News FIFTEEN FINALISTS PREPARE FOR SPARK PITCH EVENT Representatives from the 15 Spark finalists gathered for the first time at an Investment readiness workshop in Leicester last week to begin their preparation for the Spark competition in May. The 15 met at the Highpoint Conference Centre – a former chapel and convent, which was converted into a social enterprise by The TREES Group in 2002. There they got to know each other and began to develop their business materials and pitch. Matt Knopp, senior consultant at Eastside Consulting, which hosted the workshop, said it was busy, but fun and he received positive feedback. One attendee noted “[Spark is] important in fostering culture change.”
FIFTEEN HOMELESSNESS CHARITIES AND SOCIAL ENTERPRISES SELECTED TO COMPETE FOR £500,000 PRIZE FUND A bicycle recycling project and a flat pack furniture workshop that provides employment to homeless people are among the fifteen organisations that have been chosen to compete in the Spark social enterprise competition in May, Junior Housing Minister Iain Wright announced today. The finalists will pitch their business ideas to a panel of leading entrepreneurs, including Nigel Kershaw, Big Issue Invest chief executive, at an event in May. The best organisations win a share of a £500,000 prize fund provided by Communities and Local Government, mentoring and a two-day 'enterprise makeover'. All fifteen finalists will receive coaching to help them develop their social enterprises to help more homeless people into training, volunteering and jobs. The announcement follows the launch in December of the £1.5 million competition which challenged the homelessness sector to go beyond standard homeless services like providing food and accommodation to offer more training and employment opportunities for homeless people. The Spark competition is part of a major refocusing of Government homelessness strategy, challenging hostels and charities to promote greater entrepreneurial spirit and give homeless people opportunities to develop the skills and confidence and move onto sustained independent living. Homeless services have an important role in providing food and shelter to society’s most vulnerable but should also be a springboard to jobs and opportunity. Iain Wright said: “We’ve made great progress reducing homelessness but we need to see a greater emphasis on providing routes into training and employment for homeless people. “The Spark competition has lit a fire in the homelessness sector. The quality of applications shows there is a real appetite for change and it’s been tough to choose the best fifteen. The finalists will now start a ten month journey to develop their businesses and their examples will show how social enterprise can help end the ‘revolving door’ of persistent long term homelessness.” Nigel Kershaw, Big Issue Invest chief executive, said: “We know we can make a difference to homeless people’s lives by investing in businesses that create financial and social opportunity. We want to champion the best 15 social enterprises to help them increase their impact and this is the first exciting step in that process.” John Montague, The TREES Group chief executive, said: “The competition among applicants has been fierce and it was a very difficult decision to decide which 15 went through to the next round. It is inspiring to see how Spark has ignited social enterprise through the homelessness sector.” The competition is part of a major new partnership between Government, the private and third sectors. It aims to increase the number of social enterprises in the homelessness sector to give homeless people opportunities to enter training, volunteering and employment opportunities as well as provide a sustainable source of income for homeless services. The TREES Group, Big Issue Invest, Eastside Consulting, PricewaterhouseCoopers and property and regeneration group Places for People are working alongside the Department to deliver Spark. The fifteen Spark finalists are:
The scheme follows the success of the Department’s £160 million investment into improving hostels which has funded social enterprises like the Crisis Café in Newcastle which is giving homeless people a route into catering.
DATE SET FOR SPARK ‘DRAGONS’ DEN’ EVENT – THURSDAY, MAY 29 Confirmation this morning that Junior Housing Minister Iain Wright can attend has sealed Thursday, May 29 as the big day for the Spark ‘Dragons’ Den’ event. Fifteen of the best social enterprises working to prevent and tackle homelessness in England will attend the event to vie for a share of the Spark prizes to build their social enterprise to get more people off the streets permanently. A total of 85 organisations submitted an application last week and the fifteen finalists will be announced March 10. Up for grabs is £500,000 of prize money from Communities and Local Government and thousands of pounds of in-kind support from the project’s partners.
