From Homelessness to Business Success - Winners Announced of National Competition

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT News Release (142) issued by The Government News Network on 11 June 2008

Getting back to nature on the farm, increased pedal power and catering for hundreds of people were just some of the winning ideas from homeless organisations that won part of a £500,000 prize to make their business ideas a reality, Housing Minister Iain Wright announced today.

Fifteen organisations from around the country will be able to start up or develop new social enterprises after winning the funding through the Spark initiative.

The competition involved homeless organisations pitching their ideas to a panel of experts from the business and voluntary sector, in a "Dragons' Den" style event.

Housing Minister Iain Wright said;

"The scheme shows what can be achieved by people and organisations adopting an enterprising approach to tackling homelessness, giving former homeless people the opportunity to get involved in the workplace, to help end the cycle of homelessness. With expert business mentors backing them up along the way, these social enterprises have every chance of flourishing. I want to congratulate all the winners for the impressive range of their ideas and I know they'll make a huge difference to many more people's lives. "

As part of the winner's package the social entrepreneurs will gain further business mentoring from high profile entrepreneurs such as Nigel Kershaw from Big Issue Invest and Tim Campbell from the Apprentice.

The SPARK initiative was set up by the Department of Communities and Local Government, working in partnership with the TREES Group, Eastside Consulting, and Big Issue Invest and is about helping homeless organisations to become self-sustaining businesses rather than relying on charitable donations. The winners will receive further expert consulting and management support from the corporate partners PricewaterhouseCoopers, Places for People and BT to ensure that they get the most from the funding to develop their business.

Winning projects include Devon's Gilead Foundation who will use their prize money to develop their organic farm operations centre, providing a complete rehab programme for vulnerable people, supporting them back into independent living through skills and routines that include farm working, catering and business skills. They will be developing their dairy section to train people to produce and develop high quality organic soft cheese.

Note to editors

The £1.5m Spark initiative was launched back in December 2007 by Communities and Local Government in partnership with the Voluntary Sector and the Business Sector. Voluntary sector organisations such as the Trees Group, Big Issue Invest and Eastside Consulting provided support and assistance and advice on social enterprise to the organisations while business partners PriceWaterhouse Coopers and BT provided support, finance and mentoring to the organisations to ensure that they make the most of the opportunity.

The winners all went through an extensive tendering process where their ideas were evaluated by business experts as well as a two day 'Dragon's Den style' pitch event where the winners all put forward their business ideas to a panel of business and social enterprise experts.

The fifteen Spark finalists are:

1. FULL LIST OF AWARD-WINNERS

* Gilead Foundations' social enterprise operations centre around an organic Devon farm, which currently provides accommodation, rehabilitation, training and employment for 25 men, women and children, who would otherwise be homeless - £90,000.

* Plymouth Access to Housing (Path) believes that every person has a right to decent, affordable accommodation. It plans to establish a not-for-profit letting agency in Plymouth, charging landlords competitive fees and creating an easier route into privately-rented housing for clients - £85,000.

* Plymouth-based Shekinah Mission teaches bricklaying, plastering and art and craft skills to socially-disadvantaged and excluded adults to develop their skills and help them back into employment, accommodation and independent living, leading to full participation in society - £50,000.

* Bikeworks, a London-based community cycle organisation, plans to start up a project in partnership with the Metropolitan Police and London Cycle Campaign to recycle stolen/ recovered bikes, reduce landfill and offer training and employment to homeless people - £75,000.

* The people who work at Leicester-based social enterprise STRIDE (the trading name of SHARP Trading (Leicester) Ltd) assemble, recycle, renovate, sell and deliver furniture. The enterprise aims to help disadvantaged people improve their chances in life by offering training and placements in a working environment - £50,000.

* Acumen Community Enterprise Development Trust works in disadvantaged areas of the North East. Through its social enterprise, Possibility Place, people who do not have a job or who have low skills are supported to develop skills for life and to move into employment - £50,000.

