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Spotting a gap in available provision, Alison Cunningham set up The Listening Post CIC to serve her community in Essex with affordable counselling, training and youth clubs. She tells us more about her business and why she started a social enterprise. What does your social enterprise do? We are a one-to-one counselling service, youth clubs K.I.T.E (kids in together empower) and training provider. What made you start your business up? When Alison Cunningham, the founder of the listening post was training to become a counsellor, she realised that there was a lack of affordable one-to-one counselling providers in her local community but there was a need for it so she set out to make this happen. How do you measure your impact? We use feedback forms from our clients and each client is assessed every six weeks to make sure they are getting the right help and are in fact moving forward with their mental health or the issues that brought them to the Listening Post. What help did you have to start your social enterprise? We had help from Swan Housing for the first year, giving us an office space for the first year. Basildon council, Heart of Pitsa, and the National Lottery have all funded us in various ways to enable us to keep giving low fees or free one-to-one counselling. How did you decide on what legal form would work best for your business? We always knew we wanted to give affordable counselling to these in the local community that would not be able to pay the high fees that can be associated with counselling. What’s the best thing about being a social entrepreneur? We love being able to change with the community’s needs and trying to offer whatever they feel is needed alongside the counselling, for example training, workshops and youth clubs. What have been the three biggest challenges that you have overcome (or that you’re still working on)? Setting up our new premises and building new counselling rooms, making sure to get them right. Hiring new volunteers to help cover the extra opening hours. Continuing to find and obtain new funding in order to be able to give more back to the community. What advice would you give to aspiring social entrepreneurs? Just to do it. You will have hard times, but you will get there if you truly believe in what you want to accomplish. What’s been your most rewarding experience as a social entrepreneur? For us, it’s been giving back to a community, seeing our clients go on to a state of better mental wellness and thriving with the confidence we have helped them to achieve. What are your plans for the next two to five years? Opening a new property to grow our training side as well as taking on more volunteers and paid employees. What is the biggest change you would like to see in the world? A better understanding of mental health. What have been your three proudest moments as a social entrepreneur? Seeing the Listening Post grow and gain a great name for counselling.

Turning a disused cowshed into a cookery school where learners can experience food from plot to plate, Anna Richards tells us about her social enterprise, Maymessy CIC. What does your social enterprise do? Maymessy empowers disadvantaged groups to boost their health and wellbeing through a cookery school and wellness activities. What made you start your business up? I have been a primary school teacher and special needs teacher and quickly realised that pen and paper and formal education does not fit all. How do you measure your impact? Through questionnaires, feedback, testimonials from stakeholders, videos and photos. What help did you have to start your social enterprise? I went on a free supportive course run by OXlep at Oxford Brooks to help me start up a social enterprise and went on a crowdfunding campaign backed by Crowdfunder and Santander. How did you decide on what legal form would work best for your business? Having been on a course, I was worried about the bureaucracy of setting up a charity. I like the idea of a business with an ethical purpose and a CIC seemed a perfect fit for me. What’s the best thing about being a social entrepreneur? I like to run the business and have strategic control while my main aim is to improve the wellbeing of disadvantaged groups in Oxfordshire. What have been the three biggest challenges that you have overcome (or that you’re still working on)? Getting enough finance to make Maymessy financially sustainable. Finding skilled labour and volunteers. Transport to the venue. What advice would you give to aspiring social entrepreneurs? Go for it. It is exciting and challenging. Why do you think social enterprise is important? I think it is important to have an ethical vision at the heart of all businesses. What’s been your most rewarding experience as a social entrepreneur? Seeing the young people and disadvantaged groups leaving with more confidence and greater self-esteem. What information sources would you recommend (books, websites, organisations?) to help someone just starting their social enterprise journey? Talk to OBS and Oxlep if you are in Oxfordshire or other county business organisations who may give you free support and contacts. What’s been the most surprising thing about creating a social enterprise? The amount of kindness and support in the local community. I have come from London and did not know anyone and so I have been overwhelmed by local help. What are your plans for the next two to five years? to reach out to more charities and groups so I can hold more cookery and wellbeing classes to provide some training for students to get into work to increase use of our shared veg patch and build a biodiversity area with more trees and an orchard which will be used for people not in employment, education or training (NEETS) and volunteers to create a nature walk to have more wellbeing classes - for example, talks on menopause What is the biggest change you would like to see in the world? To reduce poverty in UK and world so no-one goes hungry. What have been your three proudest moments as a social entrepreneur? Building the barn from a disused cowshed and finishing it just in time for launch. Having my first cookery class for young carers. Providing a venue for 96 refugee families last summer. What would you say to encourage more entrepreneurs to consider the social impact of their businesses? Go for it – if we all do our bit, the world would be a happier place. Visit Maymessy CIC's website for more information.