SPARK APPLICATIONS CLOSED WITH 85 IN THE RUNNING Applications for Spark closed yesterday, with 85 organisations (full list below) vying to win a share of the Spark prizes to build their social enterprise to get more people off the streets permanently. There was a flurry of applications emailed just before 5pm as organisations of all sizes pitched to win £500,000 of prize money from Communities and Local Government and thousands of pounds of in-kind support from the project’s partners. Eastside Consulting managing director Richard Litchfield said: “the bar has been set high”. “It’s been really exciting for the Eastside team to read the applications and to talk to people on the phones and by email about all the amazing things they’re doing in communities around England. “The competition has sparked healthy debate among organisations with a social enterprise underway and also between people who are considering putting the model into action.” He encouraged anyone interested to keep the discussion underway on the Spark blog, in which he this week poses the question: ‘Will Spark change how the third sector does business?’ A list of fifteen finalists will be announced March 10 and each will embark on an eight-month journey to increase their skills, capacity and impact on homelessness using social enterprise. Throughout March, April and May each social enterprise will work with Eastside Consulting to develop their pitch and prepare for a ‘Dragons’ Den’ style pitch event. There they will pitch their business case to a panel of experienced social entrepreneurs, including several major names from the homelessness sector, to vie for a share of the Spark prizes. The best social enterprises will win a share of £500,000 in cash. They can also win mentoring and enterprise ‘makeovers’ provided by the employees of Spark’s corporate partners. All of the fifteen will also have a chance to win hundreds of thousand pounds more investment from social financiers including Big Issue Invest to ensure that they are well-prepared to grow their social enterprise. Please follow Spark’s progress by signing up to the project’s fortnightly email updates and check back to this website March 10 to hear the announcement of the 15 finalists. Congratulations to the 85 and thank-you all for your effort so far. Full list of applicants below. Spark applicants Acumen Community Enterprise Development Trust Ltd
APPLY NOW; ENTRIES CLOSE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 18 Organisations working with homeless people have until 5pm Monday, February 18, to apply for a share of £500,000 and hundreds of thousands of pounds of in-kind support on offer through Spark. Spark is an innovative project to build and inspire social enterprise to prevent and tackle homelessness. It’s the first partnership of its kind between the Government, the private sector and leading social enterprises The TREES Group and Big Issue Invest - the finance arm of the publishers of The Big Issue magazine. Any organisation providing accommodation, training, employment and/or well-being services for homeless and vulnerably-housed people can pitch to win a share of the prizes by submitting the details of their existing or planned social enterprise. More than 300 organisations from throughout England ranging in size from small, community-based social enterprises to large charities with several social enterprise arms have so far downloaded the application form. And applications have begun to flow in. “Each application details why the organisation feels that their social enterprise is one of the best ways to offer people a permanent route off the streets, which shows that we together have an amazing pool of ideas,” said Richard Litchfield, managing director of Spark partner Eastside Consulting, which is co-ordinating the recruitment. “The sheer volume of response we’ve had reflects that the social enterprise model has really gained traction in this area, as organisations focus on finding alternatives to relying on grants and fundraising. “Hearing these ideas we’re convinced, more than ever, that the social enterprise approach offers a more long-term and sustainable way to address homelessness.” If you have questions about your eligibility or application, please check the key Spark dates and selection criteria and the frequently asked questions before emailing info@sparkchallenge.org. To apply: download the application form, save it to your desktop, fill it in and attach it to an email with your last set of audited accounts and send them both to applications@sparkchallenge.org before 5pm, Monday, February 18. To follow the progress of the project and to hear more about how to build a successful social enterprise sign up to the Spark fortnightly email updates (due to start early March). Please refer back to www.sparkchallenge.org in the coming weeks to hear the announcement of further corporate partners which will join PricewaterhouseCoopers in pledging their support for social enterprise in the sector, and to hear the make-up of the ‘Dragons’ Den’ panel. More details will also be available about the project’s investment readiness coaching, which will take place in the run up to the ‘Dragons’ Den’ event and the mentoring and enterprise ‘makeovers’, which will take place over the subsequent six months. You will also be able to mark key dates in your diary.
’Letter to editors’
Homelessness is always a hot topic at this time of year. But, have readers ever thought that there could actually be a solution to the problem? I’d like people to disregard the mountains of ‘pity press’ that encourages people to work at a soup kitchen, for example, or give hand-outs to beggars at Christmas. There’s now a new kind of professional, lean organisation helping people off the streets that is neither charity or ‘not-for-profit’; it’s all about making money to make a difference. A social enterprise is a business that uses its profit (preferably lots of it) to tackle social problems. Good examples are The Big Issue, Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen and Café Direct. By being innovative and profitable, The Big Issue has helped thousands of homeless people to rebuild their lives over the past 16 years. This year, Big Issue Invest, part of The Big Issue group, is involved in a new project called Spark. It’s an exciting government-supported project designed to grow more organisations to help even more people off the streets permanently. I am asking for organisations which work with homeless people to apply for a share of a £500,000 prize fund to help them grow an existing or new social enterprise that benefits homeless and vulnerably housed people. If you’ve got a business case for a social enterprise that offers a ‘hand up’ for homeless people, rather than a hand-out, download an application form from www.sparkchallenge.org, before February 18, 2008. Nigel Kershaw, Chief executive, Big Issue Invest on behalf of Spark.
