Ipswich, England, United Kingdom
Director, strategist and fundraiser for not-for-profit organisations and large-scale public projects with a background in heritage; placemaking; rural estate and museum management. Kath secures large grants and new income streams, gets ambitious projects and campaigns off the blocks, leads and delivers them, builds and engages audiences. She has worked with several membership-based organisations. Kath leads on the development of organisations and sites which: - Educate, engage, and entertain - Improve the culture and heritage offering in communities - Raise funds for the protection and interpretation of built and green heritage - Engage and retain target audiences and members - Deliver social impact, improve social mobility and pride in place - Deliver environmental sustainability Kath currently heads up the Thomas Wolsey 550 project and a series of heritage placemaking projects in Suffolk, England. Her key skills include strategic project and campaign planning; initiating and managing productive cross-sector partnerships; public engagement across different sectors and communities; writing and communications; and curating world-class exhibitions and event programmes. Her contacts extend across culture, heritage and environment organisations and networks; NGOs; government and local government; place management organisations; universities and businesses.
I'm currently managing a series of major projects in Ipswich, Suffolk. 1. 'Thomas Wolsey 550', an exciting 18-month place-making programme recognising the 550th anniversary of Cardinal Wolsey’s birth in Ipswich, launched in March 2023. A working class boy, Wolsey rose through the ranks to become the most powerful statesman in the country, proving that 'everyone can do anything' - and this is our starting point. The project places a focus on heritage engagement, social mobility and better careers education for children and young people. We secured additional funding in 2024 to continue to deliver our schools work in every school in Ipswich borough. 2. Stoke Bridge Wharf - public realm project delivering a series of improvements to street furniture, and a heritage learning point with AR content, at a key historic site which has been an access point in to Ipswich since the 7th century. 3. Maximising our Heritage Capital - I'm working with key partners in the town to deliver a series of ambitious projects which: - deliver a heritage strategy for Ipswich - link and signpost key heritage sites through interpretation and signage - protect and interpret Ipswich's heritage assets - protect Ipswich's heritage groups and capture knowledge - develop our work with schools to improve the local curriculum and increase social mobility
The Eco Attractions Group is a coalition of leading UK-based eco-centres which together engage over 15 million people each year. Members include the Centre for Alternative Technology, Eden Project, Kew, Holkham Estate, Living Rainforest, Markshall Estate, National Botanic Garden Wales, Pensthorpe, SLBI, Queenswood, Earth Trust, Durley Chine, and Wildwood.
Markshall Estate (2350 acres), features a world-class 220+ acre Arboretum at its heart, ancient woodlands, grassland, and tenanted farmland. The Arboretum features impressive collections of trees from every temperate area of the world, enjoyed by 45,000 visitors each year. - Transformed working culture at the Charity, which had lost leadership and direction - Delivered operating profit across group in my first year, after £150K loss in 2018 - Increased visitor numbers despite periods of closure due to global pandemic - Surpassed group income targets in 2021 - Wrote new 5-Year Strategy and Operational Plan with focus on environmental sustainability - Created new staff Performance Review system to dovetail with Operational Plan - Developed staff team strategically, created important new Education function in 2020 - Delivered £430K Visitor Centre development project inc. biomass system, shop, plant centre - Achieved £250K+ through Membership fundraising, grants, and donations over 3 years - Developed business plan, won best ‘Profit Innovation Plan’ for European Interreg project in 2019 - Commissioned new CRM data system across finance, HR, admissions, memberships, café, retail - Oversaw delivery of new website; 2000% increase in social media engagement over 3 years - Project managed site-wide rebrand and full consultation with stakeholders - Initiated public programme inc. art, music, theatre, wild play - Planned new 2021 Christmas event, achieved £28K income, 2200+ people - Initiated Markshall Estate Park Run (200+ runners weekly) - Increased weddings and private hire profile and income over 3 years - Achieved profile growth across culture, heritage, tourism, and horticulture sectors - Initiated and built new regional and national partnerships including EcoAttractions Group, universities, education, health, wildlife, heritage, arts
- Headed up award winning William Morris Gallery, Vestry House Museum, Waltham Forest Archives & Local Studies Library, 1 Hoe St arts venue - Delivered the cultural strategy and borough arts programme for LBWF - Managed budgets >£4M, managed Arts Council NPO funding schedule for WMG - Contributed to winning bid for Mayor of London’s first ‘Borough of Culture’ award (£5.5M) - Commissioned international producers ‘Marshmallow Laser Feast’ for the laser launch event - Delivered part of Great Places programme inc. Waltham Forest community spaces (£1.35M) - Managed and developed the Gallery, Museum, and Arts teams [30 staff] to enable delivery of exhibitions, education and visitor experience at each venue, and all aspects of the borough arts programme. - Led on strategic, commercial redevelopment and site redesign project for Vestry House Museum, arranged £10K sponsorship to launch ‘Film Bites’ a community cinema programme with film-themed catering offer.
Hopper Projects offers the following services for arts and culture led organisations: - Strategic planning, business planning and funding solutions for cultural organisations - Initiating and managing partnerships to deliver impactful public projects and campaigns - Programming, initiating and producing world-class exhibitions, planning and producing events - Multi-stakeholder project planning, management and evaluation - Audience development strategy - Creative, effective marketing - Writing and research - Working with artists to build their profiles A list of contracts completed through my Hopper Projects consultancy follows: