“I get to see first-hand how ideas are developed”: A ‘Week In the Life’ of our Business Development Officer

Claudia Pearson

Every year, Children North East reaches thousands of babies, children, young people and families across the North East and beyond… Our new ‘Week in the Life’ blog series will shine a spotlight on some of the amazing people who help make that impact possible, from practitioners working in the heart of communities to teams behind the scenes keeping the lights on.

In our first ‘Week in the Life’, we meet Claudia Pearson, who joined Children North East last year as Business & Funding Development Officer. Claudia helps us find the funding, resources and partners to make big ideas into reality. Let’s learn more…

 

What’s the first thing you’re doing on Monday morning?

I normally make my ‘to-do’ list on the Friday before (as much as is possible anyway) so the first thing I do come Monday morning is review what’s on for that week and what my priorities are.

What does a typical day look like for you?

This can vary quite a lot as my weeks are structured around different funding deadlines and some weeks are much busier than others. When there is a deadline I spend my time working with managers to pull together project ideas and then as this progresses I review project applications/proposals and advise on what could be changed to strengthen the submission. Other times I am researching new funding opportunities and adding suitable ones to our funding pipeline.

What most excites you about your role?

I love being in a position where I get to see first-hand how ideas are developed to respond to those most in need and more importantly, to be able to contribute to making sure we have the funding to be able to make a difference. Now that I have been here a year it is also exciting to see how different pieces of work develop as time goes on and how we are able to adapt to changing circumstances.

What are you and the team working towards in 2022?

At the end of 2021 we analysed the full year of restricted funding to help us understand where our strengths and weaknesses are. In 2022, we are hoping to increase our success rate on applications for larger funding pots.

What did you do before you Children North East?

I used to work in sales for a manufacturing company, my ambition was always to work in the charity sector but it took a while for the right role to come up (of course I’m glad I waited it out!).

Have you learnt anything interesting since you started your role?

I have found learning about Children North East’s huge number of projects very interesting, as before joining I was not familiar with the charity nor with the level of need within the region.

What do enjoy outside of work?

I am very into food – at home I love to bake, and I really enjoy going out for meals and trying different restaurants. I also love travelling so I am looking forward to hopefully getting away this summer.