A HOST of North East voluntary sector organisations are to be commended at an awards ceremony later this week for their tireless work. Christopher Knox caught up with the shortlisted entrants for this year’s Voluntary Sector Entrepreneur of the Year awards.
IT has been a tough year for the region’s social enterprises, with the economic downturn leading to a massive jump in people needing their support – a situation that has not been helped by a decline in donations from those feeling the pinch.
However, there are a number of social entrepreneurs who have managed to grow their organisations despite this difficult climate, and have responded positively to the increasing needs of some of the region’s most vulnerable individuals.
It is these entrepreneurs who are to be celebrated at tomorrow’s Voluntary Sector Entrepreneur of the Year event at Northumbria University.
The awards, held by Newcastle-based charity the Community Foundation, will applaud those social entrepreneurs who have shown outstanding leadership, drive and a passion for their work.
The shortlisted organisations will be aiming for the recognition of previous winners, which include Stephen Bell at homeless charity Tyneside Cyrenians and Rani Svanberg at Newcastle-based Dementia Care Partnership.
The awards, sponsored by Newcastle-based law firm Ward Hadaway and coinciding with Enterprise Week, are now in their fourth year and will acknowledge the good work of a range of organisations, including everything from a training provider to a group that recycles old bicycles.
Social enterprises are mission-driven organisations which trade in goods or services in order to benefit a specific group within the local community.
However, that is not to say that these entrepreneurs are anything other than business-like in their approach to community work.
George Hepburn, chief executive, of the Community Foundation, which works to link businesses with worthy social enterprises, said: “It is true that the charity and voluntary sectors are finding things difficult at the moment.
“However, I think it is highly commendable that there have been many organisations that have managed to expand their services and continue their good work despite these conditions.
“Also, I think it is important to realise how business-minded these entrepreneurs are. I have no doubt that if they were running a private company that they would be doing very well for themselves.”
Ward Hadaway managing partner Jamie Martin said: “Social entrepreneurs are often overlooked. They are often the unsung heroes of the business world. We wanted to support a group of businesses that were strong financially in their own right – as well as supporting some fantastic work in the community.”
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Anthony Woods-Waters - chief executive - Building Futures East
BASED at the Walker riverside area of Newcastle, Building Futures East provides vocational training for a number of deprived communities in the city’s East End.
The group, which was founded two years ago, works with a number of public sector organisations to meet the needs of young people who have found themselves disaffected from society, either because of financial difficulties or bad experiences within the education system.
This year has seen Anthony set up a number of new services, including horticulture courses which include a services agreement with Your Homes Newcastle, which will see the green-fingered youngsters transform gardens at over 100 homes in the East End.
It also recently introduced the Construction Skills Certificate Scheme which allows youngsters to begin work on building sites by getting them clued-up on all areas of health and safety.
It is now working in partnership with a number of private companies to place youngsters in a wide range of jobs, including at Newcastle-based Holy Stone, which rents out construction and civil engineering machinery, as well as offshore engineering firm Shepherd Offshore Services on Newcastle’s Quayside.
The organisation recently invested around £50,000 on a new IT suite and is now planning to introduce a catering course which would provide canteen staff to Pearson Engineering in Walker.
Anthony said: “What we offer is a chance for people that have become disenfranchised from society. Many of the people that we take on have learning difficulties as well as a lack of social skills.
“By providing them with a holistic learning package we are able to improve their chances.
“It’s more important than ever that young people can find a wider number of routes into work.”
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Dorothy Craw - Recyke Y'Bike
NEWCASTLE’S Recyke Y’Bike works to support the local economy as well as protect the environment by accepting unwanted or broken bicycles and refurbishing them to sell on or give away.
Dorothy Craw founded the scheme in 2006 with the aim of getting more people out of their cars and on to their neglected cycles or, at the very least, giving their old bike a new home.
Since starting out, the centre has received more than 1,000 old bikes donated by members of the public and has sold on or given away about 450.
Bikes are checked over to see if they can be fixed, with those that cannot stripped for parts which will be used on others or sent on to be recycled.
After starting out at her home in Forest Hall, retired teacher Dorothy moved to an office under the railway viaduct in the Ouseburn Valley area of Newcastle, which now sees a large number of people volunteering to do up the bikes in order to improve their mechanical skills.
