One of the new professional services I am offering this year is assisting charities by completing their funding applications to various trusts and the lottery. As many charities struggle in the present economic downturn, there are potential pots of gold which I could help charities access by filling in their application forms, some of which are complex.

As a journalist and academic researcher, I have a trained eye about the detail and information required to make the application stand out, and hopefully turn it into a winner. I have also attended high profile funding conferences and try to be one step ahead of these issues.

As chair of trustees for Headway Cambridgeshire, a charity which provides rehabilitation for brain injured adults where I lead a board of very skilled and dedicated members, I have an excellent insight and personal experience of the challenges which charities face today.

Charities place a vital role in our civil society and it is vital they continue to flourish and serve our communities, particularly the vulnerable.