Join us to celebrate Ghana’s 66 years of independence!
We have some fun things planned for the evening and all from the comfort of your own home.
So whether you are in Ghana, UK, Canada, America or…. ANYWHERE in the world — Come and join us!
This year we are celebrating a day after the official day of independence (6th of March) as our team will be celebrating with friends and family members. However, we think its worthy of a 2 day celebration don’t you?
Do you get a kick out of writing grant applications, securing monies for small and mighty charities but can’t commit full time? We have the job opportunity for you!
Grants Manager
Move The World, International Development Education Charity – with operations in Ghana Remote working with access to London
£26,000- 29,000 Annually (based on experience)
Pro-rata Permanent, Part-time, 2 days (16 hours) a week to be worked flexibly NB: Potential for role to be increased pending funding
Who We Are
Move the World is a UK-registered charity and registered NGO in Ghana founded in 2016, focused on community development and global citizenship education in the Ga West Municipality of Ghana, West Africa. Our mission is to educate youth in Ghana to be active global citizens. We work alongside schools and communities to deliver our global citizenship education programmes, Get Global and Get Local using the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as learning themes. Since our 2019 pilot 914 students, 15 young adults and 9 teachers throughout 12 different schools have engaged with each other in experiential activities to build life skills whilst learning about local and global issues.
Job description
We’re looking for a Grants Manager to join our small UK team to help us reach out to new donors particularly trusts and foundations.
Move The World is growing, and this role will be dedicated to continuing this trend. Although the role will focus on raising funds from trusts and foundations, as a small international development charity, we work dynamically, adjusting to the most pressing need at any time. You’ll embrace this culture and enjoy being responsive. You’ll need to be passionate, personable and well-organised. You’ll manage your own partnerships as well as support existing ones.
As we are growing and expanding there is breadth to this position and opportunities for increased hours and promotion to the Senior Management Team as Director of Development.
This role will be home-based, but you’ll need to be able to travel to London for one – two days a month to meet with our UK team. You’ll need to also be able to travel in the UK to meet with partners, and there will be potential for international travel. For UK- based staff this travel will be covered by the organisation.
We would accept applications from elsewhere globally if you have the knowledge and access to UK funders. Please note in this situation, stated salary would reflect in-country cost of living and travelling to London would not be required.
Your main responsibilities
Write and submit applications to a range of trusts and foundations including corporate foundations, working with our programme team to develop the applications and gather the information you need to create applications.
Research and develop relationships with trusts and foundations, and proactively manage our grants pipeline.
Engage with potential, existing and previous funders to identify funding opportunities
Write and submit inspiring reports for existing funders.
Lead due diligence processes for funders.
Support the monitoring of our fundraising budget to ensure we’re on track to meet the annual fundraising target.
You must have or be all of these:
At least three years experience in charitable fundraising – ideally international development.
Experience in cultivating relationships with trusts, foundations and/or corporate donors.
An understanding of individual giving.
Experience in researching and managing a fundraising pipeline.
Experience of using a fundraising Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) databse (we use Beacon but experience in any CRM will be transferable) .
Plenty of experience using Excel and Microsoft Word or Google Sheets and Google Docs.
Great organisational skills – you need to be able to multitask and prioritise your own workload.
Strong communication skills – we work remotely but we are all in touch a lot, you need to be happy to be part of this remote team and stay in touch about what you’re doing.
Good digital acumen – you can’t be a technophobe.
It would be great if you had some of these skills and experience:
Experience in either education or international development.
Understanding in communications, in particular social media and newsletters
Experience of putting together fundraising resources and newsletters, using Canva or Indesign.
Experience of digital fundraising including Facebook.
You’re likely to be a great fit if:
You enjoy communicating with donors and sharing a cause with them
You’re passionate about international development
You are happy to work independently
You have a flexible approach to your work. As a small charity, everyone in the team has to do things that aren’t in their job descriptions
Interview Process
Interviews will be conducted over Zoom on commencing the week of 20th of February 2023 and will include a short assessment. Candidates will have access to questions prior for preparation. The position will start ASAP.
