The Achates Community Bursary Winners

We are delighted to announce the winners of the inaugural Achates Community Bursary Awards

Anna Henderson

Festival Producer, The Bay International Film Festival, England

“As a producer for The Bay International Film Festival, I can leverage the Achates Community bursary to enhance my fundraising skills and develop innovative income generation strategies, which I believe can directly benefit our community work in Morecambe and improve our grant application success rate.”

Anna Oggero

Executive Producer, Projekt Europa, England

“As an Italian-British theatre producer with lived migration experience, my work deeply engages with themes of displacement, identity, and belonging. This bursary would enhance my ability to lead innovative projects that combat the systemic disadvantage and marginalisation of refugees, asylum seekers and first-generation migrants, which are a key aspect of my role at PROJEKT EUROPA and of my work as a freelancer.”

Annie Nichol

Development Assistant, Young at Art, Northern Ireland

“I will use the Achates Community Bursary to broaden my knowledge and skills in new areas of income generation in the early stages of my career as a young arts professional, and apply this to my work as Development Assistant for Young at Art Belfast.”

Becca Rowson

Executive Producer, Futures Theatre, England

“As a young theatre professional, new to arts leadership, I’m delighted to be part of the Achates Community. I feel this opportunity will offer me the skills I need to build essential leadership skills within a community of like-minded professionals.”

Beki Pope

Head of Fundraising, Chapter Arts Centre, Wales

“I’ll use the bursary to improve my confidence across all aspects of the fundraising spectrum, and support learning in my fundraising team, to ensure that Chapter can deliver its varied and diverse programme.”

Ben McDaid

Development Officer, Lyric Theatre, Northern Ireland

“I am delighted to have been awarded an Achates Community Fellowship; I am really looking forward to availing of the masterclasses and Purposeful Leader leadership programme, whilst also taking time to connect and gain insights from those working in similar funding circumstances. Thank you to the team at Achates!”

Bethan Touhig Gamble

Director, Span Arts, Wales

“I really value this opportunity to access the support, knowledge, and networks that the programme offers. It will push forward my own learning as a leader and the work of my charity for the community we serve.”

Cheryl Jones

Director, Grand Union Arts, England

“I’m delighted to be a recipient of the Achates Community Bursary and hope to be able to use it to support the organisation I lead through a period of precarity, unlocking its potential for huge transformative change for the communities and artists that we serve. I’m excited to have the opportunity to connect with a new network of peers to develop our learning, knowledge and leadership skills together.”

Cinzia Savonitti

Communication & Development assistant, Open Arts, Northern Ireland

“I’m really excited to jump in and start using everything Achates Community offers to grow both personally and professionally. In my role as Communication and Development Assistant at Open Arts and as a disabled artist, I’m very keen on promoting awareness and pushing for more equity for disabled people in the arts, and this bursary is going to help me make a bigger impact. I want to develop new ways to bring in funding, and design new ways to evaluate and collect feedback on our projects. I’m also really looking forward to connecting with other cultural professionals to develop fresh ideas and new perspectives to bring back into Open Arts.”

Dee Conaghan

Artistic Director, Stage Beyond Theatre Company, Northern Ireland

“I am really excited and enthused by this valuable new opportunity to engage with a vibrant community of cultural sector professionals in Northern Ireland and across the UK. My ultimate aim is to see Stage Beyond flourish and fly even higher!”

Craig Andrew McCulloch

Associate Director, Solar Bear Theatre Company, Scotland

“This opportunity is a chance for me to grow, nurture and develop my skills as an arts leader in Scotland. As a deaf person myself I strive to be a role model, creating change and providing opportunities for deaf artists, deaf communities and audiences.”

Denise Domfe

Philanthropy Manager, The Roundhouse, England

“I would like to use Achates Community Fellowship to enhance my knowledge on leadership and fundraising as I have transitioned from Trusts and Foundations fundraising to Major Donor fundraising. It is a completely new income stream for me and I am willing to learn how to lead from professionals in the sector.”

Denholm Spurr

Director, OffWestEnd, England

“As the youngest director in OffWestEnd’s history and the first from a working-class background with first-hand experience in independent theatre-making, my tenure represents a unique opportunity to push boundaries and transform opportunities for creatives from similar backgrounds. This bursary will support my transition from theatremaker to arts leader and provide the resources I need to make the years to come a period of growth, opportunity, and increased recognition—both for OffWestEnd and the independent theatre community at large.”

Edel Murphy

CEO, University of Atypical for Arts and Disability, Northern Ireland

“This opportunity to be one of the inaugural Achates Fellows is a great honour. As a proud disabled person it is important that disabled people are represented and supported in leadership roles. This exciting opportunity comes at a great time of my own professional development as I have embarked upon my new role as CEO and Artistic director.”

