Case study:Achates Generates Income: Tramshed

“We have had a really successful and longstanding relationship with Achates, who have supported the targeted development of Tramshed’s fundraising over a 10 year period. At the present time, in the context of a competitive income generation landscape, our investment in Achates’ support is demonstrating a tangible return – particularly with trust and foundation applications. In the last 18 months, for every £1 we’ve invested in their services – we’ve generated £20 in income.

The funding we’ve raised thanks to the Achates team speaks for its self – we also value the way in which we’ve been able to work together. Achates’ consultants have challenged our thinking from a place of understanding. They have taken time to support much more effective communication about our beneficiaries and impact. In this tough climate their perspective was essential from managing character counts, distilling the paragraphs to key messages, through some disappointments with diminishing success rates, to encouraging us to look at new funders and gaining those awards. Putting it simply, the last year has only been made possible through Achates support and they will be an essential part of our business plan for the foreseeable future.”

 – Bethan Tomlinson, Interim Director

Achates has worked with Tramshed to support the development of its bids for a 10-year period, providing strategic, targeted support to optimise the organisation’s fundraising success. We work closely with Tramshed’s interim Executive Director and Participation Manager, and with the organisation’s former Artistic Director & CEO. Our work has supported the organisation through a series of step-change moments, including fundraising toward Tramshed’s once in a lifetime capital redevelopment project, the development of critical covid-recovery funds, and more recently a change in leadership.

Our approach includes full bid development, critical guidance and feedback, and mentoring and coaching to support the in-house team’s skills development. Recent bid writing successes include leveraging core funding from the Garfield Weston Foundation, retrospective funding from the National Lottery Community Fund in support of cost-of-living service provision and Henry Smith Charity funding toward targeted work with and for adults with learning differences.