Viv Atkinson celebrates a decade at the Foundation - Cambridgeshire Community Foundation

June 2026 marks an impressive milestone for one of our team, as Viv Atkinson, our Deputy CEO, celebrates 10 years at the Foundation. We sat down with Viv to talk about the changes she’s witnessed – in local need, in the Foundation itself, and in the communities we serve – and to take a well-deserved moment to look back on a decade of remarkable achievement.

When Viv joined as Donor Support Manager in 2016, the landscape looked very different. Leicester City were Premier League champions, Andy Murray was conquering Wimbledon and the world rankings, and the country had just voted for Brexit. Closer to home, the Foundation was a smaller organisation, relying heavily on part-time and volunteer staff, managing around 240 grant applications a year and awarding between £1–£1.5 million.

Fast-forward ten years and the picture has transformed. The Foundation now employs 11 people, manages almost 1,000 applications a year, and delivers grants worth £3.5 million annually – alongside a fresh new identity to match its growing ambition.

For Viv, the driving force behind this growth is clear: “The team’s ability to work so closely together speaks volumes about the strength of bond and common purpose we have. This team is the core of how we can achieve so much.”

Throughout all of that change, Viv has been a linchpin. Her practical, head-on approach to challenges has seen her build a strong and valued relationship with CEO Michael O’Toole and the board of Trustees – a partnership that has steered the Foundation from strength to strength.

Before joining us, Viv had a career in media, producing specialist music content for BBC Radio. She recalls an early conversation with Michael when he joined in 2018: “I didn’t have a background in grant-making – not at all – but what I could see was that the Foundation model was a great idea and there was an opportunity to really step up our ambition and do more. Michael and I agreed that our goal was to make the boat go faster – to become a leader in the UKCF network.” That ambition has translated into closer working relationships with UKCF, improved internal processes, and more valuable conversations across the county, leading not only to greater investment from businesses, but also to new investment partnerships with infrastructure organisations like wind and solar farms, and large public sector organisations including the NHS.

When the work comes to life

Ask Viv about the highlights of the last decade and project visits come up quickly. “Oh, I love a project visit,” she says. “They bring our work to life. You can read about a project on paper, but standing in a room, a field, a theatre with the people it’s reached – that’s something else entirely.”

Of the many Viv’s been on, one project visit that stands out was a trip to Snakehall Farm, the home of Prospects Trust (pictured), which provides meaningful work, skills and training for young people with additional needs. Viv introduced some of the Farm’s co-workers to G’s Fresh – one of Europe’s leading family-owned fresh produce companies and with an office just down the road from Snakehall Farm near Ely.

G’s Fresh are fund holders with the Foundation, who focus their grant giving on projects that develop young people, or have a horticultural focus, or are in some way related to local food.

Watching the G’s team connect with young growers and farmers, sharing their knowledge and expertise was really special to Viv: “There was something really amazing about that visit – their mutual passion for what they do was just palpable.” Viv tells us.

People, purpose and problem-solving

So what’s kept her here for a decade? Viv is clear: it’s the people we support. “There are amazing things being done by amazing people every day across our county” she tells us. “Their work, and the knowledge that what we do helps them do more of it, is a massive motivation to make sure we’re doing things better.”

Viv also cites the constant challenge as something she loves about the role: “The problem-solving you face when you work for a charity is something else – things always change, and we’ve learnt not only how to anticipate some of those changes but to respond rapidly to curve-balls too.”

That agility was tested most sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the Foundation moved to remote working overnight and fundamentally reimagined how it delivered grants. Viv was instrumental in developing an emergency grant-giving model to meet urgent and unprecedented need – lessons that have since been applied to other crises, including the current Oil Crisis & Resilience Fund.

10 more years?

So how are things looking for the future? Viv is clear: “If you look at who we have in our circle now, it’s so impressive – the team itself, the trustees, volunteers, ambassadors – everyone is really focused on the same goal: to make Cambridgeshire better for everyone.”

But Viv is quick to keep perspective: “We can’t rest on our laurels, and we don’t want to. This job is exciting and varied because the needs change, the challenges change and the investment changes. We’re in a great place to be at the forefront of that – but we don’t take it for granted. That’s why this job is so fun!“

Group of people outside, smiling in the sun

The Foundation would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has shaped and supported us over the years, and to extend a very special thank you to Viv, who has been at the heart of so much of what we’ve achieved.

Here’s to the next ten years!