Member updates

Iridescent Ideas CIC are leading a partnership of fantastic local organisations and experts to deliver the Social Enterprise Advice and Support (SEAS) Programme. Commissioned by Plymouth City Council, and funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the programme is providing FREE business support and advice for Plymouth-based individuals, social enterprises and co-operatives. Support available includes access to expert, specialist one-to-one advice, workshops covering digital skills, creative technology, funding and finance, social investment,  marketing, business planning and a range of other related topics, as well as access to a suite of online courses.  Gareth Hart, Director of Iridescent Ideas CIC said: “Iridescent Ideas is delighted to lead the SEAS Programme. Our partnership includes world leading social enterprises and experts providing support on all aspects of starting, running and developing a social enterprise or co-op. “We want to see social enterprise and co-operative ways of running businesses become the norm in Plymouth. We know that many people have brilliant ideas but they need a bit of support to help start up a social enterprise or co-op and also, many existing social enterprises and co-ops want to develop new services and products. “The SEAS programme responds to that by providing free, easy to access business support and advice.” The partnership and specialisms are listed below: Cosmic – digital skills, leadership Dirk Rohwedder (Enterprise with Purpose) – coaching, leadership, financial management Diversity Business Incubator (DBI) – development, specialist support Black and Minority Ethnic social entrepreneurs Iridescent Ideas – legal structures, governance, social enterprise start-up Jon Rolls (BCause) – social investment, investment readiness Paul Read (Drift) – business planning, growth, young people Plymouth Social Enterprise Network (PSEN) – networking and event promotion. POP – networking and start-up funding advice. Real Ideas – creative/digital tech social entrepreneurs, marketing, access to facilities.  Interested? Email seas@iridescentideas.com, visit the Iridescent Ideas website to find out more or REGISTER HERE!

TCES National Online School – whose pupils have special educational needs, with many at risk of becoming ‘ghost children’ through missing out on school entirely - has been named as the first online special school to be accredited under the Department for Education’s new Online Education Accreditation Scheme (OEAS).  The clampdown scheme was launched in response to growing concern about the quality and safety of an unregulated and rapidly growing online education sector. In a blog post explaining the scheme, National Director of Education, Christopher Russell, has identified the risks as: ‘Anyone - qualified or not – could cobble together an unsafe platform, plan a few lessons, and start to charge fees to unsuspecting parents. That’s bad for children, bad for their parents, and it's also unfair for the good online providers that are proud of their work and welcome independent oversight.’ A two-day inspection, during which inspectors spoke to children, parents and the Local Authorities who fund TCES National Online School places, concluded that the school had met all OEAS quality standards: ‘Led by the proprietor, leaders and staff are driven by a strong moral purpose to improve children’s academic and pastoral outcomes. They expertly intertwine education and therapy, working tirelessly to identify, reduce, and often, eliminate the barriers to learning children have faced.’  ‘In line with TCES’ other schools and services, TCES National Online School provides for pupils’ holistic development through a five-part curriculum: academic and vocational, enrichment, engagement, therapeutic and pupil leadership. The curriculum is designed to meet pupils’ educational, therapeutic and SEMH needs and is mapped against the targets in pupils’ EHC plans. When joining the provider, pupils are enrolled as full-time learners, with timetables specific to their needs. As they develop trust in their tutors and build in confidence, pupils access an increasing range of learning opportunities.’ Welcoming the first-of-its-kind quality mark, TCES Founder and CEO Thomas Keaney says:   ‘Being the first online special school to achieve the Department for Education’s quality mark is a huge achievement for my team. It proves that we’re doing what we set out to; provide a first-class, well-rounded education for children with special needs, anxiety and other challenges that make it impossible for them to attend school in person.   ‘Just as importantly the quality mark provides vital reassurance for families and Local Authorities. Now they can look for an online provider with the OEAS quality mark and know that we meet the standards demanded by the Department for Education.’ 10-year-old Daniel has a diagnosis of autism and ADHD and has been studying with TCES National Online School since May 2023. Prior to joining TCES, Daniel’s attendance at his mainstream primary school had fallen to around 50% and getting him into school had become increasingly difficult for his mum Louise, who says:  ‘I used to dread waking up in the morning to get Daniel into school. Sometimes I couldn’t get him there until midday or 1pm.  I felt like I was failing as a mum because he was suffering so much. I want him to have an education, but not at the expense of his mental health. Daniel could certainly have become one of the so-called ‘ghost children’ without TCES National Online School. His school said they couldn’t meet his needs, I would have had to take him out and maybe try home-schooling, but I don’t have any training in that area. Everything could have become very, very difficult for us both. Since he’s been with TCES, I’ve seen Daniel thrive and be independent. He’s excited rather than stressed. He’s calmer, happier, he knows he’s in a safe environment and doesn’t feel threatened.’ TCES CEO Thomas Keaney continues: ‘Most TCES National Online School pupils have Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) owing to their medical diagnoses, special needs, or mental health challenges. Often, they are victims of a broken system which has seen them permanently excluded with no other school that will take them, or waiting years for a special school place in a sector where chronic underinvestment means that need far outstrips supply.  For these families, online school is not a lifestyle choice, a nice to have, it’s quite simply the only way that their complex and vulnerable children can access the education they are entitled to. With more than 36% of children with EHCPs persistently absent, and more than 3,000 reportedly waiting for a special school place, it’s high time we stopped thinking of attendance in a physical school as the only solution. Today is a first for the online education sector, and I hope it sends a clear message that online special education – be it interim or permanent – is a viable option for the future. Regulating the sector must be just the start of the journey for the Department for Education. Next it must consult, invest, and plan for the expansion of state-funded online special schools, rather than allow a two-tier online school system to open up where only those parents who can afford it get the specialist education their children deserve.’ About TCES TCES National Online School has been providing a full online curriculum and school experience to pupils since 2020. It is part of the family-owned, social enterprise group, The Complete Education Solution (TCES). TCES was set up in 1999 by founder and CEO Thomas Keaney whose authentic commitment to inclusion means that no child has ever been permanently excluded in the Group’s 24-year history, and there are no fixed term exclusions either.  Increasingly, pupils referred to TCES National Online School have been out of school for long periods, and at substantial risk of becoming ‘ghost children’ and/or being drawn into criminal and other forms of exploitation owing to a chronic lack of support for them and their families. Working to the same therapeutic education principles used in TCES bricks and mortar schools (rated Good with Outstanding features by Ofsted) TCES National Online School aims to prepare pupils to ‘step down’ into physical mainstream or special schools wherever possible. Pupils attend TCES National Online School for a minimum of six weeks, with the average placement lasting 28 weeks. However, pupils also attend for longer periods where appropriate. The OEAS inspection report confirms that ‘no pupils leaving the provider [TCES National Online School] become NEET’ (not in education, employment or training).

