Category: Blog

Barons Court Project – a peek inside their experience within the Enterprise Development Programme

12th Jan 2021

Barons Court Project is a day centre in Hammersmith and Fulham for people who are homeless and/or living with mental health conditions.

Our funding has largely been reliant on contributions from Trusts and Foundations, along with some local authority grants as well. Over the past few years, we have experimented with diversifying our funding streams by establishing a Friend’s Scheme, Corporate Donations, In Kind Sponsorship as well as running some successful fundraising events. The idea of establishing an inhouse social enterprise started to become increasingly appealing to us as a way of becoming more financially independent.

Before we joined the Enterprise Development Programme, we had run trials of different ideas for social enterprise projects, including selling greetings cards designed by service users or dinner clubs run by service users. We found that they not only offered the potential to diversify our income streams, but they also helped to build awareness of our work and gave new opportunities to our service users to feel empowered, develop new skill sets and contribute to our work in a rewarding way. The local community bought into the ideas we had trialled, but we knew we would need support to make a real success of
these initiatives, and we felt that what the EDP offered would be of real benefit to our organisation at that stage.

Being part of the EDP meant receiving the input of other organisations with more experience in managing social enterprises, training from experts in the field, and financial support to invest in and expand our initiative. It also meant that we would have the opportunity to share what he had learnt from others, and to work together to turn our ideas into a programme of social enterprise projects which would be a significant and consistent source of income and engagement with the community.

Since our launch in June 2020, our social enterprise Home(less)Made has grown from strength to strength. We have managed to establish a loyal and fond customer base, many of whom are repeat customers. Our sales have increased by an average of 55% on a month-to-month basis, and our profit margins are consistent and healthy. The Christmas period saw us sell an incredible 980 Christmas Cards. This growth is a real testament to the incredible artwork Guan and Lui have produced.
Practicing art has given them an escape from the daily challenges of being homeless, whilst also giving them a sense of meaning and purpose in their day to day lives. The confidence that Guan and Lui receive from selling their artwork is the essence of the positive impact we make at Home(less)Made. Recognition and validation are so important for them and incredibly rewarding for us to witness.

Our growth and sales so far, along with the support we’ve received from the EDP, has allowed us to invest in the development of a brand identity which we’re really proud of and will be sharing soon, along with a full revamp of our website and social media presence. With 50% of all profits made going to Guan and Lui, Home(less)Made aims to create a platform of opportunity for guests to become more financially independent, enabling them to build the lives they deserve. Luis and Guan have formed a close and supportive friendship through their shared experience with Home(less) Made. With the support of
The Barons Court Project, Guan and Lui have begun to move forward and see a promising future again.

The Enterprise Development Programme returns: what’s different?

13th Feb 2020

teens at a youth club playing table tennis

By Deborah Smart – Head of Grants at Social Investment Business

One year on from the pilot phase of the Enterprise Development Programme, Deborah Smart – Head of Grants at Social Investment Business – reflects on the growing #EnterpriseMovement, and shares what makes the next phase of the programme different.

Back in September 2018, the Enterprise Development Programme (EDP) launched with a year-long pilot to support charities and social enterprises working in the Youth and Homelessness sector. Following its success, Access have committed to expanding this programme, and will be extending the involvement of the Youth and Homelessness sectors until 2021, and also welcoming the Mental Health and Equality sectors onboard. Further sectors will be added each year and the programme will run until at least 2024.

So, what else has changed about the next phase of EDP? Here’s a summary of key things we learned, and how those learnings are going to inform the next phase of the programme:

  1.  Partnership

By working closely with our sector partners, we were able to ensure that sector needs were at the forefront of the support offered from EDP. We are working even more closely with our partners going forward. Partnership is crucial for us at SIB because it allows us to call upon the expert views of partners when a given fund or grant programme calls for it, ultimately with the aim of providing a better service for the organisations who need it

2. Flexibility

In moving forward with EDP, we wanted to make sure that the next phase of the programme was flexible enough to respond to the needs of the organisations we’re supporting. We have structured a programme in such a way that we can help the cohort find out what they don’t know, rather than test them on it. So, with that in mind, we’ve changed the programme so that what we’re initially assessing is whether organisations in the cohort have an enterprising mindset. What we mean by ‘enterprising mindset’ all boils down to forward planning: the EDP grant should free up time for organisations to think more strategically and be more entrepreneurial – to think beyond the EDP grant about the ways they can diversify their income streams.

You can read about how the Homeless Link EDP Year 1 cohort put their enterprising mindset to good use here. The most important thing in applying in this phase of the programme is the desire to be enterprising and develop trading.  Ideas can either be early stage or more developed.

