Blog Posts

Every Day is a School Day

23/2/2015

After a wonderful Half Term break in the French mountains with my lovely family it was back to work today with renewed vigour and determination!

First on the agenda was to review and agree on the logo for Team SpringBoard CIC (TS CIC). This was tricky because Jon Harrison Design, based in Coventry, came up with three great concepts. After a long deliberation I think I have picked my favourite, which I am delighted with! Now I need to finalise the strap line and as soon as that is done then it will be ready to go on the web page, onto business cards and flyers and of course our team kit!

Next, in preparation for the TS CIC launch, Michelle and I headed off to the B&Q in Erdington to brush up on our DIY skills and specifically for an introduction into plastering delivered by the fantastic Hans. If you join the B&Q Club (which costs nothing) you can take advantage of some great training ranging from the correct use of basic tools through plastering, tiling, wallpapering and plumbing. I would highly recommend it – not only was it a really good fun 3 hours (and you get a fab disposable boiler suit) I reckon with a bit of practice I might be able to tackle some plastering myself – as you can see from the pictures below I was a natural! Tiling next week....

This afternoon I met up with Ruth from Voluntary Action Coventry to talk about the specific policies and procedures that I will need to put into place before we start trading. TS CIC will be a blend of employed staff and volunteers and as a result there is a load to do in this area. I will need policies in Health and Safety, Safeguarding, Equal Opportunities, Data Protection, Harassment and Bullying and on and on... I had under estimated the amount of work required in this area so I can see how the evenings this week are going to pan out!! I also need to find an HR expert to give me some advice as soon as possible!!

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Escaped the office... to Bristol a hotbed of Social Enterprises

8/2/2015

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On Friday I broke away from the office (aka my kitchen table) and off to Bristol to spend the day with some other UnLtd Award winners visiting some amazing and very successful Social Enterprises.

First stop was The Severn Project established by Steve Glover in 2010. The Severn Project is a social enterprise producing and supplying the highest quality salad to food-lovers across Bristol and beyond. Their urban farms are run by passionate individuals with track records in helping people from socially excluded groups, such as those recovering from substance misuse, with poor mental health or offending backgrounds.

Pip gave us an interesting insight into some of the challenges and successes that they had faced over the past few years which ranged from developing safe ways of growing organic produce on a brown field site through to the familiar challenge of funding and growth. The Severn Project pride themselves on growing a unique and exceptionally high quality product and this has been so successful that by the end of 2015 they plan to be growing a tonne of salad leaves a week. Next Benito gave us a tour of the poly tunnels and we even had the opportunity to try some of the delicious leaves. It was extremely cold outside and I was pleasantly surprised by the warmth inside the poly tunnels. I could have stayed all day!

Next onto The Canteen based in Hamilton House for a much needed lunch. Founded in 2009 The Canteen provides “yummy food and drink from local suppliers, a relaxed space for affordable good times and top live music for free every night of the week”. It really is an amazing space full of amazing people – there is a Banksy by the front door!

They are serious about their food and have been awarded the Sustainable Restaurant Associations highest rating of three stars for their commitment to local and ethical suppliers and for their care of people and planet. 5% of their monthly net profit goes towards the well-being of their staff. Their values - inclusivity, accessibility, affordability, healthy eating and they always have a vegan and/or vegetarian option on the menu.

Over a bite to eat at The Canteen we met Jamie Pike Co-Founder of Coexist, based at Hamilton House. Hamilton House was a vacant and neglected office block for many years. In 2008 the owners, Connolly and Callaghan invited a group of friends (including Jamie) to create a centre for the community.

Ever since Coexist has been working hard to create a space in which the community can grow, share, collaborate, and learn what it is to live in coexistence with each other. It is an amazing space – a meld of community, creativity and though leadership.

A key part of Hamilton House is The Bristol Bike Project which came into being in the December of 2008 after project founders James Lucas and Colin Fan were inspired to set up a charitable bike project while cycling their way through Scandinavia. James was volunteering with Bristol Refugee Rights and began to understand the importance and need for disadvantaged and marginalised people to be independently mobile in our city. With ridiculously over-priced bus fares and our even more ridiculous reliance on the oil industry to fuel our cars, bicycles make perfect sense for navigating and living in an urban environment.

