started at Diverse Abilities, I worked in marketing roles. I worked at ShakeAway where I was part of the team that helped the brand expand to the USA. After that I worked at a team-building company called The Colour Works where I helped rebrand and reach new corporate clients.

At university I studied Film and Media, which has enabled me to land some cool freelancing projects such as making videos for the NHS and other local charities. It was working with charities that led me to want to work at Diverse Abilities.

As a Trust and Grants Fundraiser, my job is to get funding in for our charities amazing projects. Whether it’s funding for new wheelchairs, day trips, sensory rooms, or running costs, I work with service managers to establish the need and then I find and appeal to trusts to persuade them to award us funds towards the project. My biggest challenge so far? I couldn’t answer this question without talking about the recent 24-hour beach walk challenge I took on where I walked for 24-hours, non-stop (mostly) up and down Bournemouth and Poole beaches. I’d say the challenge was not actually the walk, it was the lead up. Many more people wanted to get involved than I anticipated, which was amazing, but it was very time consuming, and I couldn’t really think about anything else for a few weeks! However, the fundraising team were very supportive, and it was great leaning on their skills to help me bring the idea to life. We raised an incredible £3125!