Cost of living has increased worldwide and I think it’s fair to say we are all feeling the pinch.
So what about a few ways you could give without spending MORE money than you already have to?
Check out below for some cost effective ways to support your wallet AND Move the World
Easy Fundraising Did you know that whenever you buy anything online, you could be raising a free donation for Move the World? There are over 7,000 brands including John Lewis & Partners, Argos, Uswitch, eBay, M&S, Just Eat, Now TV, Domino’s Pizza and Audible ready to give a free donation every time you shop online via easyfundraising.
It only takes 2 minutes to sign up. Plus, if you sign up and raise £5 in donations, easyfundraising will give MTW a bonus £5 donation. (every little bit helps!)
Thank you for your support, you’ll be helping to make a real difference to Move the World.
Save & Fundraise Save money on your bills and donate! Book your free Bills MOT here today.
Move the World have a new exciting partnership with ‘Save & Fundraise’ to help our supporters save money on their bills at home whilst also raising money for our work. Save and Fundraise have offered to give our supporters Free MOTs for their home bills to show where significant savings could be made, with the average household saving in excess of £300. When one of our supporters chooses to make a saving with Save and Fundraise, the supporter will also get to gift Move the World a donation of £50 or £100 to us! With the cost of living crisis, we love the idea of being able to help our supporters whilst also raising much needed funds for our work.All you need to do is to head to https://www.saveandfundraise.co.uk/ and book yourself a Free 20min Bills MOT with Tom. Please note that this is only open to home owners for the time being
Legacy Giving Make a lasting difference by leaving a gift in your will. After taking care of your loved ones, would you consider leaving a gift in your will to Move the World and make a lasting difference in the lives of students and schools throughout the Ga West District?
Donating just 1% can make a massive difference, and means that the other 99% is left to your loved ones. Bonus: Did you know you might save £400 inheritance tax for every £1,000 you leave to charity in your will?
RideLondon 100 We have 5 (five) spots for the epic RideLondon100 this May 2023! Is your new years resolution to try something new and/or push yourself further? ‘don those cycling shorts and help fundraise for Move the World education programmes. 100 miles beginning in the streets of London, out into the Essex countryside and finishing right on Tower Bridge! Get in touch with claire@ena.841.mywebsitetransfer.com for more information and how to sign up.
Sign up to our newsletter We promise not to spam! Our monthly newsletter keeps you up to date with what we are doing and news from our projects. Sign up here by scrolling to the bottom of the page!
Ask a team member to come and speak Are you part of an extra curricular group? Does your company meeting need a little refresh? Maybe a new theme for your monthly coffee morning? We love coming out, meeting our supporters in person and telling you all about our projects and what we do. Email claire@ena.841.mywebsitetransfer.com to arrange a visit in 2023.
Follow our Socials Keep up to date with news from our projects and announcements. Stay in the loop and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
After a 10-year journey, I recently said farewell and stepped down from my role as Chair of Trustees from Move The World. This was a charity I co-founded, and an organisation that has meant so much to me in so many ways, here are my reflections…
10 years, over 100 volunteers from 9 countries, 15 trustees, 6 employees, around £360,000 raised, 52 programmes, 42 facilitators, and over 1,100 students reached in Get Global alone… Numbers, quantifiable outcomes, return on investment, measuring impact… oh yes, that wonderful phrase… for those of you that have also found yourself in the charity sector, you will know how frustrating it is when you are asked to try and measure impact in quantifiable ways. You see, that’s the problem, you can’t, well, not really, because, for me, none of these figures really do this experience justice. None of it really is able to bring to life the impact this charity has had on me, nor do I think it does justice to the impact it has had on so many people. Working within the charity sector is a funny one, the work you do is in service of others in the hopes of making the world a slightly better place in some way. And yet, I have often found myself feeling like one of the biggest beneficiaries. This might seem strange to say, but the memories, the learning experiences, the opportunities and not to mention the friendships I have received because of Move The World have been some of the richest of my life, completely invaluable, utterly unquantifiable.