We're thrilled to announce the expansion of Impact Hub London, with the opening of our second hub in Spring 2024! Introducing Impact Hub London Euston at Regent’s Place A fully sustainable and accessible workspace, rated BREEAM Excellent, Impact Hub London Euston at Regent’s Place provides a vibrant space for collaboration, connection, and inclusive innovation. It’s perfect for social entrepreneurs and growing impact teams, with 6 private offices, 16 team desks and coworking space. Located between Camden, Regent’s Park, Fitzrovia, Euston and Marylebone, and with five tube stations within an 8-minute walk, it is one of the most accessible areas in London, helping to bring changemakers from across London together.  Read more about our new location here. Workspace features Micro-office Team desks Coworking space Bike parking Breakout areas Members library Communal kitchen Dedicated event space Fully accessible design Meeting rooms Dog friendly Join the Movement Join us in Euston as we create a vibrant community dedicated to making a difference. Together, we can harness the power of collaboration, innovation, and collective action to build a more sustainable and inclusive future. Download the brochure Book a call to find out more!  

Find out about social enterprise Beam's 131,370 Reasons to Act Now campaign to help support individuals and families experiencing homelessness to find safe and stable homes. Only 4% of Brits gave money to the homeless in 2023, according to the latest research by Beam, the social impact start-up supporting homeless people and refugees. Rates of giving have also declined year on year since 2021. 11% of people reported donating to the homeless in 2021, falling to 9% in 2022. Average giving in December has fallen from £9 in 2022 and £7 in 2021 to a new low of £3, month to date this December. These falling donation rates come at a time when the latest government figures state 131,370 children are now legally homeless, living in emergency accommodation due to the lack of social housing and the deepening cost of living crisis.  According to a survey of 2,000 adults in the UK conducted during the first week of December 2023, the reasons for declining giving were: not carrying cash (34%), the cost of living crisis (31%), unsure of what the money will be spent on (19%), don’t know enough about the individual (11%), and other causes being a priority (5%). The new data highlights the growing impact of a cashless society on giving. The survey also highlights the misconception that homeless people are mostly rough sleeping or begging, when over 80% of homeless people are off the streets in emergency accommodation.  However, there may be signs of a way out. The average one-off donation to people using Beam’s crowdfunding platform is £31.09*, highlighting that online giving, personal stories, direct connections and transparency on where donations go can significantly increase the size of donations.  Beam is the world’s first crowdfunding platform for homeless people and others in need. Beam has been able to help people like Regina from South London, who was introduced to the social impact start-up after almost four years of homelessness. She had to flee her home from an emotionally abusive domestic situation for the safety of herself and her daughter. To afford the hostel that the council offered her, Regina had to quit her estate agent job and go onto Universal Credit. Through Beam, the public funded Regina’s employment training and nursery bills so that her daughter could receive support while she levelled up her career. With Christmas around the corner, Beam has launched its “131,370 Reasons to Act Now” campaign. There are currently 131,370 homeless children in emergency accommodation in the UK. Beam is urgently raising £131,370 to support the individuals and families working with Beam to find a safe and stable home so that next Christmas their situation will be brighter. Alex Stephany, Founder and CEO of Beam: “This winter, we face a deepening homelessness emergency. Beam’s latest research highlights the UK public still holds some outdated beliefs that directly impact people’s willingness to support homeless people. Beam’s online donation platform tears down barriers like lack of cash and worries about where the money will be spent. At the heart of this new model is technology that can directly connect people who care about this issue with those in need. Homelessness is one of the biggest social problems of