Funding Socials: Meet Funders, Find New Resources & Connect with Your Peers

Funding Socials is an inspiring in-person event series designed for charity and social enterprise leaders looking for fresh ideas and connections to help boost income generation.

Our session in Dumfries and Galloway will be held in the Millenium Centre, Stranraer. You will have the chance to hear directly from both Funders and a local organisation working to raise funds.

The event is designed to help you cross the divide and connect with both funders and new peers, who can help you on your journey.

Please tell us a bit more information about you and your organisation within the registration, so we can match you up to potential funding, investment and support opportunities during the Funding Socials event.

Jane Bruce of Brilliant Leaders will facilitate the session with the aim of creating an informal and accessible event.

We are delighted to welcome along some guest speakers, funders from across the ecosystem and supported by Laura Bedford, Democratic Finance Development Officer Development Trusts Scotland.

Our guest speaker for the day

Laura Bedford,Democratic Finance Development Officer Development Trusts Scotland.

Laura has more than a decade’s experience in policy in the Scottish Government focusing on social enterprise and community wealth building. She joined DTAS four years ago to move from policy to practice, and support development trusts across Argyll & Bute and Stirling as part of the Member Support team. She moved to the Democratic Finance team at the start of 2025, where she focuses on finance and governance for groups doing community share offers, policy and consultations and researching new areas of Democratic Finance.

Kieran Daly, Head of Market Building at Social Investment Scotland and our guest speakers will explain the support and funds they offer charities and social enterprises and be ready to answer any questions you have.

You will be given a warm welcome with teas/coffees on arrival and the session will close with a light lunch, where you will have the chance to mix with funders and peers and make some new connections.

The hosts for this session are:

Jane Bruce, Brilliant Leaders

Jane is the Founder of Brilliant Leaders, a social business which offers coaching and development programmes to leaders and teams with a social purpose. Jane is a former charity/social enterprise CEO, accredited Executive Coach and experienced facilitator.

Before setting up Brilliant Leaders, Jane was Chief Executive of Social Bite in Scotland. In this role, Jane led a team of 100+ staff and 90 volunteers to run a chain of social enterprise cafes, mass fundraising events and innovative housing programmes. Previously, Jane was Chief Executive of Venture Scotland, which provides a wilderness-based development programme to young people facing tough challenges.

Alongside Brilliant Leaders, Jane is a qualified football coach having previously played football in the Scottish Women’s Premier League.

and Kieran Daly, Head of Market Building, Social Investment Scotland

Kieran started his career as a youth worker at The Prince’s Trust, devising and delivering training programmes. He has held senior management roles in business development for a range of arts, volunteering and youth organisations for over 15 years.

Kieran was Chief Operating Officer at food waste and food poverty fighting organisation, FoodCycle. While there, he grew the organisation’s presence from 14 to 30 locations around England in under two years, through a social franchising model.

Most recently, Kieran was Scotland Manager for Big Issue Invest, where he delivered a multi-agency partnership, engaging the private, public and third sectors in mentoring and lending money to early-stage social ventures. He is a keen cyclist who enjoys giving back by being on the Board of Social Enterprise Scotland.

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