As the Social Entrepreneur Index returns for a second year, the nominations have been coming in thick and fast. The index celebrates the passionate, driven and innovative people behind some of the best socially-aimed businesses in the UK and is designed to revere and amplify those entrepreneurs running businesses with social purposes and the vitally important difference they make to our society. Eligible social entrepreneurs will work in any field and be tackling a social or environmental issue at any scale from local to international. Entrants will act as beacons of inspiration for others to encompass positive social impact, and the Index will be a celebration of social entrepreneurship across the UK. Commission it are a social enterprise that have been put forward for the Social Entrepreneur Index this year. They help clients to create, design and produce totally bespoke unique artistically inspired works from a range of different upcycled/recycled objects. They’re big supporters of the circular economy and they have artists specialising in 100% recycled plastic art projects. Not only do they reduce waste by their own use of materials, they also work with Precious Plastic, who encourage others to start a business from plastic waste. Their artisans create work for companies including Google, Converse, IKEA, Channel 4 & Rolls Royce. They’ve also created a search tool, designed to make it easier for upcyclers/recyclers around the UK to find local free goods and materials. They can then use those materials for projects, ultimately helping to reduce landfill waste. You can watch the video on how to use the search tool here. Commission it have also pledged to give 51% of their profits to the likes of Aid to Artisans, Precious Plastic and Kiva. So far, they have supported 7 people across 4 countries, with micro loans for farming and education.

Recognising that his blended approach to nurturing his own positive mental health could help others, Andy Douglas has created a social enterprise that makes fitness available for all. He tells us about his business, Scotland All-Strong. What does your social enterprise do? Scotland All Strong provides and promotes physical activity, mindful relaxation and peer support and exchange as powerful tools of recovery, self-management and early intervention for common mental health issues, as well as overall wellbeing. We also provide family-friendly services, including yoga for toddlers through to adults, and parent’s fitness, in which babies to school-age children enjoy supervised play while their parents train in the adjacent and visible area. What made you start your business up? Throughout my mental health journey, physical training has been an anchor that has held me back from the abyss. In recent years, I have found that mindful relaxation, including focused breathing and muscle relaxation, as well as peer discussion and support, have also been extremely beneficial. The combination of these three tools, while not presenting a cure, can, we believe, form the foundation of a self-management strategy. Having seen many lives negatively impacted and cut short due to stress and common mental health conditions - and more so the often unhealthy choices made in reaction to them - we support those willing to take that tough first step by holding open a wide and welcoming door. How do you measure your impact? We take direct feedback from participants of our programmes, specialist groups and public classes, our partnership organisations, as well as by recording attendance and participant numbers. What help did you have to start your social enterprise? We launched with our social aims in mind as a partnership, but quickly sought advice and became incorporated as a not-for-profit community interest company. My wife and I launched our enterprise by ourselves, and were then pleased to be awarded the ‘Start It’ grant from the Social Entrepreneurs Fund, delivered by Firstport in the month of our incorporation. How did you decide on what legal form would work best for your business? We sought advice from someone at Perth & Kinross Association of Voluntary Services (PKAVS), as well as a business advisor from Firstport. What’s the best thing about being a social entrepreneur? Constantly evolving – delivering clear, direct and positively impactful experiences, developing services, meeting challenges on your own terms. What have been the three biggest challenges that you have overcome (or that you’re still working on)? Commercial-social balance (light on commercial) Getting our ‘what we do and why' message out there Getting comfortable with the unknown What advice would you give to aspiring social entrepreneurs? Go for it! Why do you think social enterprise is important? It’s business that cares, and the only future I see worth living is amongst a wider humanity that cares. What’s been your most rewarding experience as a social entrepreneur? Seeing smiles on faces that were sad only moments before. What information sources would you recommend (books, websites, organisations?) to help someone just starting their social enterprise journey? Get help from several local advice sources, contact funders and connect with the third sector in your area. What are your plans for the next two to five years? We will continue to develop our model to a place of financial sustainability, outstanding services with direct social impact, and replicate, expanding geographically and demographically. What is the biggest change you would like to see in the world? Each person making peace with themselves, and taking responsibility for that. If each makes their own peace, peace will soon be everywhere! What have been your three proudest moments as a social entrepreneur? Securing funding which recognises the work we are doing, that we would like to do, and receiving the encouragement and support to enable us to deliver. Inspiring others to take their passion and create social enterprise from it. Hearing of the positive impacts our programmes and services have on participants. What would you say to encourage more entrepreneurs to consider the social impact of their businesses? You’re either contributing to the problems or the betterment of humanity – carefully consider where you stand… truly and not for appearance's sake.