our time and the need has never been greater. By backing someone on Beam, people can give transparently as each homeless person has their own budget with costs broken down to the nearest pound. Efficiently - as 100% of donations go towards the campaign's cost. And responsibly - as Beam holds all donations securely on behalf of the people we help.” Regina comments: “Homelessness isn’t a choice anyone makes unless they are out of options. People not only need your help, but your kindness. I got 1-1 support from a Beam caseworker and financial support from Beam’s community. And I also heard directly from the donors who left messages of encouragement - those messages were lights of hope in the darkness. I will never forget one I got from a little girl who wanted to use her Christmas money to help the homeless. Those messages kept me going. This Christmas you could help someone like me and your money and kindness could mean that next Christmas they too are out of homelessness and on to a brighter future.” About Beam Beam is a start-up supporting homeless people and refugees into stable jobs and homes for the long-term. Its unique crowdfunding platform helps disadvantaged communities to raise funding for job training, work tools, rental deposits and other financial costs related to finding a job or home. Over 200,000 donations and 60,000 messages of support have flowed through Beam’s platform to homeless people and others in need of support. Donations come from the public and companies, who can view transparent budgets of financial barriers required to support each person. By partnering with the government to fund its overheads, Beam also has a unique 100% giving model, allowing every penny to fund financial barriers for some of the UK’s most vulnerable people this Christmas. Since launching in 2017, Beam has supported more than 2,500 homeless people and refugees into stable jobs and homes.

Serving London for over 20 years, Tarem Services Limited is a social enterprise dedicated to addressing the ongoing issues surrounding in-work poverty within the UK. We firmly believe that every cleaner and other blue-collar worker deserves to earn more than just a ‘living wage’ - this is especially true as the cost of living continues to soar. Our social mission is to “tackle in-work poverty for all and deliver real change within our workforce, create awareness of the issue, and drive better social values. We fully understand how critical our role is in providing our clients with the highest standards in terms of the services we provide. More importantly, we take the well-being of our entire workforce very seriously as they are the backbone of our excellence and persistent successful track record. We’re pleased to share Tarem Services' latest Social Impact Report July 2022 – August 2023.  The report highlights Tarem Services' commitment to delivering positive impact over the last 12 months.  As a social enterprise, we continue to take purposeful actions to uphold our responsibility to create a more sustainable and brighter future.   Download the full report from here

Charitable social enterprise GLL has signed a new 2-year contract with Bedford Borough Council for the management and operation of leisure facilities and programmes across the borough. The new partnership means customers and staff will transfer to GLL from Thursday 1 February 2024 with services provided under the ‘Better’ brand. Peter Bundey, CEO of GLL said: "We are delighted to be a new partner with Bedford Borough Council. We are looking forward to working together to enhance leisure services and provide health and wellbeing opportunities for Borough residents. "As a charitable social enterprise and the largest operator in the leisure sector, we will bring our experience and expertise to increase services on offer. We look forward to sharing plans and developments with users and local communities." Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture, Councillor Sarah Gallagher, said: “We look forward to working with GLL on the provision of leisure services in Bedford Borough. Our aim is for our leisure centres to serve as more than just places for exercise; they should also be vibrant hubs that promote well-being and create shared experiences for everyone. “During the course of this contract we will be working with residents and local sports clubs to develop a modernisation and investment strategy that reflects the future vision for leisure provision in the borough.”

