Featured in this month's newsletter: ......................................................................................................................................
Red Ochre NewsThe SEDA awards for 2012 were announced towards the end of 2012. Uday Thakkar was on the panel of judges for eth South East of England entries. “The quality of the entries was excellent. There were some robust discussions in
picking the winners”. The results for the awards can be seen
here.
Haringey – One Borough One Future FundFive exciting projects have been awarded funding from the council’s One Borough One Future Fund. The £1.5m fund was launched in February 2012 to tackle inequality across the borough by encouraging individuals and organisations to come forward with innovative ideas for how to better deliver services.
From over 300 applications submitted to the Fund, twelve were shortlisted to the second stage, and six of these chosen to present at a final pitch event to a group of experts in December– including Uday Thakkar from Red Ochre. More information about the fund and the award winners can be found
here.
British Library Growth ClubRobert spoke to over 50 entrepreneurs at the British Library Growth Club, which is quite a turn-out considering the snow at the time. Robert spoke on Top Strategies to Manage your Time. If you would like to know more contact
RobertThe first stage of the Hounslow Third Sector Resource Centre consultation (CAN in collaboration with Red Ochre) is coming to an end. There’s still just time to have your say on
surveymonkey.
If you’d like to know more about the project as a whole click
here for more information and useful links.
Clinks and Social Firms UK have been commissioned by the Home Office to undertake a piece of work to collect case studies from and about social enterprises working to enabling offenders (both adult and young offenders) to access training and employment opportunities.
Social enterprises could be paid up to £2000 to produce a case study that captures and shares current key learning and effective practice around these issues.
Click
here for further information.
Social FranchisingFor those interested in social franchising have a look at the
Trussell Trust. Chris Mould gave a great presentation on what this trust has achieved through insisting on rigid adherence to its guidelines in the creation of over 200 food banks across the UK.
Training and support
When: Tuesday 26th February 2013
Where: IP Centre, British Library, 96 Euston Road, London, NW1 2DB
This is an interactive half-day workshop that will provide delegates with the tools to understand and quantify the value they create, then communicate that value to appropriate stakeholders.
The session is a mix of theory, tools and frameworks, exercises and discussion. Theories and practice will be illustrated by case studies and real life examples.
Learning outcomes
On completion of this session delegates will have:
- An understanding of the basics of impact measurement and reporting
- The basis for a core bank of indicators
- A draft plan to communicate that value to appropriate supporters
The event is free, but you must book in advance. For more information click
here or to book click use
eventbrite.
Don’t forget Red Ochre are a co-op development agency. If you are a co-operative looking to grow, or are considering the co-operative model as a way forward for your enterprise we may be able to provide subsidized support. Please click
here for more information.
Conference RoundupsAs part of the Collaborating for Change West London programme a mini conference was held at the Red Brick Café in Harrow on the 9th of January. Various organisations promoted services for community groups and there were a number of presentations and a panel discussion. Uday Thakkar presented a short session on the “Do’s and Don’ts of Fund raising. A mini Masterclass in getting the funding process right.
Red Ochre’s involvement is part of the work it is undertaking in Harrow in partnership with Harrow in Business and Capable Communities to capacity build community organisations.
RSA Social Enterprise Spotlight event: Foundations for Growth part 2 - Culture and Branding (Jan 16)
Uday Thakkar ran two workshops on finance, funding and the impact on the culture of organisations of increased funding and growth. This was followed by a Q&A panel session with over 70 attendees. When seemed to strike a resonant chord with many of the participants was when Uday mentioned that it was OK not to grow – there is this constant presumption that everyone has to grow – it is the quality of your impact that is important.
Volunteering for accountants
Uday Thakkar addresses a very large group of chartered accountants at a volunteering fair organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales at their splendid premises in Moorgate. The fair sought to encourage more accountants to volunteer with the charity sector.
Uday spoke about his journey from rattling collection boxes and painting rooms as a teenager through to investigating charity fraud in his days in the City. Professional support for environmental charities in the 1990’s led to volunteering which in turn led to starting and managing a charity. Now he is a trustee of 3 charities.
His message was do this because there is a huge need for financial capabilities, it is satisfying, it is enjoyable and it is a great learning experience. “One of the first charities I worked with conducted a really powerful marketing campaign with virtually no resources – a feat a professional marketing manager estimated would have cost £250,000. Which begs the question – why are charities not considered to be enterprising?”
Charity Finance Group (CFG) activities: Annual Round Up
Uday chaired CFG’s Annual Round Up vent at Black Rock Investment Management. The round up was delivered by that doyen of Charity Accountants Pesh Framjee. It was a fascinating tour de force over an hour and a half as Pesh pumped out information on environment, legislation, tax, governance, pension problems and reporting.
The talk highlighted:
• The difficulty in fund raising and the fall in donations and statutory grants.
• The public still feel that charities are still not transparent about the benefits they bring or how they spend their money.
• The introduction of the Charitable incorporated Organisation – at long last
• The fact that Criminal Records Bureau (the infamous CRB) is now the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
• How governance and poor trusteeship forms a large part of the Charity Commission’s investigations
• Over a £1 billion was lost through fraud in 2010/11
Key takeaway: trustees should create an opportunities framework along side the risk assessment that they are obliged to undertake.
Impact Leadership Conference (CFG and NPC) (January 16)
Uday attended the conference and facilitated one of the afternoon sessions. The day started with an inspiring key note speech by David Robinson from Community Links.
‘The primary allegiance of the outstanding leader is to mission. It is our Pole Star. We lead most effectively when we question relentlessly, when we change continuously, fail thoughtfully, collaborate ruthlessly and evaluate fearlessly.
‘Impact measurement doesn’t contribute to one of these things. It is at the heart of them all.
‘Go bravely where it leads but never stop the questioning, never deny your humanity, imagining that numbers alone will tell you what is right, and never lose that North Star.’
There were various case studies on how charities are trying to grapple with the complex task of measuring and reporting impact and social change. There is still a long journey to be undertaken. The afternoon sessions which were participatory revealed the complexity of the issues charities are struggling with from running multiple projects to running global projects and finding a simple and consistent methodology to measure and report impact.
During January Uday facilitated a workshop on governance for a trustee board in Harringey and concluded a series of workshops on Business Planning and Business Planning Support for a council unit supporting community projects in a north London borough.
Quantifying and Communicating Social and Environmental Value Robert ran a successful session on Quantifying and Communicating Social and Environmental Value at
Timebank in mid January. If you'd like to know more about Red Ochre's work on social impact contact
Martin or
Robert.
Social Enterprise Bootcamp
During January Red Ochre completed the delivery of its Social Enterprise Bootcamp in Croydon, commissioned by the
Asian Resource Centre in Croydon, (ARCC). The workshops were enthusiastically received and the organisations that attended are fully expecting to get started or accelerate growth.
Introduction to Social Enterprise
Uday Thakkar ran two short workshops on social enterprise. The first was for the British Association for Supported Employment (BASE South East). The workshop explored how social enterprise could increase employment opportunities and diversify income and improve sustainability.
The second was for The Social Enterprise for Community Buildings – project managed by the Community Involvement Unit at Aston-Mansfield. Uday explored the requirements of what is a social enterprise and how to set one up and the benefits for Community Centres
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