Nominations are still open for the 2020 Social Entrepreneur Index, which returns for a second year. Once again we will be celebrating the success of the UK's most inspiring social entrepreneurs and sharing their stories with you. Social entrepreneurs make a vitally important difference in our society. Our SEI campaign recognises and celebrates the passionate, driven and innovative people behind some of the best socially-aimed businesses in the UK. ​ The SEI is a celebration of entrepreneurs running businesses with social purposes, with the aim of providing recognition whilst also acting as a benchmark for good practice to inspire the next generation. After last years’ inaugural Index, we put together a list of companies who we feel are Ones to Watch. These entries were selected by our judges as the best of the rest and over the past year we’ve kept an eye on these entrants, as they are set to achieve great things in the future. We caught up with Aoise Keogan-Nooshabadi from Supply Change, a digital marketplace that connects social enterprises to public sector contracts and drives social impact in local communities. They aim to increase the social value of public sector supply chains by being a central place for public sector organisations to find social suppliers. They are the UK's only procurement tool to help public sector organisations add more social value into their supply chains. They believe that social enterprises have a lot to offer the communities that public sector organisations seek to serve. By contracting more mission driven organisations, the likes of housing associations and local councils can not only impact their communities, but also save money and diversify supply chains. Supply Change helps by providing a digital platform, akin to current contracting platforms. When we spoke to them last year, their vision was to become the go-to place to find mission driven suppliers for public sector work and to put social value at the heart of public services. Since we last spoke, Supply Change launched their product (in June 2019) and since then have been working with over 35 suppliers and 5 buyers. Alongside their product, they also launched their consultancy offer which helps buyers get ready to procure from social enterprises. They are now also working with buyers from the private sector, including banks, law firms and construction companies. Aoise shared with us: “We are excited to work with our private clients, alongside public sector buyers, including Camden Council, Orbit Housing and Coventry City Council. We are also opening up our platform for co-operatives to join too.” Supply Change are still committed to opening up supply chains across the UK to social enterprise suppliers, who can not only get the job done but provide impact to communities. You can find out more updates from Supply Change in their latest newsletter or on their website.

From its roots as a blog to now including workshops and free online resources, Living Liberté is helping to change relationship experiences for the next generation. Dancer turned social entrepreneur, Helen Victoria, tells us about her business. What does your social enterprise do? Living Liberté is a social enterprise tackling Britain’s relationship abuse from a preventative perspective. We provide educational workshops and online resources to educate young people about what a healthy relationship looks like. By doing so, we believe we can make a significant difference in the prevention of potential future harmful relationships. What made you start your business up? I started Living Liberté as a simple blog page sharing articles about the possibilities of life beyond abuse. I had just escaped from a highly violent long-term relationship and I started the concept with a belief in providing freedom for sufferers of relationship abuse. The blog grew a strong, international following which led me to launch Living Liberté as a social enterprise, providing workshops and online resources to educate young people about safe, healthy love and relationships. The journey of Living Liberté began eight years ago as a simple blog concept, started by a girl full of fear. It stands proudly today as a strong tool for change, representing the true possibilities of life beyond relationship abuse. My grandmother lost her life in a violent relationship. I nearly lost my own life in the same way. I believe that if we’d had access to relationship education then things could have been very different. This will always be the true motivation behind Living Liberté. How do you measure your impact? We pay close attention to the analytics of our website, measuring the use of the free online resources we provide. We also use SurveyMonkey and live audience response to measure how effective our workshops are, and if attendees have taken away the three key lessons we teach. These are the two key ways we measure our social impact at this time. What help did you have to start your social enterprise? I applied last year to UNLTD for a development fund. I have recently received news that they have awarded Living Liberté £4,000 to grow the business - which is fantastic news! I have also recently been awarded a travel fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, to go and research relationship education in both New Zealand and North America this coming year, which will hugely benefit the enterprise. How did you decide on what legal form would