Spark News

9 AUGUST 2010

SPARKLERS SOUGHT FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR CONTEST

Homeless entrepreneurs with a business idea that can take them into employment and independent living are being sought to take part in Sparklers 2010.

Sparklers provide opportunities for homeless entrepreneurs to develop both new business ideas and the skills to run their own businesses.

Sparklers 2010 was launched by founders John Montague, CEO of the TREES group, and Nigel Kershaw, Chair of Big Issue Invest.

Davina Roberts, a winning Sparkler from 2009, said that she couldn’t emphasise enough the importance of anyone with a good business idea having the courage to take it forward to the panel.

Davina Roberts, a winning Sparkler from 2009.

Since winning backing to set up Punch and Juicy; a social enterprise creating and selling healthy juices in the form of Liquid foods ‘an alternative concept for those who wish to gain nutrition in liquid forms, Davina’s enterprise has moved from strength to strength, seeing her establish a nine-week training scheme for other homeless people to teach them about attitude, health and safety, food hygiene, undertake work experience in high-profile restaurants, and ultimately find work.

Davina, aged 31, had been homeless for seven years before she sought the backing.

“My life has changed so much over the past year that it can be overwhelming,” she said. “The faith and support the Sparklers team, particularly Nigel Kershaw had in me, was huge. He was a fantastic mentor. I would say to anyone thinking about it: what do you have to lose? You are homeless, you have nothing to risk!

“I am now working with other homeless people to help them make the transition from being homeless to being someone with a job and a home and a reason. I know it’s not easy, and that’s why I’m a good person to advocate this – I have been there and I have done it, so I know how hard it can be,” she added.

Founder John Montague said: “Sparklers provides vital funding and support to homeless entrepreneurs with passion and drive to develop, test, market and launch their own business ideas. Sparklers unlocks the potential in these entrepreneurs, not only help themselves but to also help others and their community.”

Nigel Kershaw added, “Sparklers is a crucial stepping stone in helping homeless entrepreneurs achieve their business aspirations.”

Entrants for Sparklers 2010 need to submit their applications to sparklers@sparkchallenge.org.uk by 5pm on 24th September.

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5 JULY 2010

SPARK 2010 Press Release

Social entrepreneurs with bright ideas that will provide training, skills development, employment and independent living opportunities to tackle homelessness are being challenged to bid for a share of a £1.6 million investment fund.

The Spark 2010 Challenge – building on the success of 2008 and 2009 – was launched today (5th July) by founders John Montague, CEO of The TREES Group, and Nigel Kershaw, Chair of Big Issue Invest, with the continued support of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

“Spark is much more than a competition or a grant application. It is a cross-sector collaboration that brings together leading organisations and social enterprises from the public, private and third sector to work together to build sustainable solutions to homelessness,” said John Montague.

“For the third year we are immensely pleased to announce the involvement of Spark partners PricewaterhouseCoopers, Places for People and BT, and welcome Willmott Dixon to the partnership.

Bringing together these partners brings value to their businesses, employees and the communities in which they work.

It also shows how social enterprise can transform the lives of homeless people by providing training and employment and a route out of street and hostel life,” said Nigel Kershaw.

Entrants for Spark 2010 need to submit their business case via www.sparkchallenge.org.uk by 5pm on 13 August.

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Home by Merseystride

Winners of a bronze award at the CLIO Awards, one of the world’s most prestigious advertising industry competitions, announces winners for the 2010 interactive & innovative awards in New York City

About The CLIO Awards
The CLIO Awards is one of the world’s most recognized awards competition for advertising, design and communications. The CLIO Awards has maintained its original commitment to celebrate and reward creative excellence, honoring a powerful form of communication and its impact on modern culture. At the same time, the CLIO Awards remains focused on evolving with the industry in order to acknowledge the most current, breakthrough work. To this day, CLIO’s iconic statue is the most widely recognized and coveted symbol of the industry’s creative accomplishments.

Manchester based design company, The Chase, produced the new Home by Merseystride corporate identity designs that competed with international organisations including Coca Cola, Unicef, Bang & Olufsen and HBO.

http://www.clioawards.com/winners/winners.cfm (Please scroll down towards the "Home - Recycled Furniture Store The Chase, Manchester Corporate Identity" which is the middle.)