Emma Drury

Director, Seacourt Print Workshop, Northern Ireland

“I hope the Achates bursary will allow me to keep growing my skill and knowledge across governance, fundraising and long term strategic planning, as I lead the process of formulating Seacourt’s strategy for 2025-2035. Engaging with a network of cultural professionals and exploring resources and great practice is a great opportunity.”

Federica Banfi

Impact Evaluation Officer, The Duncairn Centre for Culture and Arts, Northern Ireland

“Being part of the Achates Community is a great opportunity to build and strengthen my professional profile. I look forward to developing my skills and networking with other cultural professionals all over the UK.”

Holly Foskett

Arts Programme Manager, Arts & Business, Northern Ireland

“By having access to the Achates Community platform, it will not only upskill my knowledge and experience, but with my current work role and network within the sector, this knowledge and learning can be shared to help upskill and support others on fundraising, leadership and governance topics further.”

Gail McGarvey

Deputy Director, Theatre and Dance, Northern Ireland

“The knowledge and skills that the Achates Community are offering will not only increase my confidence but will help secure the future of the organisation by creating a robust and relatable fund-raising strategy and to equip me with the tools and knowledge to support income generation.”

Jaivant Patel

Artistic Director, Jaivant Patel Company CIC, England

“Jaivant Patel Company will be using this fellowship to help strategise it’s thinking around contributed growth and new income generation. We have long been admirers of the work of Caroline and her team at Achates and are looking forward to the opportunity to learn from them.”

James Pierce

Head of Development, Traverse Theatre, Scotland

“The Achates Community Fellowship will help to grow a permeable cultural sector. I look forward to galvanising and growing skills, thought leadership, and tactics with a cohort of diverse professionals.”

Janine Dwan

Corporate Development Manager, Theatr Clwyd, Wales

“This bursary will enable me to access the vital tools I need to develop in my career and I’m really looking forward to getting started.”

Joe Cocklin

Participation Manager, Tramshed, England

“I am really grateful for this bursary. As the Participation Manager at Tramshed, I will use this support to enhance my practice and further my development work.”

Julianne Skillen

Arts Project Officer- Social Enterprise, Arts Care NI, Northern Ireland

“The arts and cultural ecology in Northern Ireland is under more pressure than ever and I will hone and develop my skills, connecting with other cultural professionals throughout the U.K., supporting and learning from each other. I will bring back the learning and share it with my friends and colleagues throughout the creative sector at home.”

Karl Newsam

Founder and Creative Director, Melt Dance, England

“I am thrilled and deeply grateful to be joining Achates Community. I look forward to honing my skills and connecting with fellow cultural professionals. I’m excited to utilise this fellowship to refine our strategies around contributed growth and explore new income-generation opportunities. This experience promises to be both inspiring and transformative, and I can’t wait to see how it will shape my professional journey and contribute to our growth.”

Keerthi Kollimada

CEO, National Student Drama Festival, England

“NSDF (the National Student Drama Festival) is at a seismic crossroads; the potential to restore and grow this historic and storied organisation is limitless. Its success lies in large part down to how we approach development and how we value our community. NSDF creates the artists of tomorrow, stars that shape the future of our industry. I want to do this mission justice, and I believe that Achates will support me to do just that.”

Kirsty Dunn

Development Officer, Bruiser Theatre Company, Northern Ireland

“I am delighted to receive an Achates Community Fellowship this year. I am currently the Development Officer for Bruiser Theatre Company and am excited to develop my knowledge of fundraising and income generation further with the Achates Community. I hope to better understand the challenges facing the arts sector and find creative ways to overcome these.”

Liz Hilder

Head of Insight and Development, Stagetext, England

“I’m excited to be one of the first to explore the resources and masterclasses on offer at Achates Community, and I look forward to connecting with other cultural sector professionals on this new platform.”

Mark Iles

Producer, An Tobar and Mull Theatre, Scotland

“I want to improve my knowledge of key aspects of income generation as a theatre producer by watching and participating with the masterclasses and live webinars.
I will also use the community space to build a broader network of theatre professionals to engage with, contribute to and learn from, helping develop my understanding of best practice in the field.”

Natalie Jode

Executive Director, Creative Arts East, England

“At a time of intense pressures on the ecology of our sector, I am very grateful to have been offered an opportunity to work alongside industry experts and peers to hone the skills I need to successfully co-produce and lead our new Creative Arts East 10-year Vision and Business Plan for 2024-2034.”