work best for your business? UNLTD are not only funders, but guides also. They have helped to shape the legal plans for the company. What’s the best thing about being a social entrepreneur? I spent many years being a professional dancer, which was my dream career. It was an incredible experience and it gave me opportunities to travel and perform all around the world. But being a social entrepreneur has been more fulfilling than I ever could have imagined! Every day that I work on Living Liberté feels like a fresh opportunity to make the change in the world that I believe in - there’s really no better feeling. What have been the three biggest challenges that you have overcome (or that you’re still working on)? I am so passionate about my work that it can be hard to build in time to reflect on how far the project has come. My ballet training means I am very able to push through exhaustion, but I recognise that this isn’t beneficial to my social enterprise. I am gradually learning to take time out so that I can be fresh and focused for upcoming tasks. It’s a daily practice! Another challenge is the public perception that relationship violence is something middle-aged women suffer from. In reality, unhealthy relationships happen to all ages. My work is from a preventative perspective, which is why it is primarily aimed at secondary education students. I aim to change the public view of what domestic violence 'typically’ looks like. When I started out with my social enterprise, I had a fear of managing the financial side of things. I was afraid to tackle this area as I didn’t feel confident dealing with mathematics. I sought the support I needed to overcome this, and I am proud to say that I feel this personal and professional challenge has been overcome! What advice would you give to aspiring social entrepreneurs? Find something you believe in, and the rest will follow. To be successful, you need to be powered by passion more than anything. You need to know that you’ll love your work in a few years time, not just in the current moment. Don’t pick a business based on predicted popularity - choose it based on your strengths and personal beliefs. Why do you think social enterprise is important? Building a business that measures its success socially as well as financially is incredibly powerful. I think that if more businesses appreciated the importance of making social impact, many company directors might be surprised at the opportunities and the staff motivation results they might experience. What’s been your most rewarding experience as a social entrepreneur? Every time an individual gets in touch to share how the work of Living Liberté has helped them, I am inspired. Seeing the results of incredible amounts of hard work makes everything worth it. Being awarded funding was also an incredible experience - not only because of the opportunities it brings, but in knowing that the world values relationship education. Just knowing there is a wider belief in what I am trying to do is incredible motivation. What information sources would you recommend (books, websites, organisations?) to help someone just starting their social enterprise journey? I highly recommend using the wide variety of free resources and online support that companies such as UNLTD, School of Social Entrepreneurs, and UMi provide. I also recommend seeking the support of a mentor who is knowledgable in the area you hope to impact. Doing both of these things has given me much more confidence in my work than I might have had otherwise. What’s been the most surprising thing about creating a social enterprise? The most surprising thing about creating a social enterprise is that there is so much incredible support out there! Not only from funders and support organisations, but from the public. Our world is changing massively at the moment, both ecologically and politically. I think now more than ever people are open to supporting ventures that bring positive, change-making benefits. What are your plans for the next two to five years? I plan to start rolling out the relationship education workshops that I have been developing, now that we have the funding support to be able to do so. My expansion plan is to employ domestic violence survivors as worship leaders in order to create full-circle social impact. What is the biggest change you would like to see in the world? I see the world in a positive light. I am very aware of the challenges we face, but I try to focus instead on what is possible. I would like relationship education to be valued as an integral part of our national curriculum, so that young people can learn the skills we all need in how to build healthy, happy relationships and prevent future abuse. What have been your three proudest moments as a social entrepreneur? The first time someone got in touch for free mentoring, the moment I received news about the funding award, and each and every time I speak publicly about the work I do. I never underestimate the value of every small achievement, as it all builds the social impact I aim for with my work. What would you say to encourage more entrepreneurs to consider the social impact of their businesses? If you believe in something enough, then anything is possible. I was not a businesswoman - I was a dancer! But I was a dancer with a deep, strong belief in making a difference to abuse prevention in the UK. If your passion is strong enough, the rest will follow.