So where to start in acknowledging this experience, and giving gratitude to the many people that have played such a major role in this journey? Well, let’s go back to the beginning. I first found myself contemplating what I might do to bring together my passion for dance, my love for designing experiences, and my desire to make a difference in people’s lives when I was …6 years old. So I am grateful to my family for persisting through the hours of shows I put on and for paying the ticket prices along with neighbours and friends that would be donated to the local children’s hospital. I remember receiving a letter back once, that made me feel so proud of the small part I had been able to play in helping the lives of others.
Fast forward 15 years later, and I found myself in New York City, invited to a conference at the UN, listening to stories of social impact around the world; trying to make sense of how I could merge my professional dance career with the multitude of other experiences I had been fortunate to have and make a difference. That night, inspired, I journaled (and I still have the journal) and came up with Awareness Through Dance, a project that I hoped could bring dancers together to experience the world, and create change through our art form. It was also at this conference that I would meet a dancer from Kenya, which would become the location for our first international experience.
One year later, now living in London, I found myself on the train with my dad, sharing with him my ideas for creating a community for dancers, where they could share and connect in safe and meaningful ways. You see, the dance industry can be a tough place, predominantly young women, all seeking unobtainable perfection, and being completely absorbed by the sometimes fickle nature of the industry. I felt that if we could create programmes and experiences that might provide perspective, and opportunities to learn about ourselves and the world around us, we might become better dancers and probably better people too. So many people supported me and volunteered their time and energy to the various initiative and projects during this period. Thank you.
The biggest project I embarked on, (probably ever, before having kids) was the Kenya and Kilimanjaro trip in partnership with a charity called Giving Africa. I corralled 13 willing dancers to join me in raising £25,000 to support GA to build a school in Burkina Faso, the climb itself, the coordination of the project, and the challenge of the fundraising target (in an industry that has no money) almost defeated me. I feel so proud of all of us that took part and have so many amazing memories from that trip. I do look back and think I probably bit off more than I could chew. In fact, based on how my now husband described me on my return, it was such a big mountain to climb, in so many ways, that I literally lost half my body weight! We did it, just, but it wasn’t easy, and it took a while to recover and get the energy back to continue with this work.
This is where a rather important part of the story comes in. Claire. Claire applied as a volunteer through the ATD website, which (because I loved to build websites) made ATD look much bigger than it was (it was just me, defeated me) so at the interview, in a co-working space I used in Westminster, I basically said, look, you’re older than me, you’ve had way more experience than me doing this dance exchange work around the world, and to be quite honest, I don’t want to do this alone anymore. Would you want to do this together? The answer was a resounding, yes.
We quickly began to redesign and plan for the next experience, this time at a dance and music centre in Ghana that we found online. Yes, we googled for dance centres in Ghana and found ourselves on a video call with a Ghanian musician, Bernard Woma (may he rest in peace), who probably couldn’t believe his luck when we told him we wanted to bring 10 paying dancers to his centre for 3 weeks of classes, personal development and cultural immersion. I can’t even begin to recall all the incredible experiences and sometimes risky ones we had during that period, but showing up having not even been to Ghana before, having our fingers crossed that this guy we had sent a lot of money to was real, arriving to delayed baggage and wearing bedsheets for the first day are just a few. I am so grateful to all of the participants that trusted us and joined us on the 12 incredible trips we ended up doing to Ghana, and for the amazing friendships that have followed.
If you haven’t been to Ghana, it is the most amazing, friendly and colourful country I have been to. The Woma family and the entire community of Medie had made us feel so welcome, that when it came time to think about the next chapter for Awareness Through Dance (now that both Claire and I had started to pursue other careers outside of dance) we knew we had to continue doing work with these wonderful partners in someway.
Sat around a table, in the sweltering sun, designing learning experiences to help children build skills and confidence to make a change, Claire, Jacque and I (eventually) came to a decision for our new name; Move The World. A phrase that had been a part of us from the beginning, it was printed in big letters across our T-Shirts as we summited Kilimanjaro 4 years prior. The following months saw us re-brand, gain charity status in the UK, set up a Board of Trustees and design a curriculum based on our learning to date that we thought would be valuable to the educational journey of children in Medie. Emmanuel, our first employee in Ghana, was instrumental in building partnerships, recruiting facilitators and piloting our new Get Global programme, he too is someone whom we could not have done this without.
