From the street to the boardroom

Published	18 December 2007

Government and business leaders give homeless organisations a chance to become entrepreneurs

Junior Housing Minister Iain Wright unveiled a major refocusing of Government's homelessness strategy today, challenging hostels and charities to promote greater entrepreneurial spirit and create more training and employment opportunities for homeless people.

The minister launched the £1.5 million 'Dragon's Den' style competition, called 'Spark', at the offices of the social enterprise The Big Issue. The competition will enable hostels and homelessness charities to pitch for financial support, mentoring and a business 'make-over' to grow their social enterprise businesses, encouraging the development of employment opportunities and skills.

The organisations with the best ideas will win a share of the prize fund and mentoring from experienced social entrepreneurs and business leaders such as John Bird, the founder of The Big Issue magazine and Tim Campbell, a winner of The Apprentice and the founder of the Bright Ideas Trust. PricewaterhouseCoopers are also on board to give the winning organisations expert advice on how to grow their social enterprises. The competition is part of a major new partnership between government, the private and voluntary sectors which aims to increase the number of social enterprises in the homelessness sector to help homeless people build the skills and confidence to end their homelessness for good.

A shortlist of the top 15 applicants will be announced in February 2008, and each will receive coaching in preparation for a 'Dragon's Den' style pitch event in April. The Minister today also announced the allocation of £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 help them tackle and prevent homelessness.

Speaking at the event Iain Wright said:

"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."

The organisations will pitch their enterprise idea to a panel of experienced social entrepreneurs including well known faces from the homelessness sector. The top five ideas will win a share of the cash, mentoring and a one-day 'enterprise makeover'. The ten runners-up will all receive coaching and mentoring to help them develop social enterprises that help more homeless people into training, volunteering and jobs. Iain Wright also said:

"What makes Spark so exciting is that it is a £1.5million partnership between the private, public and voluntary sectors. Half a million from Communities and Local Government in prize money, half a million further funding from the Big Issue Invest loan fund and half a million in kind support from corporates through manpower time and resources. With names like The Big Issue, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and the TREES group alongside Communities and local government I believe we're offering an extraordinary proposition to new social enterprises."

The scheme follows the success of the Department's £160 million hostels improvement programme which has funded social enterprises like the Crisis Cafe in Newcastle which is giving homeless people a route into catering.

To run the programme Communities and Local Government has commissioned The Trees Group, a leading Social enterprise organisation.

Philip Wright Partner, of PriceWaterhouse Coopers, Nigel Kershaw, Chief Executive of Big Issue Invest, John Montague, Chief Executive of The TREES Group, Richard Litchfield, Managing Director of Eastside Consulting, John Bird, Founder of The Big Issue, (in front) Iain Wright, Junior Housing Minister

Notes to editors

To get involved and submit ideas visit www.sparkchallenge.org (external link).

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.

Social enterprises are profit-making businesses set up to promote social or environmental causes which reinvest the majority of their profits for the benefit of the community. The adoption of this approach to generating income has also been proven to create employment, to broaden training and development opportunities and to build the self-esteem of people working in social enterprises.

Lead partners

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.

www.thetreesgroup.org.uk (external link).

Big Issue Invest

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 the model in the UK. Organisations it has worked with so far have included Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant group and the mineral water company Belu.

www.biginvest.co.uk (external link).

Eastside Consulting

The TREES Group has recruited Eastside Consulting, experts in social enterprise, to manage the Spark competition. 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.

www.eastsideconsulting.co.uk (external link).

Examples of the sorts of social enterprises homelessness charities could win support for alongside their core services include:-

Hostels that double up as restaurants or cafes during lunchtimes and evenings with residents acting as catering staff and benefiting from the jobs and experience. (Many hostels are in prime central locations and have this potential)

Hostels that train people in landscape gardening skills could also open as businesses. In Manchester, a day centre already provides this service for the local council, churches and community groups.

Homelessness charities that train people in painting and decorating and manufacturing opening up as businesses.

Hostels, such as one in Newcastle, who develop studio and recording music facilities which can then be hired out to local artists and staffed by residents.

Cafe

Crisis Skylight, East London. Supported by Anita Roddick and Pret A Manger, many trainees have successfully obtained employment, mostly with Pret and it is turning a profit.

Manufacturing

Shekinah Mission, Plymouth. Industrial unit employing members of the day centre and nightshelter to manufacture several hundred fireplaces for Travis Perkins. Other commissions include slate boxes for the Royal Navy for use by Ship's captains and also retail items for the local tourist trade. This is linked to their "Steady Work" programme training homeless people in the trades - brickwork, plastering, plumbing etc. Their latest enterprise is to refurbish unwanted council properties and then offer them to those clients who took part in the refurbishment.

Landscape gardening

Phoenix Landscaping, Manchester. Born out of the Booth Centre, a day centre, this company carries out contracts for local churches, the council and individuals. A van, sit-on-mower and a range of gardening tools was a small capital outlay that has resulted in jobs and training for day centre members.