Nominations are still open for the 2020 Social Entrepreneur Index, which returns for a second year. Once again, we will be celebrating the success of the UK's most inspiring social entrepreneurs and sharing their stories with you. The UK Social Entrepreneur Index is a celebration of entrepreneurs running businesses with social purposes, with the aim of providing recognition for social entrepreneurs, act as a benchmark for good practice and inspire the next generation. After last years’ inaugural Index, we put together a list of companies who we feel are Ones to Watch. These entries were selected by our judges as the best of the rest and over the past year we’ve kept an eye on these entrants, as they are set to achieve great things in the future. DivInc were selected also as part of our Ones to Watch series, and we’ve been keeping an eye on their progress ever since. They’re a company that help brands to collaborate with Gen Z for brutally honest insights about branding, marketing and products We spoke to co-founder and CEO, Jay Richards, to find out exactly what they’ve been up to in the last ten months. After welcoming a new co-founder, Cat Agostinho, to the team and now boasting big name clients including the NFL, Lazard Asset Management and Stella McCartney, they’re also currently raising raising £350k pre-seed round with commitments from some of the UK's best VC's and angel investors. “No more guessing, we crowdsource the best talent from over 200,000 Gen Z to enable agencies and brands to build all of the above with Gen Z in the room!” When asked about the company’s impact, Jay says: “Our Gen Z consultants aged 16 to 25 are paid £150 to £450 a day to work with some of the world’s greatest agencies and brands. Also, our consultants are able to gain experience to fill their CV and earn extremely well while doing it. We still run our start up incubator across the UK.” Discussing their rebrand, Jay says: "Our desire to rebrand was birthed after speaking with our community of consultants. They mentioned to us that our name and branding didn't resonate with them. We decided to build our new branding with them from scratch, they helped us to choose our new name "Imagen" and they consulted with us in our offices on what our branding should look like. It was an amazing experience and we're thankful our community can be so heavily involved in everything that we do!" Their community of 200 000 members of Gen Z is comprised of: · 50.27% female · 0.37% non-binary · 45.9% BAME · 40% from low income backgrounds You can also follow DivInc on Twitter here.

The Wrexham Enterprise Hub has teamed up with the Wales Co-operative Centre to hold a hackathon event with the goal of using social enterprise to create sustainable solutions to local issues. The ‘Hack of Kindness’, a free event will be held at the Hub on Rhosddu Road on Thursday 5 March. Places are limited and there are fewer than 10 spaces left to take part in what could lead to a life-changing idea. Starting at 8am, teams will be given the brief before separating across the hub’s coworking space to research and develop their ideas, leading to them pitching to a panel of judges that evening. They will be supported with inspirational talks, guidance and workshops along with breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Hackathon in Wrexham will focus on a range of local issues, from social isolation and health to the environment and homelessness. Participants will be given 12 hours to research and identify a social problem or issue and then create a project, product or service that could solve it. The winning team will receive a prize, as well as support to potentially bring their idea to life and found a new social enterprise. Community Manager at the Hub, Carl Turner, said: “A large part of what we do at the Enterprise Hub is to help people start businesses so that they can take charge of their own lives and play a part in the wider economy. To do that, we help individuals identify a problem they can solve or a service they can offer and help them develop a business to meets those needs. “Events such as a Hackathon are designed to do that but in a concentrated period of time. With the right focus and environment, talented minds can come up with an idea or innovation that can go on to make a lasting difference. We’re keen to see what solutions this creative way of working can develop, and are excited to see it focused on solving local issues.” Typically, a hackathon is an event where software developers, graphic designers and project managers collaborate over a period of time to create a functioning piece of hardware or software that solves a problem. The concept has been adopted across sectors and today represents a collection of minds working collaboratively to create a solution or proposal to a set problem. Social Entrepreneur Officer for the Wales Co-Operative Centre, Martin Downes, said: “We are thrilled with the response for the Hackathon in Wrexham, with over 60 people already signed up to attend. We are bringing together some great people and great organisations from the area to use entrepreneurship, innovation and market approaches to create social value and change. The Hackathon is the perfect environment to facilitate this solution-orientated approach to resolving problems and we can’t wait to see the results.” The event will be hosted by the Wrexham Enterprise Hub and run in collaboration with Social Business Wales, Glyndwr University, Coleg Cambria, Big Ideas Wales, UnLtd, and Wrexham Council, as well as local trainers and experts. The Wrexham Enterprise Hub is one of five hubs across Wales funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government and will see over £4m invested to provide supportive spaces and mentoring for new and growing businesses. The Wales Co-operative Centre is Wales’ national body for co-operatives, mutuals, social enterprises and employee-owned businesses. Since 1982, the Centre has applied its co-operative values to strengthen and empower communities by supporting the growth of co-operatives and social enterprises. On January 1st the Wales Co-operative Centre launched a brand new programme to encourage aspiring entrepreneurs in Wales to set-up new social businesses. Funded by the European Regional Development Fund, the project aims to create 250 brand new social businesses in Wales over the next three years, providing quality jobs and essential services anchored in communities. Since launching in May 2018 the Enterprise Hub has held more than 65 events and supported more than 300 individuals and businesses. As well as enabling businesses to start, the team in Wrexham have played a key role in helping its members grow, and to date enterprises at the hub have raised more than £800,000 in investment and created jobs. To take part in the Hackathon, you can contact Carl Turner at carl.turner@businesswales.org.uk, or call 01978 807420.

