Senior Events Officer

We are looking for a Senior Events Officer. This is an exciting new opportunity to join our team.

We are The Forward Trust, the social enterprise with charitable status that empowers people to break the often interlinked cycles of crime and addiction to move forward with their lives. For more than 25 years we have been working with people to build positive and productive lives, whatever their past. We believe that anyone is capable of lasting change. Our services have supported thousands of people to make positive changes and build productive lives with a job, family, friends and a sense of community.

The Forward Trust is predominately funded through Government contracts, but our Fundraising team plays a vital, and increasingly important, role in securing funding to support essential activities that go beyond these contracts. We raise £2.3 million per year from a diverse range of sources including events, trusts and foundations, corporate supporters, and individual donors.

Around a third of our workforce are in active recovery and/or have had experience of the criminal justice system. We also have the support of thousands of people who have benefited from our services. That means that we can easily evidence the long-lasting impact of our work.

Events have long been a core part of Forward Trust strategy. Although sitting within the Fundraising Team, this role will have an organisational-wide remit.

You will be delivering events which generate charitable income, steward our donors and supporters, and raise awareness of our work and our cause. Events include (but are not limited to) challenge events, community events, ‘special events’, campaign focused events, and major donor events.

As a Senior Events Officer, you will possess the following skills -

• Experience of delivering a wide range of events (including income generating and at least one other)
• Understanding of databases in relation to fundraising (experience of using Salesforce is desirable)
• Understanding the principles of donor engagement, stewardship and cultivation
  Experience of Microsoft Office packages
• Good understanding of the use of social media to promote and recruit for events
• Experience of sticking to budgets and tracking and reporting on income and expenditure for events
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) with the ability to explain and summarise complex issues
• Experience of working cross-department to organise and deliver events
• Good organisational/planning skills to manage workload

• Training and development opportunities
• Flexible working 
• Simply Health Cashback Scheme (Optional)
• Season Ticket Loan Scheme 
• Cycle to work scheme
• Crisis Loan Scheme
• Electric Car Scheme
• 3 x Wellbeing Days (pro rata'd for part time employees)
• Access to Blue Light Card
• 25 days (rising to 30 with length of service) Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays 
• Contributory Pension Scheme – Employer matched contributions of up to 6% in the first two years’ service and up to 9% thereafter 
• Death in Service Payment (2x annual salary) 
• Critical Illness Insurance (subject to qualifying criteria)

Diversity at Forward Trust

Our workforce is made up of a diverse community, where we all belong and feel part of something bigger. We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. We will consider flexible working requests for all roles unless operational requirements prevent otherwise.

Please note the closing date for this role is 21st February 2025. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.