Bletchley Park

Project: Director of Development

Throughout the war, against seemingly impossible odds and in total secrecy, the codebreakers at Bletchley Park systematically broke Germany’s communications cipher systems and developed the world’s first computer to provide the Allies with vital intelligence.  Most historians agree that Bletchley Park shortened the war by two years, saving countless lives and changing the shape of the world that emerged from it. 

Working as part of a small dedicated team, supported by the surviving codebreakers and an army of volunteers, we took the site from near dereliction to the leading heritage site that exists today.  My role as Director of Development (2012-17) was to lead on voluntary income generation - raising over £11 million from memberships and individual giving, trusts and foundations and collaborations with industry, most notably the tech and cyber industries.  I also managed the Phase 2 masterplanning of the site to RIBA Stage 1 and a major bid to National Lottery Heritage Fund, working with our conservation design team. See here the commemorative fundraising campaign I developed from the GCHQ Roll of Honour of WW2 codebreakers - The Codebreakers Wall

Testimonial from Michael Smith, Former Trustee

“Claire displayed an impressive ability to connect with potential donors from the highest level philanthropist, capable of providing substantial funding, to the relatives of former Bletchley Park codebreakers who were drawn in by her visionary concept of a memorial wall, paying to have an individual brick engraved with their own family codebreaker’s name. Her work on a substantial grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund was exemplary but in many ways the Codebreakers Wall is a testament to her ability to devise the most sympathetic way to make a project work.”