Digital supply chain startup, SupplyCompass, has unveiled its new full-service platform that empowers fashion brands to design and deliver better products, effortlessly. The cloud-based software is set to transform the fashion industry, by digitising global supply chains and making sustainable sourcing easy for brands and every player in the supply chain. The full-service platform launch follows £1.5m investment in SupplyCompass last year, which launched in the UK in 2018. The new design-to-delivery platform brings improved functionality for fast-growing fashion brands – making designing, developing and producing sustainable collections quicker, more efficient and cost-effective. Through SupplyCompass, brands get instant access to a global network of trusted manufacturers and can develop sustainable collections and gain complete control over production – all in one platform. Through the software as a service (SaaS) platform, fashion brands are able to: design collections collaborate across teams create tech packs in minutes find world-class manufacturers with leading certifications get instant costs receive quality samples first time manage all production have supply chain transparency and traceability through the platform’s holistic solution, brands can control up to 80% of the product’s environmental impact, by discovering sustainable and local materials and using efficient processes – reducing waste and keeping supply chain costs down. Flora Davidson, SupplyCompass' co-founder, commented: “The current way of designing and producing goods is unsustainable for people and the planet. We believe that real change and transformation of the industry will only happen with the right combination of technology and collaboration. Through SupplyCompass, we are building the best supply chains and long-term production relationships with commitment, collaboration and transparency at the core, setting a new standard for sustainability in the fashion industry.” Gus Bartholomew, SupplyCompass' co-founder, added: “We believe that for sustainable sourcing to enter the mainstream and become the only way to source, it needs to make business sense. If designing and producing sustainably was easier, more efficient, and more cost-effective than conventional ways of sourcing, then everyone will do it. “SupplyCompass enables brands to meet the increasingly demanding needs of their customers by removing supply chain uncertainty so that they can focus on disrupting and innovating. We are helping them digitise their whole product development and production management, whilst allowing them to plug and play into pre-vetted, responsive and sustainable supply chains, so they can be agile and responsive to their customers’ needs. Our vision is to build the new operating system for supply chains and set the gold standard for global sourcing, with sustainability at the heart.” Gus and Flora moved from London to Mumbai in India in 2016 so that they could research and build the business in collaboration with manufacturers and suppliers. They have worked collaboratively with SupplyCompass' brand and manufacturer partners to build the new platform and drive change in the supply chain. The company has handpicked the best manufacturers and suppliers around the world to be part of their network of over 200 carefully selected partners. The majority of their network is in India, with some strategically placed partners in Portugal, Nepal, China and Spain. The team personally visits, vets and monitors every single one to ensure they align with SupplyCompass’s values and meet environmental and social guidelines.