The organisation, which gets a large number of bikes donated by Northumbria Police and the University of Northumbria, also recently began a project involving shipping a number of its surplus bikes to West Africa for those that have never experienced any kind of mobility.
She said: “So many people come to the centre and say there’s no point in having a car anymore, it’s so much more straightforward to have a bike.
“They feel passionately about all this excess traffic and want to promote different ways to get around, instead of driving five miles in their car.
“Some of the people that come to volunteer also have learning difficulties and our organisation gives them a chance to socialise with others as well as pick up some real mechanics skills.”
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Jo Grant - chief executive - Aquila Way
GATESHEAD organisation Aquila Way has been providing young vulnerable and homeless people with support and housing for the past 22 years.
Built around a Christian ethos, it helps to provide the foundations for youngsters to progress their employment, training and educational prospects as well as educate them in domestic skills so they and their families can live independently.
Homelessness in Gateshead is a growing problem, with many people finding themselves excluded from the private sector because they do not have the deposit or a housing history.
Jo Grant has been with the organisation for over eight years and has transformed it from a small initiative to a nationally acknowledged homeless service, with a turnover up from £90,000 to £1.5m during the same period.
The service, which employs 46 staff, also employs community mentors which provide everything from helping to set up job interviews for people to simply being on hand for a cup of tea and a quick chat.
Earlier this year the organisation collected major honours in a national award scheme run by the Centre for Social Justice, a think tank originally established by Ian Duncan Smith.
Jo said: “Our commitment to social justice stems from our Christian faith, motivating us to provide a response to those in need regardless of others’ personal beliefs or culture.
“There are many people approaching us at the moment that have been kicked out their property simply because their landlord has fallen victim to the credit crunch and they have found themselves out on the street.
“This is just one example of how organisation like ourselves are vital.”
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Liz Prudhoe - General Manager - ADAPT
FORMERLY known as Action for Differently Able People in Tynedale, ADAPT is based in Hexham and runs sports projects, driver training courses, an advocacy service and a community transport service for disabled people and those who cannot afford their own means of travel.
All of its projects aim to break down the barriers resulting from rural loneliness, with its 2,000 members benefiting from large subsidies on bus travel, as well as shopping trips and days out around rural Northumberland.
Launched in 1995, the organisation has invested £250,000 in new vehicles in the last two years and with regional development agency One North East has just set up an online forum to help its members keep in touch with one another.
It also provides a car rental service for those finding it difficult to find work because of their rural location – and motor scooters for people to use while they build up to their driving licence through the organisation’s driving tuition service.
Liz has been successful in taking ADAPT from a position where it was 90% dependent on charitable funding to a position where it is almost completely self-sustainable.
She said: “Many people living in areas such as Hexham, Allendale and Heddon-on-the-Wall are limited to the types of jobs they can apply for because they are so isolated.
“Our services give them a wider range of transport options, as well as build them up to the stage where they can drive their own car.
“We all need access to services and we believe we provide a lifeline to those people who can feel the most excluded.”
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Paul Lancaster - Project Manager - PNE Group
SINCE 1980, the Newcastle-based PNE Group has acted as a first port of call for those people seeking their own enterprise.
Paul Lancaster has been nominated for his role in developing a website which includes a monthly training bulletin which has helped to increase its hits by 5,000 people.
The site also features the biggest online training database of voluntary and community sector courses in the region, as well as up-to-date news and events, case studies and vacancies.
The organisation, previously known as Project North East, has a number of services that can help people tackle the often terrifying task of setting up a business, including lending up to £5,000, and providing rented work space at a significantly subsidised rate.
PNE owns about 150 business units in the region, and currently owns the Design Works building in Felling, Gateshead, which houses around 30 start-up businesses.
This year saw it spread its operations to take in start-ups in Cumbria and is now consultant to a large number of business across the North West.
Mr Lancaster said: “We have helped a number of business move to the next level.
“We started out when the whole country was experiencing a difficult time economically and proved vital to a number of people that were looking to set up a business as a way of dragging themselves out of poverty.
“Now, with the economy in a similar state, we are again proving to be an important service for many people.”