December 19, 2007 – Launch update JUNIOR HOUSING MINISTER LAUNCHES SPARK AT THE BIG ISSUE
Addressing around 30 people from the media and from the project’s partners: The TREES Group, Big Issue Invest, Eastside Consulting, Communities and Local Government and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), he reinforced the difference social enterprises were making for homeless people in England. “It’s not just about providing a hand-out, important though that it, it’s about eradicating homelessness,” he said. Iain announced a day earlier that he “approved £51 million of homelessness grant funding for the voluntary sector over the next three years, on top of the £150 million already announced for local authorities to tackle and prevent homelessness”. “What this project does is create a partnership between Communities and Local Government, the voluntary sector and companies like PwC, so we can move forward together. He added: “This is what the Government should be doing; not some patronising hand-out, but an enabler. Social enterprise can do that and I think we’ll look at it like a light bulb moment. “We’ll look back in years to come and say what a fantastic project this has been.” The Spark launch event was held at The Big Issue’s production and distribution office in Vauxhall, London, where people who are homeless can buy the latest edition for 70 pence. The vendors then sell them on to the public for £1.50, keeping 80 pence. Several magazine vendors, including Joseph Berryman, Ade and Sam attended the launch. Joseph, who recently found housing, is an active contributor to The Big Issue Foundation’s creative programmes. His work has included script writing for a vendor drama group and co-producing a book of poems and photography called Duck You Men, which he sells with the magazine. Sam, who has sold the magazine for more than five years, provides support to new London vendors and is also a vendor co-ordinator for Covent Garden. Earlier in the week, her team had sold a record 1,400 magazines in the area in one day. Ade, who sells The Big Issue outside Victoria station from 8.30 each morning, shared his plans to use his savings from sales to start his own plastic bag recycling business. He said the idea would not have been possible without the support of the social enterprise. The Spark launch was hosted by The Big Issue founder John Bird, managing director Ian Mac Arthur and Nigel Kershaw, chief executive of The Big Issue’s investment arm, Big Issue Invest. John argued that there was still a lot of work to be done to build social enterprises in England. “We’ve got this strange situation in this country where we’ve been very good at intervening; very good at picking up someone who’s fallen down, but not very good at stopping them falling. “Ninety percent of the money that gets put into homelessness is about ‘making do’ and only 10% is going into a cure.” Nigel added, “We need to start looking at social enterprises as preventative measures so we’re not sitting here in 10 years time in the same position. “There’s an opportunity to link up properly with real company involvement from companies like PwC, which are at the forefront.”
PwC partner, Philip Wright, summed up the feeling of the launch: “We’re tremendously excited to be involved. We hope we can contribute to starting something big.”
SPARK IGNITES THE HOMELESSNESS SECTOR THROUGH ENTERPRISE Spark, an innovative £1.5million project to prevent and tackle homelessness using social enterprise, was launched today by Housing minister Iain Wright. The project is a major new partnership between the Government, the private sector and leading social enterprises The TREES Group and Big Issue Invest - the finance arm of the publishers of The Big Issue magazine. Spark is calling for organisations providing accommodation, training and employment and well-being services for homeless people to pitch to win a share of more than £500,000 of investment to offer more people a permanent route off the streets. TREES, Big Issue Invest and the project’s other partners PricewaterhouseCoopers, Eastside Consulting and Communities and Local Government believe that a social enterprise approach offers a long-term and sustainable way to address homelessness. John Montague, TREES chief executive, said: “We’ve seen first hand how social enterprise can have a massive impact on communities and individuals, offering training, employment and development, creating wealth and raising self-esteem. “We want to sow the seed of enterprise into organisations that are already doing excellent work with homeless people, but know they could achieve more given the right support.” Social enterprises need to submit their business case to the project’s website, www.sparkchallenge.org, before February 18, 2008. A shortlist of the top 15 applicants will be announced in February 2008, and each will receive coaching from Eastside Consulting in preparation for a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style pitch event in April. The organisations will pitch their business case to a panel including experienced social entrepreneurs John Montague of TREES and John Bird, the founder of The Big Issue, plus representatives from the project’s corporate partners including PricewaterhouseCoopers. The top five ideas will win a share of the £500,000 funding provided by the Department, mentoring from the panellists and benefit from a one-day ‘enterprise makeover’. In addition, Big Issue Invest has pledged a further £500,000 of potential investment for the best enterprises and the ten runners-up will receive coaching and mentoring. Big Issue Invest chief executive Nigel Kershaw said, “We passionately believe that we can make a difference to people’s lives by investing in businesses that create financial and social opportunity.” By November 2008, the 15 organisations will have undergone a demonstrable transformation, ensuring they are better prepared, better resourced and eager to increase their efforts to prevent and tackle homelessness. Minister Iain Wright said: “This exciting competition will encourage homeless charities to generate a source of income and become more sustainable. “It is a fantastic example of Government working in partnership with the voluntary and private sector to deliver a common goal for homeless people – to help them end their homelessness for good.” Social enterprises are profit-making businesses set up to tackle social or environmental issues which reinvest the majority of their profits for the benefit of their community and beneficiaries. There are at least 55,000 social enterprises in the UK with a combined turnover of £27billion per year. They account for 5% of all businesses with employees and contribute £8.4billion per year to the UK economy - almost 1% of annual GDP. |
Dear Editor
Spark was launched yesterday at The Big Issue’s Vauxhall office by Junior Housing Minister Iain Wright, who called for social enterprises preventing homelessness to pitch to win a share of £500,000 of investment. 
John Montague, chief executive of The TREES Group, thanked PwC for pledging 60 days of employee time and £25,000 towards the project, “It’s a mixture of good corporate attitude and great social attitude.”
