Last Christmas...at the Royal Court

Christmas is most definitely THE most wonderful time of the year. At the Royal Court we know how to do it well; Secret Santa, brilliant shows, general festive cheer! Here we are, above, taking part in Christmas Jumper Day to raise money for Shelter on the set of Scouse of the Antarctic few years back.

This will be my last Christmas at the Royal Court.

Having been offered a fantastic new role at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine as the new Fundraising Manager (Trusts and Foundations) I recently handed in my notice after being at the Trust for the past five years. I start my new post in February 2017.

I have been based at the Royal Court for eight years with different organisations and in different roles. It's safe to say that the people who work here are like a second family to me and I will be genuinely sad to leave my amazing team.

However, I am ecstatic about starting my new role and cannot wait to get stuck in. My fundraising juices are flowing and I am ready for a new challenge and to meet a whole host of new people.

I have been a part of something truly fantastic at the Court; an inspiring capital project, creating a Youth Theatre for local young people and a Community Choir for older people, helping to set up the St George's Quarter CIC - the list is endless.

I have met the most amazing collection of people from our trustees (past and present) to audience members, grass-roots organisations from across the city and some of you lovely lot here, on LinkedIn.

I want to say thank you to all of the people in my network who have supported the Royal Court during my time here and, on a personal level, inspired me and encouraged me.

So here's to an exciting new chapter!

I hope 2017 will be as exciting for you as I am sure it will be for me.