Once the ‘enterprising mindset’ element of the assessment is complete by each sector partner, the programme is then structured for us to be able to provide different types of support depending on what stage your enterprising idea is at. If you’re looking for advice on applying for a fund and aren’t sure where to start, check out our tips.

3. Learning and responding

As the programme restarts, all of the EDP partners will continually be learning from and listening to the cohort and adapting to their needs. Here at SIB, one of our strategic priorities is putting our customer at the heart of everything we do – listening and responding to their needs is the best way of making that happen.  We will be gathering feedback from the organisations we work with throughout the programme to help us with this, and we will also look at how we can share this widely as well.

At Social Investment Business, our strategy is all about how we strengthen and build organisation’s resilience through providing the right finance and support to help them thrive. We are also committed to working in collaboration and partnership, and are therefore delighted to be expanding and extending our partnership with Access on EDP. We’re excited to be supporting and strengthening the enterprise activity of our first EDP cohort and beyond.

<< If you’re interested in finding out more about the funds, programmes and support Social Investment Business offer, visit here. >>

Catching up with the Cohort: 18 months of the Enterprise Development Programme

22nd Jan 2020

Unrealistically clean soup kitchen full of models

“A few weeks into 2019, we got a call, and you could tell straight away that it was a ‘good news’ call – we had been successful in our application to the Enterprise Development Programme.”

Camille De Groot – Director of Development at Streetwise Opera

By Murphy Hopkins-Hubbard (Enterprise Development Manager at Homeless Link)

As you may have heard over the last 18 months, Access – The Foundation for Social Investment have embarked on a multi-million-pound commitment to supporting charities to become more financially resilient through diversifying their income and developing trading models. Homeless Link was chosen as the sector partner for the Homelessness sector, meeting with and supporting numerous organisations to grow and develop their enterprise ideas. Applications varied from small volunteer-led night shelters, to large and well-established charities to social entrepreneurs new to the social sector but looking to make a difference.

My role as the Enterprise Development Manager offers a unique opportunity to travel up and down the country to meet with extraordinary organisational leaders who are committed to making their vital services, that support people experiencing homelessness, more sustainable. To be part of a programme like Enterprise Development Programme (EDP) is so exciting, empowering organisations to identify potential enterprise ideas and help them access the right training, networks and support to elevate these ideas into a reality.

One of our key learnings from the pilot year was in the variety of revenue models our members were looking at. “The first round of EDP revealed that organisations in the homelessness sector have a far wider range of enterprise options and assets than many trustees and frontline staff expected,” says Kevin Davey – Senior Consultant at Eastside Primetimers.The partnership, with support from other sector professionals, identified 17 different revenue models used within the social sector. With this knowledge we have been able to create peer networks for support and shared learning, develop an understanding of the challenges and benefits of different models and identify the potential training needs of organisations looking to adopt each model. We wanted to share some examples with you.

One example is of Spires. Spires help people who are homeless or have insecure accommodation, who are also facing complex issues like long-term unemployment, poor mental/physical health, addiction/substance misuse, or are imprisoned by sex work. Following interest from service users they looked for consultation support to develop some training and employment opportunities within horticulture through setting up a gardening offering.

YMCA Bedford were involved in both stages of grant funding to support the opening of their shop where they provide training and upskilling as well as broaden their income. We’ve been keeping updated both online and in person with their new 4mation shop selling (gorgeous) upcycled furniture. Click here to find out more about their experience with EDP.

Streetwise Opera are another of the successful EDP applicants:

“A few weeks into 2019, we got a call, and you could tell straight away that it was a ‘good news’ call – we had been successful in our application to the Enterprise Development Programme.”

Camille De Groot – Director of Development at Streetwise Opera. Read more about their experiences.

The EDP is not about suggesting enterprise as the only option to the social sector but more about providing the information, support and insight into developing trading activities as a viable option for organisations looking to become more self-sustaining in a time where funds are scarce. As emphasis moves towards social investment, developing trading models is growing in popularity and this programme enables organisations to do it with a deeper understanding and access to support.

For some organisations, such as Providence Row, the ideas were all there and trading had previously begun but they sought further support from the Enterprise Development Programme to grow their Bakery – Rise. We asked them how things are going:

 “Rise bakery is going from strength to strength with plans to develop a brand-new purpose-built bakery for early 2020. This will not only boost our brownie production, but also our training capacity. We’re so excited about what 2020 holds.”

Aurelie Leonard, Marketing and Communications Manager at Providence Row. Read more.