We were now an education charity, responsible for fundraising, designing and delivering programmes to empower the next generation of global citizens. We knew that if these young people were going to stand a chance at addressing the complexity of the challenges we face locally, nationally and globally today, the traditional, by-rote learning methods in place were not going to cut it. We felt that providing an interactive, experiential learning programme to teach about global themes and create spaces for children to grow in confidence and social skills could be our small part in enabling a better future for us all.
My role, now Chair of Trustees also required a different type of attention and focus. We had responsibilities, employees, beneficiaries, and funders’ money, and I found myself learning quickly how to facilitate board meetings, create budgets, develop growth strategies and manage a team. This would not have been possible over the years without the ongoing support our of trustees, those that were there at our founding, and those that have joined us since.
The biggest achievements in recent years have been establishing a delivery team in Ghana, led by the incredible force of nature that is Lawrencia, that now delivers tens of programmes across 16 schools in Medie. And also the success of our Lovers and Bluffers fundraising events; dressing up, playing casino games, and raising huge sums of money for such a small charity, has been rewardingly fun hard work!
In November 2019, my life changed forever; I found out I was pregnant, much to my surprise and delight, and unfortunately had to miss a trip to Ghana with the team. I, unfortunately, have not been able to get back to Ghana since and with two children, and a global pandemic later, I found myself at a crossroads. I had been able to support the charity through choppy waters; closed schools, and limited fundraising options, and had been supported through 2 maternity leaves by the team; yet it no longer felt possible to give the same amount of time, energy and attention to this wonderful work. I was stretched, exhausted, and having to force myself to consider the reality that I couldn’t do it all; that I needed to prioritise and that at this point in my life; my kids and my family come first.
Having sat with these questions for months, I finally shared with Claire my intention to step down at the beginning of this year, sitting on a bench at a windy cafe in Franshoek South Africa. After years of such an intense relationship that interweaved friendship, relationships, marriages, work, and charity this was not an easy conversation. We had been through ups and downs, as any pair working so closely together goes through, and I knew that in leaving, I was putting both her and the charity in a potentially vulnerable position. But I also had faith that it no longer needed me; it had proved that when I hadn’t been around whilst on maternity leave, and my hope was that Claire would choose to continue this journey without me; thank god she is!
In my diary back in 2010, I wrote that I wanted to start something that would survive beyond my involvement. I felt like that would be an indication of sustainability, and of it being about the service of others and not about me! I feel proud that in doing this, I am also making that wish come true. But that wouldn’t be possible without the dedication, passion and ongoing hard work that the team put in on a daily basis. Claire is the heart and soul of Move The World and has put her life into this vision for the last 8 years. Caroline, started as a participant on a trip, became a volunteer, and is now an invaluable member of this team. Her loyalty, attention to detail, and solid pair of hands have been unwavering support throughout the last two years. And Kellie, who will be taking over as Chair of Trustees, has been there for the last 4 years providing her with calm, reflective, and sometimes provocative questions as we’ve sought to steady the ship and get through the tricky times. I have no doubt she will continue to do this in her new role.
So there you have it, a long and winding story of hard work, dedication, joy, sweat, and at times a lot of tears – that of course feels much more coherent in retrospect than it did in each of the individual moments. Stepping back, has not been an easy decision, Move The World is what I would call my first baby, but I guess I am learning, now I am a parent, that there comes a time when stepping back is the right thing to do. Thank you to everyone for the ongoing support as I have pursued my crazy ideas. I can without a doubt say that this experience has been an absolute honour.