Today the bike project works with individuals from all walks of life, focusing on marginalised groups such as the Homeless, recovering Substance Misusers and youth groups. Amongst other things that offer maintenance courses, servicing and repair and bike hire and have also developed an “Earn A Book” scheme where people can get involved in repairing bikes and get to take one away at the end of the workshop! They run specific groups for women and young people aged 8-18.

There is nothing better than spending time with people who have been there, done it and in this case grown the salad! Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their insight and best practice - it really is invaluable.

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Bank Accounts and Networking

24/1/2015

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It has been 24 days since the New Year and some great progress has been made at Team SpringBoard HQ!

The bank account application has gone off to Unity Trust Bank; one of their wonderful accounts people, Ben, called me and gave me a real grilling about my business plan. That was the first time that I was grateful for the millions of (painful) hours I had spent pouring over the numbers .. and I could answer all of Ben's questions OK. I think... I'm still waiting for the new cheque books to drop through the post box!

Last Friday we had to split up to attend two really important events. Charley and I went down to Maidenhead to visit Laura Davies of Ways Into Work. Ways into Work supports individuals who have a disability and the local business community to match the skills and talents of people to the vacancies available. This service is currently delivered by the local council (The Royal Borough no less!! we had to be on our best behaviour) but from March Laura and her team will be breaking away from the council and will be running the service as a C.I.C. It was great to meet Laura, she has an enormous amount of knowledge and experience of working with young people and has an amazing track record of gaining funding and I left with my head full of ideas!

Whilst Charley and I were down south Michelle attended a Social Enterprise Forum hosted by Coventry City Council Cllr Faye Abbott and Melanie Mills, Chief Executive of Social Enterprise West Midlands. Networking is not one of my strengths (although I am getting much better of late!) but Michelle is great at it and as a result of some really good conversations we are meeting with a rep from Whitefriars Housing Association next week since they may have some space that we could use as a base. Premises (or lack of any to be precise) are still my major headache... I feel it is really important for the Team to have a work base; not only so that we can build the discipline of ensuring that everyone is at the right place, at the right time with the right gear etc but also so that we can have a space to brief, debrief, share success and keep our sandwiches.

We continue to have excellent meetings with the Coventry Citizen's Advice - they are a continual source of support, inspiration and motivation! I really hope that we can work jointly on some initiatives in the coming months.

When I haven't been driving around the City looking for abandoned buildings that we might one day call home, I have been slowly starting to build a presence on Social Media - we are now the proud owners of both a Facebook and Twitter account! Jon Harrison Graphic Design based around the corner in Earlsdon, Coventry are working up some ideas for a fresh and exciting logo for us - we should have this ready for the beginning of March when the recruitment will start properly.

I remain part terrified, part excited fit to burst. Still loads to do.

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We are officially a CIC!

3/12/2014

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We received news today from Companies House that Team SpringBoard has been approved as a CIC - Community Interest Company!

Wikipedia says that A Community Interest Company is a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners. CICs tackle a wide range of social and environmental issues and operate in all parts of the economy. By using business solutions to achieve public good, it is believed that social enterprises have a distinct and valuable role to play in helping create a strong, sustainable and socially inclusive economy.

CICs are regulated by the Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies - here is the list of all CICs (including Team SpringBoard) registered during November - November CICs

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UnLtd announce Award Winners!

31/10/2014

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After a few months of biting my nails I'm incredibly pleased to announced that Team SpringBoard is one of the UnLtd Do It Award winners 2014! This is fantastic news and means that we have a package of support - financial and moral to get us up and flying! Roll on 2015!

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Every Day is a School Day

Escaped the office... to Bristol a hotbed of Social Enterprises

Bank Accounts and Networking

We are officially a CIC!

UnLtd announce Award Winners!

Kirstie Kelly

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