This initiative adopts a collaborative approach by bringing together various partners with different expertise to the table with the aim of creating a programme that is flexible and informed enough to best support the social sector to take on trading activities. The partnerships consist of key representatives from each of the four sector partners; Homeless Link, Centre for Youth Impact, Equally Ours and the Association of Mental Health Providers. Access have also sought expertise from other valued partners too, such as Social Investment Business (SIB) for their expertise in managing grant programmes and their skills in providing a smooth customer journey, Transformational Index (TI Group) to support on the partners learning and impact measurement and analysis throughout the programme and the School of Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) to support the learning and training of the social sector. We have also worked alongside other consultancy services to support in business planning options appraisals for some of our grantees at feasibility stage. I caught up with Kevin Davey, senior consultant at Eastside Prime Timers to get his perspective:

 “During 2019 a significant number of ideas have been transformed from vague concepts or ambitions that were going nowhere to deliverable businesses which will generate new income and raise the social impact of providers.” 

Click here to read more from Kevin Davey of Eastside Primetimers.

Homeless Link have built and sustained relationships across the pilot year cohort and are excited by the progress they are making – watch this space! We are pleased to remain in close contact with existing EDP applicants and will continue to share the learning across the sector.

If you are thinking of venturing into the #EnterpriseMovement or are looking to scale an existing idea, please get in touch with murphy.hopkins-hubbard@homelesslink.org.uk to find out more about the launch of the second year of the Enterprise Development Programme.

<< Originally published by Homeless Link on 9/12/19: https://www.homeless.org.uk/connect/blogs/2019/dec/09/catching-up-with-cohort-18-months-of-enterprise-development-programme >>

The Enterprise Movement – a collaborative network of learning

21st Jan 2020

By Murphy Hopkins-Hubbard (Enterprise Development Manager at Homeless Link)

Over the last year Homeless Link has worked with and spoken to nearly 100 organisations developing social enterprises within the homelessness sector through our Enterprise Development Programme, some of whom accessed the learning programme delivered by the School of Social Entrepreneurs. 

We have seen some exciting successes and impact, including the positive effect enterprise development has had on the skill set existing within these organisations and how it can enhance the overall running of them.

For many of our members looking to explore social enterprise, they are solely responsible, and while this can offer creative freedom, it can also hinder opportunities to discuss ideas, ask questions and think collaboratively. The Enterprise Development Programme, funded by Access, provides the chance to seek out learning opportunities through the sector, enabling applicants to engage with a network of peers in similar positions who can offer advice from their own challenges, past mistakes and successes.

Claire, CEO of Emmaus Suffolk, shares how her experience of being connected into a peer network aided her in this transition:

“Evolving a social enterprise so that it makes money, makes a difference and makes sense is quite the challenge. You cannot do this alone. We will all approach the why from a different perspective, depending on the tools we have and what issues we have in front of us. The how is the challenge. The luxury of spending time with other like-minded individuals, all dedicated to making a positive change in the same sector, learning from each other’s experience of how to be effective, efficient and make it work, is an inexplicable treat. 

“Sharing knowledge, experience and expertise in a safe arena for those ‘idiot’ questions we all need to ask, has fundamentally helped me develop and therefore benefited my organisation. If you get the opportunity to get involved with EDP Learning grab it with both hands and jump right in!”

Like Claire, many of our members exploring the #EnterpriseMovement are benefiting from joining the Enterprise Development Programme to gain access to a collaborative cohort of like-minded organisations looking to navigate an unfamiliar commercial offering.

“Social enterprise is such a diverse endeavour that it’s always valuable, if not essential, to keep talking to others in the trade” – Glenn, CEO and Founder of Phases. Glenn was also involved in the Enterprise Development Programme in its pilot year and was awarded a feasibility grant as well as access to a network of support.

“At Phases we are piloting a recruitment agency-type model for homeless people seeking to enter the construction industry. When I did my research, I found very little out there linking recruitment and social enterprise. But then though building a relationship with Homeless Link they have been able to build up our contacts within the sector. Just last week, a chat with Christy from Standing Tall in Birmingham found us discussing some common themes as they too are looking at a recruitment agency slant on helping their homeless clients. As with any two models, it’s not the same as ours but we were able to exchange insights into such challenges as getting employers on board and developing a model that pays. We’ve agreed to share information on the journey.”

If you are thinking of venturing into the world of Social Enterprise or are looking to scale an existing idea, please get in touch with murphy.hopkins-hubbard@homelesslink.org.uk to find out more about the launch of the second year of the Enterprise Development Programme.

<< Originally published by Homeless Link on 21/11/19: homeless.org.uk/connect/blogs/2019/nov/21/enterprise-movement-–-collaborative-network-of-learning >>