Move the World Facilitators sending their thanks for 10 years of dedication
When I first saw Move The World on LinkedIn, I was curious about the name of the organisation and how they ‘move the world.’ The organisation is grounded on the maxim of thinking globally and acting locally. The same week as hearing about MTW I was in a volunteering session and heard the hummingbird story – how the small bird was trying to stop a fire by fetching water with its beak to quench the fire. Indeed the challenges that the world faces are enormous, and no single person or organisation can address any completely. What we need is as many people as possible considering themselves as change makers and making the effort to shape their sphere of influence positively. This is what Move The World is about.
I applied to be a Grants Manager because I identified strongly with Move The World’s ‘why’, the organisation’s ethos and values. I had recorded a talk on building empathy and community as a means of tackling inequality in underserved communities, and it was exciting to hear about how Move The World’s work enables young people to develop the agency to address their local challenges and take ownership of the development of their communities. During the interview I asked what it was like working with the organisation, and part of the responses was that it feels like being in a family. In my first week of work, I had the privilege of going to Medie to meet the Ghana team, and easily bonded with the team although it was the first time meeting everyone. The warmth, friendliness and authenticity of the team made me feel at home and I began to understand what was said earlier. The super friendly and bubbly nature of the team makes the organisation really unique.
Working together in the last few months, we have been able to send off a good number of applications while building a portfolio of funders to help continue and expand our global citizenship programmes. What I have enjoyed the most in the last few months is the opportunity to work in a flexible, friendly organisation while learning and sharpening my skills. I feel strongly supported and never alone in my role, and continue to enjoy the support of the team.
Three moments that have stood out to me were
1. Spending a day with the Ghana team and observing the programme in action.
2. Meeting everyone in the UK team and spending a day together working and planning. 3. Receiving a surprise present in the mail upon finishing my dissertation.
In a few weeks I will be initiated into a Move The World ‘ritual’ – working with the team to make a Christmas video. Looking forward to this and to many more months of working together, shaping the trajectory of the pupils we work for and having fun while doing so. Looking forward to the coming months with optimism!
Get Local is our follow on programme for Form 1 Students (age 13-15 years old) and with your support we were able to launch the 7 month programme in January 2022 in 4 different schools.
We were then able to launch it again in May 2022 in 6 different schools for a total of 10 Get Local Programmes this year! Phew!
It’s been a learning experience as teenagers are no joke, but an incredible experience for all us to stretch ourselves, learn and readjust where needed.
Our first 70 students of Get Local have officially graduated in July this year and we couldn’t be more proud of what they have accomplished and learnt.
What is Get Local? Check out below and a massive congratulations to our amazing facilitators for creating Get Local, implementing it and ensuring that students were engaged and had FUN!
Let me take you into a day in the life of the MTW Core Team – Now I want you think about our small and mighty team with 3 of us in the UK and 1 in Ghana. We’ve identified we need to diversify our revenue stream and we’ve found an amazing course through Acumen to do so. But let’s be honest, none of us have time for a 6 week course that needs 5 hours a week.
If you know us.. you know we’re going to find a way and do it anyways. That’s exactly what happened in early 2021 for Claire, Lawrencia, Caroline and Megan. Every week one of us would take on the responsibility for “leading the class” and getting a start on the homework – the rest of us would meet on Friday afternoon during nap time for our little “mover” and discuss the readings, complete the homework together and send it off. As a small team, who are committed and ready for change, I can highly recommend the Acumen course for fundraising. Many aspects were highlighted for us – the biggest being…”wow, as we grow, we NEED to find other ways of bringing in income”
One of the case studies Acumen used was in partnership with Global Fund for Children (GFC). With a bit of googling we found GFC was very much aligned to our values and thought it was most definitely worth getting in touch.
Through Claire’s LinkedIn skills, she linked up with many of the exec team at GFC and set up some calls.
Thanks to Alex Kyerematen, Global Development Strategist who offered his time, his thoughts and took a chance on us.
Alex visited Lawrencia and the team twice over the last few years – spending hours getting to know the team and chatting about the impact Get Global and Get Local are making. The advice given was warmly welcomed and we started to think of our growth and sustainability even more.
Let’s jump to April 2022 when we received an email that Alex would be pitching our programmes and need some more information from us! As fast we could and with much quality we could contain – we sent over the documents needed and then sat back and waited.