Impact Hub London is thrilled to announce the return of the Shine Program UK's second edition. We are now accepting applications! Once again, we are teaming up with Swiss Re and our partners at BOOKBRIDGE to incubate resilience in the UK. The Shine Program UK's second edition aims to empower the next generation of social innovators in transforming their ideas and solutions into scalable business models with the potential for maximum social impact. After a successful first edition last year, we are looking to support early-stage entrepreneurs, who are trying to address challenges in the areas of Natural hazard and climate risk management (Climate smart agriculture, Disaster risk reduction,Transformation to net zero – e.g. renewable energy, afforestation, recycling,) and  Access to health (including healthy nutrition). Selected social entrepreneurs will embark on a five-month immersive nurture program. During this journey, they will be closely mentored by Swiss Re experts and receive guidance from seasoned business coaches. Together, they will craft financially viable and scalable business plans that promise tangible social impact. As an added incentive, at the culmination of the Shine Program, the chosen innovator will have the opportunity to secure a financial award of up to GBP 30,000 to fuel their growth. Don't miss this chance to be a part of the Shine Program UK's second edition. To apply, click here.  The application deadline is November 30. For more details, you can also explore our brochure by clicking here.

Thousands of young homeless people in London are to continue to benefit from a new state-of-the-art home following a seven-figure funding package from Unity Trust Bank. YMCA London City and North opened LandAid House, an ambitious 146-bed development in Errol Street, two years ago. With the new building complete, transitioning from development funding to a long-term financial product was the final step required to complete the project.   Thanks to Unity’s expertise and understanding of third sector organisations, a long-term debt solution was created which included a remortgage for the new premises and additional working capital for further housing programmes. Chris East, Director of Community and Enterprise at YMCA London City and North, said: “LandAid House was a £19.4m project started 14 years ago because the old building was no longer suitable for vulnerable young people. We created new ensuite bedrooms with lounges, kitchens and laundry facilities and it’s now a place where young people can get back their dignity and self-respect and experience being truly independent. “LandAid House will impact over 10,000 young people over its lifetime, so it was important that we found the right financial partner. The way this deal was structured secures LandAid House and gives us flexibility for the future and that’s a great place for us to be in. “Unity’s relationship manager Paul Kelly demonstrated a great ability to understand us as a client and a charity and to come up with a solution that met our financial needs and helped drive our vision for growth.“ YMCA London City and North serves seven of the capital’s boroughs with a combined population of 600,000. With pockets of affluent and deprived areas, the charity manages five sites which provide up to 400 bed spaces for young people. Each person referred to the YMCA is assigned a case worker and life skills coaching along with training and education to help them find employment. Paul Kelly, Relationship Manager at Unity Trust Bank, said: “The YMCA gives vulnerable and traumatised young people a safe place to live and the chance to rebuild their lives. “Being a Londoner myself, it was particularly rewarding to partner with an organisation that helps so many young people in the capital. “Unity’s mission is to do good through finance, and we are proud to work with organisations whose values are aligned with our own.” Gillian Bowen, Chief Executive YMCA London City and North, said: “The values of Unity resonate with our cause. They have been a consistent, understanding and an efficient partner, providing us with a flexible financial product that allows us to stay focused on our objectives to make life better for young people experiencing homelessness.” Paul Thornhill, Director of Thornhill Capital Ltd which introduced YMCA to Unity, said: "It has been a pleasure working with Paul Kelly and Unity. Paul did a wonderful job and developed a strong rapport with YMCA’s Board and Executive team. “Unity has provided a loan facility with very competitive terms which satisfies the requirements of YMCA London City and North. This is excellent news for all parties involved with this deal.” About Unity Trust Bank Unity Trust Bank is an award-winning, independent, commercial bank that uses banking to improve the lives of UK communities. Living by its principles of banking with integrity, Unity’s purpose is to help create a better society, not simply maximise profits. Operating for almost 40 years, it has supported like-minded organisations that share its values and address social, economic and environmental needs. With offices in Birmingham, Manchester and London, Unity offers a range of banking services, including current accounts, savings accounts and loans. Unity is a Real Living Wage employer, a Fair Tax Mark business, a Women In Finance Charter signatory, a member of the Banking Standards Board and currently holds the Investors in People Gold standard. Visit www.unity.co.uk for more information. You can also follow Unity Trust Bank on Twitter and Facebook, or go to its LinkedIn page.