My dad and Arts Fundraising

It’s my first Father’s Day without my dad and it’s also coming up to 10 years since I got my first arts fundraising job.?

I’ve been thinking even more than usual about my dad but also about how I might have done something completely different with my life if it hadn’t been for him.

I inherited my ability to draw from my dad. But despite my four years at art school, he was still naturally much better at drawing than I am. He could draw anything from life with perfect accuracy. Really quickly. Like it involved no effort or thought at all. He was best known for his photography and always had a camera in his hand but he also loved making things. He made furniture for my barbies, a cardboard replica titanic for my plastic animals and a polystyrene igloo for Pingu one christmas.?

When I was little he was the accountant at South Tyneside Council for culture and leisure. I could tell even then that it wasn’t just a job and he cared deeply for the arts organisations in South Tyneside. We went on so many trips to South Shields Museum, plays at The Customs House, half term holiday activities at Bede’s World (now Jarrow Hall). On one of these trips he got into a super serious discussion about arts funding with The Customs House’s Tommy the Trumpeter while he was in full costume (he was basically a local celebrity if you were a 90s kid in Tyne and Wear!)?

When I was doing my Art A Level he bought me my first proper camera and posed as my model. He took me to all the best spots he’d discovered for taking photographs.?

When I was doing my art degree he donated some of his photographs for our fundraising auction. And when I was having a meltdown preparing for my degree show he took the morning off work at the drop of a hat to help me hang my exhibition.. (This was already after him and my mam spent their Bank Holiday weekend helping me paint the space!)

He was so invested in every job interview I’ve ever had - sometimes overly so once he was retired and had more time to research! As an accountant he’d always review the organisation’s Charity Commission accounts and relay his findings with enthusiasm or concern. After he passed away we found a printed copy of Ministry of Stories’ 2016 accounts in his study that I can only assume was from when I was interviewing to be their Development Manager! He’d send me mountains of articles he thought were helpful, often on the morning of said interview, which I’d be frantically trying to read on the train there. I’m convinced the ideas and inspiration from one of these articles was what got me my first arts fundraising job as part of the Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy Fellowship.?

Once I was working he’d regularly send me newspaper clippings of reports about Arts Council and other things he thought would be useful in the post. Sometimes no context and no note with it! Just an anonymous looking envelope with a cut out of ‘DCMS invests ￡5million in Hackney’ or ‘What does the future hold for the arts sector?’.?

He came to all sorts of shows and exhibitions I was involved in even the ones that definitely weren’t his thing - from some really out there fine art student shows to contemporary circus!?

He donated to all the christmas campaigns I ran.?

And when things were really hard. When I had moved to London and took on a lot of fundraising responsibility very quickly, which was sometimes overwhelming. I’d ring up my parents’ landline (in tears!) and my dad - who wasn’t one for speaking to me on the phone or emotional outbursts - would answer and slightly panic and say ‘Errrm I’ll see if your mam can come to the phone!!’ But a few days later an email or a letter in the post would always follow with some words of wisdom, support or encouragement.?

I know everyone doesn’t have this kind of support. I’m very lucky to have had someone like my dad in my corner, and sadly very unlucky to have lost him. It’s only looking back at it over a lifetime that you can see how much the seemingly small things all add up and how big an influence someone has had on your career and your professional achievements.?

Ironically I don’t think my dad completely understood why I chose this line of work, and if it was really worth the stress, the rejection and the low-ish pay. He’d always ask me: ‘Would you not rather be a civil servant, Hannah?’

But no, I definitely wouldn’t rather be a Civil Servant.?

It’s still arts fundraising for me.?

Thank you Dad for helping me become who I am and what I do. I miss you.

My dad passed away from Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), a lung disease (usually unconnected to smoking) that has no cure and a life expectancy of 3-5 years. It’s a condition not many people have heard of or understand, which makes the devastating diagnosis for patients and their families even harder. You can find out what IPF is here

https://www.actionpf.org/information-support/idiopathic-pulmonary-fibrosis?