It was in June 2022 when we received another email saying we had been selected for the next granting round within the GFC PEAK Initiative that things got really exciting.
GFC has signed up to partner with MTW over the next two years and we couldn’t be more excited or more grateful.
So far our partnership with GFC has been filled with learnings, doors opening and a financial contribution that is the biggest to date!
We can’t wait to see how this relationship will grow and bloom. Massive thanks to GFC for believing in the work we do and hosting a platform that harnesses the power of small, grass root organisations.
What is wonderful about the small development world is that we are connected with so many people and organisations doing incredible things around the world.
Sometimes these connections are knowledge based – we know of each other and champion each others work but leave it at that. Other times these connections are networking and knowledge exchange portals – ‘here is someone you should speak to about X’ or ‘I’ve been there before, here are some ideas for you’
And other times they begin with a shared value, there is some collaboration, some distance and then when the time is right a partnership sprouts!
This is our relationship with the incredible MIA Chocolate.
If you don’t know about them yet- or haven’t found reason to try their chocolate stop reading, put it on your shopping list and go pick some up!
MIA- Made In Africa is a sustainable organisation dedicated to ensuring that cocoa is grown, harvested and packaged all in Africa. Much of the chocolate we consume starts off on the continent, but is quickly shipped to other countries and made into chocolate elsewhere – there isn’t much payment for the farmers and the chance for upskiling stops before it can start.
MIA has turned that on its head and is working directly with farmers in Madagascar and now in Ghana to ensure from seed to packaging its all done “in house.”
Needless to say, we love their work and were so excited when we came together and found a way to partner with them.
With a focus on SDG 2- Zero Hunger, MIA funded 3 Get Global sessions in 3 schools in July 2022. Have a look at the impact they were able to provide!
Thank you so much MIA Chocolate – we look forward to continuing to Move the World with you and equally promote the incredible work you are doing.
If you are interested in partnering with us – get in touch and lets chat!
Life in the first half of the year has been a rollercoaster, it’s been sweet, sour, and there has been happy and sad moments as well, where we’ve lost lost ones and received loved ones.
But even flowers as beautiful as they are have got thorns on some of them, therefore life cannot be sweet all the time….All in all, I didn’t let the negatives effect me or those around me that much as I had lives to impact and people looking up to me! Programs went on as scheduled, children graduated from Get Global and Get Local respectively and it was fun seeing the excitements on their faces.
And oh!! There was an orphans party which I volunteered to be a part of, children(orphans) from different schools were brought together to have fun (Games, Art works, Quran Recital competitions, eating, dancing and a lot). My favourite part was having the opportunity as the art director and asking these orphans to draw or sketch things they don’t have but wish to have someday. I was inspired, I shed tears and I was amazed by the talents of the children….It was fun.
The interesting part of this year so far was when ‘Team Incredible’ as we call ourselves at MTW, decided “Hey Team Incredible, we’ve worked hard, let’s go on a retreat to pamper ourselves and have a meeting.” And let me tell you… it was worth it!! The location, the view, the people, everything was amazing. Sleeping at night and listening to the sea breeze, waking up in the morning to the beauty of the sea and the beautiful people of Central Region. It was a relaxing experience, not forgetting the lunch provided by Team MTW. I personally had the chance to showcase my picture taking skills, roaming the streets of CapeCoast and making new friends.
It was amazing and I’m looking forward to what the second half of the year has for us!!!!
The event you have come to know and love is BACK IN PERSON!
We loved your energy last year when we took it online and learnt Kpanlogo together with Dance Master Joseph and this year we are back to our 2020 venue of the Corinthia Hotel in London.
We would love to see you on what will be a fantastic night of dancing, music, casino tables (fun money only!!) and tons of prizes to be had.
Make sure to get your tickets fast as you don’t want to miss out 🙂 And if you can’t make it – consider making a donation to help us continue facilitating the youth in Ghana to be active global citizens.
7th of May 7pm Corinthia Hotel, London Ticket Link
