THE AWARD WINNING outdoor pursuits charity Outfit Moray has created a new role that will help it grow in the local community.
Two new members of staff have been recruited as the charity seeks a new direction in its bid to secure funding to cover the growing demand for its services.
For 14 years Outfit Moray has grown from a small team of people working out of Elgin Youth Café to a successful and highly valued charity, providing essential support for many young people in Moray.
The charity uses outdoor learning and adventure as a tool to improve the lives of children, adults and families through their provision of outdoor education programmes. This has been achieved by working with many different local organisations including Quarriers Carers, Cornerstone, North East Sensory Services, Elgin Youth Café and Action for Fostering.
There has also been links with local primary and secondary schools, including working with over 750 young people in the last year alone, the 25 adult volunteers helping to run 350 outdoor sessions. The services being provided are much-needed and exclusive, with no other organisation offering the same resources.
However, its activities are subsidised to make them accessible and affordable for everyone – and to ensure they are available for those who need them, meaning they rely heavily on fundraising income.
Now they have created a the role of community and corporate fundraiser, as well as recruiting a second grants and trusts fundraiser, Richard Nawrocki.
The charity’s new joint role will see Karen Cox focusing on corporate and community fundraising, something she is no stranger to having run a highly successful fundraising team for a national military charity over the last five years. Karen also continues to organise the popular Cairngorm to Coast annual challenge event.
Karen said: “Outfit Moray has been working in the community since 2003, but they have not really worked at promoting themselves as a charity and encouraging support from local businesses – that’s where I come in.
“The majority of our sessions are highly subsidised, often up to 90%, to make sure they are accessible to as many young people as possible and this means fundraising is vital. I will be looking at how we can increase our income through community engagement and fundraising.”
Tony Brown, who is CEO for the charity, commented: “This is an exciting new direction for Outfit Moray and we are very much looking forward to engaging more with our local community.
“While we are fairly well-known amongst Moray’s schools and youth organisations, we feel the wider public and local businesses are less aware of the work we do and how we can even help them. For example, we are able to deliver First Aid training courses and are endorsed by Cycle Scotland as their local advice centre to help businesses become ‘Cycling Friendly Employers’.”
Karen added: “We have some new and exciting fundraising initiatives which we will be launching shortly and this will see the charity getting out and about at local events. I want to ensure that everyone in Moray knows about the work we do, that we really could be making a difference to every household where there are young people and families – especially to those who are vulnerable or disadvantaged.”
If anyone would like to get involved with fundraising for Outfit Moray Karen can be contacted by Email to karen.cox@outfitmoray.com or by calling 07775 737647.
Moray information on Outfit Moray and its work can be found on their website.