* The Salvation Army plans to set up a social enterprise that will train and employ people who have experienced homelessness and are at a point of developing skills to return to the work place. The initiative will be centred around portable appliance testing - £47,500.

* Brighton Housing Trust plans to roll-out its two-year-old "Dine!" catering project to establish it as a commercial catering service for Brighton and Hove events, providing training and employment opportunities for people who have been homeless - £20,000.

* Brent Homeless User Group (BHUG), a user-led organisation in North West London runs a social enterprise called Community Insight which provides training and employment around customer research, surveys and mystery shopping to development service users' skills, confidence and employment opportunities - £10,000.

* Chester and District Housing Trust is preparing to launch a social enterprise initiative called NEST to work with large local employers and to teach homeless people skills in painting and decorating and basic maintenance and construction - £4,000.

* Noah Enterprise provides a practical, empowering social enterprise and caring welfare service to homeless, marginalised and excluded people in Luton based around furniture restoration and white good refurbishment - £4,000.

* Novas Scarman Group's mission is to transform people's lives through arts, enterprise and community support. It has plans well underway to develop a talent agency called Can Do People, which will teach skills to people who have been homeless and place them in work - £4,000.

* StreetShine is a professional shoe care service that provides employment and training opportunities for people who have experienced homelessness or suffered disadvantage in the job market and are in the process of rebuilding their lives - £4,000.

* The Society of St James' social enterprise, Jamie's Computers, provides training and learning opportunities to those who have a history of homelessness, recent unemployment, mental health difficulties and substance misuse. Its services include IT disposal, computer sales, IT services and IT training - £4,000.

* Travelling Light, the social enterprise of Bradford-based Assisi House Project makes it possible for people from excluded groups to make music and radio, providing them with opportunities to develop new skills in music and IT whilst exploring their creativity - £4,000.

2. SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

To find out more about how social enterprise can transform services for homeless people - visit http://www.sparkchallenge.org and sign up to the project's fortnightly updates.

Social enterprises are profit-making businesses set up to promote social or environmental issues which reinvest the majority of their profits for the benefit of the community.

3. SPARK PARTNERS:

Communities and Local Government

Communities and Local Government is working hard to create thriving, sustainable, vibrant communities that improve everyone's quality of life.
Communities and Local Government sets policy on local government, housing, urban regeneration, planning and fire and rescue.
http://www.communities.gov.uk
The TREES Group

TREES (Training, Regeneration, Education, Employment, Sustainability Services Limited) is the largest social enterprise group in the Midlands.
It was founded in 1995 to create employment, training opportunities, local services and wealth in deprived communities across the midlands, while supporting community regeneration throughout the region.

http://www.thetreesgroup.org.uk

Big Issue Invest

Big Issue Invest is a specialist provider of finance to social enterprises. Part of The Big Issue group of companies, founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick, it is led by social entrepreneurs and staffed by social financiers.
Organisations Big Issue Invest has financed have included Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant group and Turning Point.

http://www.biginvest.co.uk

Eastside Consulting
Eastside Consulting is an advisory firm that facilitates the flow of skills and capital into social and environmental enterprises to help them increase their capacity and impact.
Since formation in 2004, Eastside has worked with a wide range of social enterprises including The Big Issue group and Computer Aid International, and has raised more than £13m for clients.
http://www.eastsideconsulting.co.uk

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
The member firms of the PricewaterhouseCoopers network provide industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to build public trust and enhance value for its clients and their stakeholders. More than 146,000 people in 150 countries across our network share their thinking, experience and solutions to develop fresh perspectives and practical advice. http://www.pwc.com/uk

Places for People
Places for People is one of the largest property management and development companies in the UK, committed to providing sustainable communities.
Places for People creates sustainable communities by building homes for sale and rent alongside homes for reduced and part ownership, as well as commercial units, live/work apartments, homes with care and support and nurseries for pre-school children.
http://www.placesforpeople.co.uk

BT
BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to our customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/ mobile products and services.

http://www.bt.com/aboutbt

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