Cross-sector collaboration The Spark idea has been developed by Communities and Local Government and three social enterprise champions - TREES Group, Big Issue Invest (part of The Big Issue group) and Eastside Consulting. The Department became interested to promote social enterprise in the delivery of services to homeless people following on from their successful "Places of Change" programme. All the partners believe that the social enterprise model offers a long-term and sustainable solution to homelessness, and that cross-sector partnerships are the best way of fostering this model. The Department invited the TREES group and The Big Issue to develop the idea of a social enterprise competition. Eastside Consulting was invited to deliver the project having already managed a similar social enterprise programme. Eastside has refined the project so that it includes a package of prize money, loan finance, mentoring and makeovers from employees of corporate partners.
TREES (Training, Regeneration, Education, Employment, Sustainability) Limited is one of the largest social enterprise groups in the Midlands with a turnover of £8.5million a year. It was founded to create employment, training opportunities, local services and wealth in deprived communities across the midlands, while supporting community regeneration throughout the region. The TREES group includes four businesses that operate in a range of commercial and social sectors – from conferences and construction to gas services and landscape gardening. TREES helped to launch commercial and domestic gas servicing company Thorpete Gas Services, followed by Newlife Regeneration Construction shortly after. The success of both companies enabled the group to focus on developing Highpoint – a conference venue on the outskirts of Leicester city centre and the group’s most recent addition, Braunstone-based landscaping and maintenance firm, Ground Control.
The Big Issue group, the publishers of The Big Issue magazine, launched Big Issue Invest in 2005 after raising £3.5million from, among other sources, the Phoenix Fund and Halifax Bank of Scotland. Big Issue Invest, which is a specialty finance company for social enterprises, was established to support the growth of social enterprises in the UK. Organisations it has worked with so far have included Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant group and the mineral water company Belu. The average size of its loans is around £200,000 although it has put packages together with other social finance institutions for more than £500,000.
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. The company’s philosophy is to apply the best management techniques and practice from business to the real-life situations experienced by social and environmental enterprises. 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.
Communities and Local Government launched the ‘Places of Change Capital Programme’ in 2005. The £160 million scheme has transformed hostels from places that provide a bed for the night and a meal to places that provide the support, training and employment opportunities to help homeless people make a permanent move away from the street. Spark follows the success of that programme, which has funded social enterprises like the Crisis Café in Newcastle which is giving homeless people a route into catering. The project constitutes a major refocusing of the Government’s homelessness strategy challenging hostels and charities to promote greater entrepreneurial spirit and create more training and employment opportunities for homeless people. Junior Housing Minister Iain Wright says the competition aims to 'help transform the face of the homelessness sector'. “Hostels of the future shouldn’t just provide a safety net, but a springboard to employment, opportunity and a better future. “We need to refocus our strategy so the homelessness sector puts greater emphasis on providing a route into jobs and employment as well as providing support and shelter for the most vulnerable. Greater social enterprise has the potential to transform services for homeless people and this initiative is about promoting a real culture change across the sector. It is about strengthening our efforts to end the 'revolving door' of persistent long-term homelessness. “This exciting competition will help homeless charities grow their social enterprises which also helps them 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.” To run Spark Communities and Local Government has commissioned The Trees Group, a leading social enterprise organisation.
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The TREES Group
Big Issue Invest
Communities and Local Government
Places for People
BT