Nell Lyhne

Curator, fund-raiser, artist , The Sequested Prize / WKLyhne, England

“I feel very fortunate to be a Founder Member of the Achates Community. Its critical thinking provocations bring fresh thinking to problems and its community of resources is brilliant for ambitious project makers like me.”

Rachel Pedley

Creative Producer/Founder, Avant Cymru, Wales

“I plan to use the funding to allow me to develop skills as a creative producer and venue manager, as Avant builds a multi-arts venue in Wrexham and diverse Avant Cymru’s income. We have new plans to build participation and audience around our work, in particular, we are developing a play to tour over the next 2 years (2025-2026) marking the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster, with survivors and volunteers.”

Reece McMahon

Executive Director / CEO, Chisenhale Dance Space, England

“Reece will use the bursary to develop a long term fundraising and income generation strategy for Chisenhale Dance Space. This includes developing new earned income streams, launching an advocacy scheme and developing a fundraising strategy that underpins Chisenhale’s core mission of supporting marginalised, early-career / under resourced artists.”

Robin Paley Yorke

Freelance Theatre Maker / Producer, Seemia Theatre, Scotland

“I’m really excited to be joining the Achates Community. As producer of Seemia Theatre CIC, I’m keen to use the Bursary to support our fundraising efforts to continue and build on our work of supporting and championing MENA and Latinx artists.”

Sami Yusuf

Development Manager, Cambridge Junction, England

“I’m delighted to have been awarded one of the inaugural Achates Community Fellowships. I can’t wait to apply the Achates masterclasses to my work at Cambridge Junction so I can better support young people with complex needs within our Creative Learning projects. I’m also thrilled to have the opportunity to connect with and learn from other professionals in the cultural sector in Achates’ Community and Networking spaces.”

Sarah Hardman

Senior Buyer, Science Museum Group, England

“I’m thrilled to have been awarded an Achates Community Fellowship to support me to develop my work around sustainability in product design, within the charity sector. Achates Community is an innovative platform and as such I hope will help me to build networks and to strategize at the intersection between creativity and environmentalism.”

Lara Albergo

Development Manager, Bruiser Theatre Company, Northern Ireland

“Being the Development Manager for Bruiser Theatre Company means I am constantly working, amongst other things, on fundraising and income generation. The art sector, in our times, is particularly tough to navigate and I am delighted to have been awarded a bursary from the Achates Community and so looking forward to working together and getting the most out of this opportunity to bring it back to our organisation.“

Sanpreet Janjua

Development Manager , Young Sounds UK, England

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Achates Community Programme! I’m looking forward to meeting and learning from my development peers and benefiting from the Achates teams’ expertise in effective leadership and fundraising for the cultural sector.”

Sarah Roberts

Development Officer, Brooklands Museum, England

“The Achates Community Bursary Programme will help me in my current role at Brooklands Museum by introducing me to new ways of generating income and looking at fundraising from a more strategic perspective. I am also greatly looking forward to meeting other like-minded individuals within a new and exciting community space.”

Sho Shibata

Director, OutdoorArtsUK, England

“I’ve recently taken up the role of Director at OutdoorArtsUK after working with Stopgap Dance Company for 16 years. I’m doing a lot of refocusing of my leadership and purpose having moved from an inclusive touring company to an Arts Council Investment Principle Support Organisation, so this programme has come around at a really good moment.”

Sofia Zaragoza

Youth Programmes Coordinator, Immediate Theatre, England

“Sofia Zaragoza is the Youth Programmes Coordinator at Immediate Theatre. She plans to use her bursary to develop her team-building skills through the Purposeful Leader leadership programme and use Achates’ wealth of resources to look into sustainable funding options for her youth projects bringing free theatre workshops to young people in Hackney.”

Toni Fenning

Development Officer, Cast, England

“Being new to the industry, I’m eager to use the Achates Community Fellowship to build strong foundations in fundraising strategies and donor engagement. I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn from experienced professionals and apply new skills to drive success for my organization.”

Veronique AA Lapeyre

Head of Communications & Digital, Craft Scotland, Scotland

“I’m delighted to be part of the Achates Community Bursary Programme. I look forward to connecting with colleagues across the country and exploring contemporary approaches to income generation and arts leadership through the resources and learning spaces.”

Zoe Crick-Tucker

Capital Campaign Director, Theatr Clwyd, Wales

“We will use the bursary support to strengthen the fundraising specialism within our small team, giving individuals the opportunity to gain more skills and build on existing ones. Coming off the back of a major capital project, resources are stretched and capital fatigue is starting to appear – this bursary and the Achates Community offer as a whole package, comes at a perfect time to revitalise us and spring us back into full-strength revenue fundraising.”

The Achates Community Bursary Winners