Nominations are still open for the 2020 Social Entrepreneur Index, which returns for a second year. Once again we will be celebrating the success of the UK's most inspiring social entrepreneurs and sharing their stories with you. The UK Social Entrepreneur Index is a celebration of entrepreneurs running businesses with social purposes, with the aim of providing recognition for social entrepreneurs, act as a benchmark for good practice and inspire the next generation. After being selected as part of our Ones to Watch series, the last ten months have been a whirlwind for The Integrate Agency CIC, and we weren’t the only ones to champion them. We spoke to Eoin Heffernan, CEO and founder, to get an update. Eoin told us how the community focused consortia were contracted by Lambeth Council to be the support agency for Lambeth’s 1500 VCSE (voluntary, community and social enterprise) organisations. This was an ambitious move for Lambeth, having previously had no local ‘CVS’ (Council for Voluntary Service) involved, but it was a move that paid off for all parties. “Forget the box. Think outside the building.” – Eoin Heffernan For the second year in a row, The Integrate Agency saw their income grow by over 400%. They’ve also been selected for a variety of accelerator programs, including: • Cass Business School’s Strategy Insight Lab • Hatch Impact accelerator • London & Partners Business Growth Programme As if that isn’t enough, they were also: • winners of a 2019 NatWest SE100 Social Business Awards Top 100 • 2019 UK Social Enterprise Awards nominee - Tech for Good category • 2019 Vodafone Techstarter finalist Eoin says: “Our consultancy business has gone from strength to strength, and despite never promoting these services, which includes strategy, administration, cybersecurity and fundraising, we are consistently approached through word of mouth. Ongoing, contracted clients include national charities, such as User Voice, for whom we provide full time fundraising services and local start up social enterprises, such as A2i Dyslexia, for whom we have grown their income over 500%.” The Integrate Agency also started and completed a Cyber Safe Lambeth program, funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and designed to provide practical training and routes to employment for Brixton-based single parents. You can find out the impact the program had on those who took part here. Eoin says of the program: “Our work was impactful to government policy development for cybersecurity training as we were selected for the Private Roundtable on UK Government Cyber Security Retraining Strategy and advised the government on EU Exit Planning for Cyber Security Skills and Professionalisation.” The program resulted in the successful arrangement of employment for their learners, which in turn drew the attention of the Allia Future 20 event. The agency were invited to be a part of the incubator at the event, and were also invited to exhibit at CYBERUK 2019 in Glasgow and Infosec Europe 2019, where they presented "The Future of Cyber Employment" and “Hidden Talent in Plain Sight” in the Cyber Innovation Showcase to over 600 people. Alongside IBM, they were also invited to speak to the Westminster Policy Forum on the importance of diversity in cybersecurity, which generated strong press interest. That sounds like a busy enough ten months, but it doesn’t stop there, with their success spreading internationally. “We were named one of the 14 Most Innovative UK Cybersecurity SMEs 2019 and invited to speak at the 2019 ITAC Future of the Cybersecurity Workforce Symposium in Toronto, Canada. We secured a cybersecurity trade advisor at the Department for International Trade and travelled to Germany, USA and Canada to expand our impact. In Canada, we exhibited at Collision 2019 and were accepted into the Alpha Zone which began partnership conversations in both Toronto and Ottawa. We are currently on the shortlist for Cofinitive #21toWatch Companies UK 2020 and in 2019 we were named a Finalist Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards UK and Finalist Elevate Tech Fest #ElevateMyMoonshot challenge in Canada.” When asked what their personal highlight was, Eoin said it would have to be the winning of the 2019 $1.6m MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge, in October, out of almost 2000 applications.