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Spark Winners at the Chelsea Flower Show

www.rhs.org.uk Chelsea Flower Show PLaces of Change

The Following organisations have been involved in the Places of Change show garden and or will be exhibiting on the trade stand.

Aspire Oxfordshire
01865 204450
jennyfox@aspireoxford.co.uk
www.aspireoxford.co.uk

Aspire Oxfordshire helps people who’ve experienced homelessness achieve positive change through access to paid work in real business environments. Based in Oxford, Aspire runs a garden maintenance and design business for private individuals and businesses alike, with many regular customers. In collaboration with Burford Garden Company, Aspire is developing a 7 acre site growing, fruit, vegetables and flowers for sale to the local community.

Gilead
01837 850240
www.gilead.org.uk

Gilead Foundation is a rehabilitation centre which helps people with life controlling problems such as drugs and alcohol. The centre is a residential centre and people come from all over the country. Gilead works with Risdon Enterprises which is a farming social enterprise who provides work therapy and skills training in various activities such as agriculture, catering, building, landscaping, administration. The social enterprise’s aim is to work towards bringing in the finance needed to help support the charity and clients that cannot find the full funds to come on Gilead’s programme.

Shekinah Mission
www.shekinahmission.co.uk

Plymouth-based Shekinah Mission provides help and support to homeless, addicted, isolated, and otherwise socially-disadvantaged and excluded adults in the local community. It aims to develop their capacities and skills and help them back into employment, accommodation and independent living, leading to full participation in society.

The Mission’s social enterprise provides a supported work environment for service users who have successfully completed training courses, but need a 'stepping stone' before holding down employment. The social enterprise teaches bricklaying, plastering and art and craft skills among other things and manufactures a range of products including hand-made slate and wooden boxes to sell.

SPARK Fabrications and Framing Ltd
Two Saints
02380 788375
www.sparkfabricationsandframing.co.uk

SPARK is a social enterprise which is part of Two Saints Housing Association. SPARK offers professional quality bespoke steel fabrications for commercial and domestic settings of all sizes from gates and railings to windmills. All profits are reinvested to provide skills and confidence opportunities to people at risk at homelessness. For the Places of Change Garden, they are producing a section of decorative railing which demonstrates the journey of a homeless person from the street to the Chelsea Flower Show.

Suitcase Media
07939 562184
james@suitcasemedia.org
http://suitcasemedia.org

Suitcase Media offers organisations the opportunity to commission projects such as audio tours, podcasts, video and interactive multi media experiences.

We run a production training programme in hostels and day centres for homeless people who wish to become part of these projects by using technical skills, researching, writing or presenting.

Winter Willow
01223 518140
www.winterwillow.org.uk
www.winterwillowsales.com/thewillowway/

Winter Willow is a social enterprise, part of the charity WinterComfort for the Homeless, based in Cambridge.

We manufacture woven willow eco-coffins and other basketry items, with our centre users, staff and volunteers working as a production team. As a social business the surplus we make goes directly to support the work of our charity team – helping those who are at risk of homelessness or who are already homeless.

We craft our eco-coffins with care and passion, using only English willow from sustainable stocks, which we soak, grade and weave in our own workshops. You can see an example of our eco-coffins on the Places of Change Tradestand at the show.

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The Crunch
What is the Crunch?

The Crunch is Social Traders’ investment and development initiative. www.socialtraders.com.auThe Crunch is more than money. It provides access to training, mentoring, networks and support, along with the opportunity to pitch for a share of the Crunch Investment Fund. Crunch participants will be supported by Social Traders and a range of experts from leading corporate organisations, with the aim of turning your idea into a viable social enterprise. The Crunch is modelled on our UK sister program, the highly successful Spark Challenge (www.sparkchallenge.org.uk).

The Crunch has two major objectives: Objective 1: Provide a platform for the development of commercially viable social enterprises by:

Working with social enterprise practitioners to increase their capacity via training and mentoring

Providing flexible and appropriate financing

Building networks between the corporate and social enterprise sectors

Objective 2: Develop a model for support of social enterprise that: Builds on the Spark Challenge model developed by the TREES Group in the UK and is applicable to the Australian context

Results in an increasing diversity of exemplary social enterprises

Is a self-sustaining investment fund for social enterprise, in the longer term

In 2010 the Crunch is only available to social enterprises that are or will be operating in Victoria.

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