Useful Experience Could Include

• Writing successful grant or funding applications, particularly for community, social impact, inclusion, youth, sport or grassroots organisations.
• Researching funders and identifying opportunities that align with an organisation’s aims and projects.
• Understanding how to communicate outcomes, impact and need effectively.
• Strong written communication and the ability to adapt writing for different audiences.
• Good research skills and attention to detail, particularly when working with funding criteria, budgets, deadlines and application requirements.
• Experience with funder reporting, monitoring and evaluation would be useful but isn’t essential.
• Experience of developing sponsorship, corporate partnerships or other income streams would also be valuable.

We’re also looking for someone who is

• Curious and proactive – able to spot opportunities and bring ideas rather than waiting to be given every task.
• Collaborative – comfortable working with our founder, directors, volunteers and community partners to gather the information needed for applications.
• Community-minded – able to understand and communicate the value of lived experience and community-led work without speaking over the communities we work alongside.
• Strategic but practical – able to see the bigger picture while also being happy to get stuck into researching a funder or writing an application.
• Organised and reliable – able to keep track of opportunities, deadlines and agreed actions.
• Values-aligned – genuinely interested in inclusion, access, belonging and creating positive change in climbing and the outdoors.

You don’t need to be a climber, have worked in the outdoor sector or have experience of every type of fundraising. We’re much more interested in the skills, perspective and enthusiasm you can bring.

We’re a small, evolving organisation, so we’d love someone who enjoys working collaboratively, is comfortable with some flexibility and wants to help us build something sustainable rather than simply take on a fixed set of tasks.

Most importantly, we want this to be a mutually valuable opportunity a chance for you to use and develop your skills while making a tangible contribution to UWC’s future.

Remote

What Will You Be Doing?

United We Climb is looking for a volunteer with experience or a strong interest in funding and bid writing to help us secure the resources we need to continue growing our impact.

We’re a community-led organisation working to make climbing and the outdoors more accessible, inclusive and representative. We work alongside underrepresented communities, community organisations and industry partners to remove barriers, create opportunities and help people access, belong in and shape the future of climbing.

Funding is a key priority for our next stage. We have a strong track record of community-led activity and partnerships, but like many small organisations, we need to strengthen our capacity to identify funding opportunities and turn our work and impact into compelling applications.

This is a hands-on role where your contribution could have a very direct impact. You’ll work with our founder/directors and wider volunteer team to help build a stronger and more sustainable funding pipeline.

Key Priorities Could Include

• Researching and identifying suitable grant and funding opportunities that align with UWC’s work and priorities.
• Helping assess opportunities and decide where our time and energy are best focused.
• Writing or contributing to strong, compelling funding applications, drawing on UWC’s existing impact, programmes, community insight and future plans.
• Helping develop reusable funding materials, including core organisational information, project descriptions, impact evidence and case studies, so future applications become easier and more efficient.
• Supporting funding deadlines and maintaining a simple overview of applications, outcomes and future opportunities.
• Where appropriate, supporting funder reporting, evaluation and relationship management.
• Helping us explore other sustainable income opportunities, which could include sponsorship, partnerships, corporate support or earned income.

We’re not looking for someone to simply take over fundraising. We want to build this alongside our existing team, using your skills and experience while making the role manageable and sustainable.

You’ll have support from our founder and directors, with opportunities to understand UWC’s work, meet members of our community and contribute to shaping how we develop. Our new directors bring experience across areas including finance, governance, project management and strategic development, alongside our wider volunteer team.

You don’t need previous experience in every aspect of fundraising. Strong bid-writing skills, good research and communication skills, and an ability to understand what makes a project compelling to funders are particularly valuable.

Most importantly, we’re looking for someone who believes in UWC’s mission and wants to use their skills to help community-led change happen.