Nominations are still open for the 2020 Social Entrepreneur Index, which returns for a second year. Once again we will be celebrating the success of the UK's most inspiring social entrepreneurs and sharing their stories with you. Social entrepreneurs make a vitally important difference in our society. Our SEI campaign recognises and celebrates the passionate, driven and innovative people behind some of the best socially-aimed businesses in the UK. ​ The SEI is a celebration of entrepreneurs running businesses with social purposes, with the aim of providing recognition whilst also acting as a benchmark for good practice to inspire the next generation. After last years’ inaugural Index, we put together a list of companies who we feel are Ones to Watch. These entries were selected by our judges as the best of the rest and over the past year we’ve kept an eye on these entrants, as they are set to achieve great things in the future. One of our Ones to Watch was Wild & Kind CIC, a Glasgow based Community Interest Company that runs a garment printing studio supplying 100% organic or recycled, ethically sourced garments and using a chemical free printing process with plastic free, vegan inks. 100% of Wild & Kind’s profits go towards tackling loneliness and isolation while empowering women and those in marginalised gender groups to realise their full creative potential. Last year, they were running free "safe space" workshops, offering free start up support for creatives and also offer discounts on their printing services to women and people from marginalised gender groups, people who experience social and economic barriers, start-ups, art school graduates, charities and social enterprises. They are a rapidly growing enterprise that has future plans to create more community safe spaces within areas of deprivation across Glasgow while continuing to raise revenue as ethically as possible. We caught up with Trudi Donahue, Director of Wild & Kind CIC to see what they’ve been up to and what has changed in this past year: “We’ve come a long way since we were last in contact! One of our long term goals was to open a female focused creative space in Glasgow for women and people from marginalised gender groups. This would allow us to have a safe space where we could not only run our own workshops, but facilitate others too. We actually launched our 2000sq ft space in February, so we are pretty excited to see how things progress throughout the next year!” “We haven’t really had any change of direction. We listen to what our beneficiaries want and from the start that’s pretty much stayed the same. We run an ethical garment printing services, and up until now we’ve been using a digital printing process only. We have since invested in a Risograph printer, and I am excited to say that we will soon be investing in eco-friendly screen printing equipment which will allow us to continue to develop our services and provide even more options for our customers. We have not strayed from our aims of tackling loneliness and isolation; however, we also recognise the importance of our environmental impact and so we now actively look to tackle climate change through ethical printing. To learn more about Wild & Kind CIC, head over to their Facebook page.

Spotting a gap in provision to support disabled people and employers, Jane Hatton created Evenbreak, a social enterprise that provides a job board, training and consultancy. What does your social enterprise do? We help disabled people find work with inclusive employers who will value their skills, and help employers attract talented disabled candidates through a specialist job board. We also help employers become more inclusive through training, consultancy and an online best practice portal. This is all delivered by people with lived experience of disability. What made you start your business up? Employers told me they didn’t want to employ disabled people, or they did, but didn’t know how to. Disabled candidates told me they didn’t know which employers would take them seriously. There is a huge (30%) gap between the proportion of disabled people in work compared to non-disabled people. As an employer and a disabled person, I saw a gap in provision, and so started Evenbreak. How do you measure your impact? We measure quantitative data such as numbers of jobs posted, views of jobs, clicks to apply, candidates registered, employers advertising, and qualitative data such as case studies from employees, candidates and employers. What help did you have to start your social enterprise? A colleague loaned me the money for the first iteration of the job board, and I got some support from UnLtd. How did you decide on what legal form would work best for your business? I didn’t want to be a charity (I think it sends out all the wrong messages about employing disabled people), or a profit-making company, so I registered as a Company Limited by Guarantee, run as a social enterprise. What’s the best thing about being a social entrepreneur? Seeing the life-changing impact that gaining a job can have on disabled people. What have been the three biggest challenges that you have overcome (or that you’re still working on)? In the first years, attracting both candidates and employers simultaneously (both need the other!) was difficult, and attracting enough income to be sustainable. What advice would you give to aspiring social entrepreneurs? Stick with it, but expect everything to cost twice as much as you expected, and take three times as long! Keep asking questions, listening and learning. Make the beneficiaries the heart of everything you do. Why do you think social enterprise is important? It’s the acceptable face of capitalism – business, but with a positive impact for a large number of usually disadvantaged people, rather than just making a few rich people even richer. What’s been your most rewarding experience as a social entrepreneur? So many, but I think the first candidate who got a job through Evenbreak – telling us she now had a purpose, and the dignity of being valued, and contributing. What information sources would you recommend (books, websites, organisations?) to help someone just starting their social enterprise journey? Social Enterprise UK, School for Social Entrepreneurs and UnLtd. What’s been the most surprising thing about creating a social enterprise? How amazingly generous other social enterprises are with their time, resources and encouragement. What are your plans for the next two to five years? To continue to expand internationally, increasing the social impact we can help to create. What is the biggest change you would like to see in the world? Helping others replacing greed as the primary motivator for people. What have been your three proudest moments as a social entrepreneur? Being placed as the seventh most influential disabled person in Britain by the Shaw Trust Power 100 in 2019, employing an amazing team of people who make Evenbreak as amazing as it is, publishing my first book. What would you say to encourage more entrepreneurs to consider the social impact of their businesses? No amount of financial success will match the amazing feeling of having created something which genuinely changes people’s lives. And it’s a huge motivator for staff too.