Fundraising Experts Cultivating Success
Orchard Fundraising is built on people who care about making fundraising work for charities. Our team brings a breadth of expertise across a wide range of disciplines and sectors, from fundraising consultants to bid writers, communications specialists, CRM consultants and researchers, which means we can adapt to shape solutions that work in practice, not just on paper.
What unites us is a practical, hands-on approach and a commitment to working alongside our clients. We’re here to share our experience, take the pressure off, and help you achieve the income and impact your charity needs.
Who You’ll be Working With
At Orchard, every client works directly with experienced fundraisers who share practical insight and a genuine commitment to your cause. Your client lead will be your main point of contact, developing and managing your fundraising strategy, and drawing on the wider team’s expertise to deliver the best results for your charity.
Sam Watson
Sam founded Orchard Fundraising in 2016 to help charities build confidence and long-term sustainability in their fundraising. She brings more than 30 years’ experience across a wide range of management and consultancy roles – supporting organisations from national charities and universities to churches, community groups and local authorities.
Specialisms: Fundraising strategy, trusts & foundations, major donor and alumni development, capital appeals, legacy giving
Rachel Hurring
Rachel helps charities build sustainable income through strong relationships, creative partnerships, and clear fundraising strategies. With more than 15 years’ experience across trusts and foundations, corporate giving and volunteer development, she brings a practical, people-centered approach to every project.
Specialisms: Trusts & foundations, corporate partnerships, volunteer development, youth engagement, fundraising strategy
Susan Barlow
Susan specialises in helping charities build meaningful partnerships with philanthropists, corporates and foundations, drawing on over 20 years of experience in fundraising and financial planning. With a background in corporate banking, she brings both strategic insight and a deep understanding of what motivates donors to give – helping organisations secure lasting.
Specialisms: Fundraising strategy, financial planning, major donor giving, trusts and grants
Lianne Frith
Lianne blends creative storytelling with strategic insight to help charities strengthen their fundraising, communications, and donor engagement. With over ten years’ experience in the sector, she’s passionate about helping organisations connect meaningfully with supporters and communicate their impact with clarity and heart.
Specialisms: Fundraising strategy, creative copywriting, multi-channel campaigns, donor engagement, project management
Steve Durrant
Steve has been crafting winning bids and managing tenders since 2001, helping charities and organisations across community development, health, education and criminal justice secure vital funding. He combines analytical skill with a heartfelt commitment to making a difference, supporting organisations to design robust, evidence-led projects that deliver lasting change.
Specialisms: Trusts & foundations, tender bids, programme strategy, impact assessment, grant management
Sarah Lisle
Sarah helps charities and faith-based organisations tell their stories with clarity and impact through persuasive funding applications. After beginning her career in the libraries sector, she now has over 10 years’ experience in bid writing and combines technical precision with a deep understanding of what inspires funders to give.
Specialisms: Bid writing, trusts & foundations, proofreading, Christian charities, project management
Lisa Barham
Lisa specialises in trusts and foundations fundraising. She has previously worked for national museums and is a practiced grant writer with experience in securing funds for a wide variety of projects.
Helen Rana
Helen brings extensive experience supporting educational, arts and heritage organisations in the UK and internationally. She specialises in strategic planning, bid development and bid writing, drawing on her background evaluating grant programmes and assessing applications from a funder’s perspective, including roles at Jisc and the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
Beth Llewellyn
Beth is a Bid Writer at Orchard Fundraising. Having graduated with a degree in English and Film, she has been working in the charities sector since 2016. Beth has a wealth of experience writing high-quality strategic grant applications, along with high-impact proposals and reports, particularly for community-focused charities.
Specialisms: Bid writing, report writing, grant applications, community-based charity support
Charlotte Gray
Charlotte is a bid writer with over 20 years of experience securing funding for arts, heritage, cultural and health initiatives. Her background includes founding and running a theatre company focused on community engagement, while successfully obtaining grants from local funders and national bodies. Charlotte is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Health with a focus on end-of-life care, combining practical fundraising knowledge with academic insight to develop compelling and evidence-based funding applications.
Specialisms: Bid writing, community engagement, insights and analysis
Elizabeth Fraser
Elizabeth has over 10 years of fundraising experience through securing grants, corporate support, contracts, tenders and individual donations. Throughout her third-sector career, she has held management roles overseeing HR, finance and governance. She also specialises in developing monitoring & evaluation systems, community development strategies, and addressing health inequalities. Her academic credentials include a BA (Hons) in Philosophy from King’s College London, and an MSc in Health Systems & Health Inequalities from the University of Edinburgh.
Specialisms: Bid writing, trusts and foundations, corporate partnerships, individual giving, monitoring and evaluation systems
Andrew Taylor-Dawson
Andrew has worked in fundraising since 2007. His multidisciplinary background includes grant writing, digital fundraising and individual giving, and legacies. He is experienced at developing a strong case for support and using it to drive income, whether from individuals or funding bodies. Andrew is a trained journalist and writes about music alongside his work in the charity sector. He sits on the board of the adoption support charity We Are Family.
Specialisms: Grant writing, digital fundraising, individual giving, legacy fundraising
Emily Peirson-Webber
Emily has over 15 years’ experience in fundraising, supporting organisations across education, health, heritage, and veterans’ causes. Bringing senior-level experience and strategic oversight, she supports organisations to shape strong, fundable programmes aligned with their wider goals. A creative bid writer, Emily enjoys uncovering the heart of an organisation’s work and translating it into persuasive and compelling funding stories.
Specialisms: Trusts & Foundations, bid writing, donor relations, impact reporting, grant management
Tracy Ebbrell
Tracy brings over 30 years’ experience in the environmental, adoption, social justice, food security and community energy sectors, helping a wide range of charities secure funding and deliver sustainable change. Tracy’s career spans leadership, consultancy, corporate giving, and international charitable work, with a particular focus on corporate fundraising and relationship management, alongside community-led environmental initiatives and social enterprise.
Specialisms: Corporates, major donors, trusts & foundations, environmental causes
