Inspiring Enterprise

Building Better Opportunities

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Project Highlights @ Team Development Day

At our recent Inspiring Enterprise Development Day we asked the teams what their highlights of the project were and here are some of the comments:

“Being told by participants what difference we have made to their lives for the better”

“The joy on someone’s face when they sold their first items”

“My client bursting into tears due to how happy she is with her progress”

“Having a great team to work with”

The question was part of our development day with all the Inspiring Enterprise staff. Our brainstorming generated some interesting ideas and suggestions, which we are currently working up into actions and hope to implement in the New Year!

 

 

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Start-Up boost for unemployed

The WSX Enterprise-led Inspiring EntInspiring Enterprise Logo with full colourerprise programme has attracted additional backing to carry on its life-changing support to unemployed people. The contract was expected to finish in December but due to its high level of success and continuing stream of enquiries, funders have agreed to carry on supporting the project. To date Inspiring Enterprise has helped 500 people in the Hampshire and Surrey area start their own business, find a job or re-train.

Inspiring Enterprise is aimed at people who are unemployed and young people not in education, employment or training, as well as lone parents, older workers, people with disabilities and people in minority groups. Part of the Building Better Opportunities programme, the project offers advice and support through workshops, taster sessions, training and mentoring.

Not-for-profit business support company WSX Enterprise is managing the scheme and is partnered by Action Hampshire, Surrey Community Action, Fredericks Foundation and the University of Winchester.

WSX Enterprise Project Manager, Henriette Reinders, said: “It is great news that we carry on helping unemployed and disadvantaged people into self-employment and social enterprise creation. With our support we have been able to change many people’s lives for the better.
“We have already helped 500 people and the enquiries keep coming in.”
“Our partnership brings skills, expertise and experience to the table helping beneficiaries to achieve business creation or employment opportunities.”

The Inspiring Enterprise website www.inspiringenterprise.org.uk features many cases studies of people who have benefitted from the project’s support.

To be eligible for help through Inspiring Enterprise people must live within the M3 corridor and be currently unemployed.

The M3 corridor runs from the New Forest to the M25 and includes Winchester, Andover, Alton, Farnham, Basingstoke, Farnborough, Camberley, Staines, Woking, Bracknell and everywhere in-between.
Anyone interested in finding out more about Inspiring Enterprise should visit the website www.inspiringenterprise.org.uk or call 0800 140 4537.

Building Better Opportunities
The Big Lottery Fund is the largest funder of community activity in the UK. It puts people in the lead to improve their lives and communities, often through small, local projects.
It is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by National Lottery players for good causes. Every year it invests over £650 million and awards around 12,000 grants across the UK for health, education, environment and charitable purposes.
Since June 2004 it has awarded over £9 billion to projects that change the lives of millions of people.
The project has received up to £1.45 million of funding from the Big Lottery Fund and the European Social Fund as part of the 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme in England.The Department for Work and Pensions is the Managing Authority for the England European Social Fund programme. Established by the European Union, the European Social Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support skills development, employment and job creation, social inclusion and local community regenerations.
For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.

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This time next year Rodney…

This is how Andy Pringle started his inspiring and motivating talk about starting a business to a group of start ups in Basingstoke. He spoke at the November networking session of Inspiring Enterprise, a project helping unemployed people become self-employed or start their own business.

Andy is an experienced advisor and mentor when it comes to start ups. He has successfully started a range of his own businesses, and helped hundreds of other start ups as well. He was very candid about the fact that not everything will work out well, you just have to keep on trying……

His experiences culminated in the publication of his Start Your Own Business Book and website(www.syob.net). All participants received a copy of the book and more copies will be available to budding entrepreneurs already part of the project or about to join!

Some of the feedback we received from participants:

– Really nice to hear from somebody who has been where I want to be!
– Speaker’s knowledge, drive and passion encourages to push forward
– Talk helped me to keep motivated and help me think about various aspects of my business
– Talk has given me a boost to keep going with my freelance business – good advice in the talk
– Talk helped me to be more open minded
– Enthusiastic – very interesting
– Very inspiring – Thank you Andy!
– There is nothing that can stop me now!

If you would like a copy of the book, please ask your Business Advisor or download the PDF here: Inspiring Enterprise 2019 version

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Social Kitchen: EdAble

I am waiting in the queue at Costa’s looking at all the sugar laden cakes and tarts. Do people still eat those these days? The sugar tax, the increase in vegan and vegetarian food, obesity…you would have thought that a more healthy option would do well.

Now I am not a buyer for the coffee chain or one of their marketing analysts, I am here to meet with one of our Inspiring Enterprise participants, Suzanne O’Hara who has just launched her Social Kitchen ‘EdAble’ in the Addlestone area and her business Advisor Richard Ryan from the Inspiring Enterprise project.

Having worked for the corporate food giants, but now needing to spend more time at home due to family circumstances, she felt that the time was right to make her dream come through to start her healthy food business.

Suzanne, enjoys honest food, hates waste and has always been keen to provide a place to work and flourish for people with disabilities. And with this love for food, she launched EdAble, a Social Enterprise producing home-style meals using gluts from local suppliers that might otherwise go to waste.  It is a win-win for everybody involved: suppliers see there produce being put to good use, customers get to eat healthy, wholesome meals and EdAble provides a workplace for people who would find it difficult to work 9-5.

She started working with Inspiring Enterprise Partner Surrey Community Action in 2017 and business advisor Richard helped her get the business off the ground. He comments: ”It is key for Suzanne to develop an income stream so the project is sustainable. Focus, dedication and a business strategy are all important to make this a success.  Suzanne is very motivated and I am confident that she will do well.”

EdAble Social Kitchen is open every Thursday at the Addlestone Community Centre. You can eat in or pick up your meals to eat at home.

Edablesocial.com

facebook.com/EdAbleSocial

Suzanne@edablesocial.com

 

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Successful participant: Shamala Moodley

I suddenly realise I am really hungry when I walk into Shamala’s kitchen. She is cooking several dishes for our lunch today to show off her skills and discuss her options going forward.

Shamala is a highly skilled senior teacher who due to ill health had to leave the teaching profession.  But she and her husband are  keen cooks and have always dreamed of starting their own food business.

Whilst off sick following a difficult time during her last job, Shamala came across the Inspiring Enterprise project and teamed up with Business Advisor Susan Reviere to develop her ideas and business plans.

Initially they explored having a catering van in the centre of Staines, selling street food to shoppers and passers-by. Whilst this was very popular on certain days, she felt that there was not enough passing trade to fund a business. She also recognised that next to setting up and running your own business you need another form of income to pick up the high and lows in the beginning.

Together with Susan she scaled back her business to preparing home-cooked meals for local people in Staines whilst working again part-time at a school. Many people met her whilst selling street food in Staines and the idea for delivered home-cooked food immediately caught on.  

People order through her Facebook page the day before and the meals are delivered hot at the requested time. Since switching to this approach, orders have steadily increased through word of mouth and Social Media. With her regular income secured, she is now gradually building a customer base in South West London. It is a shame I don’t live nearer…

You can get hold of Shamala’s lovely home-cooked food menu when you follow her on Facebook: foodhype.co.uk

Shamala specialises also in gluten free and vegetarian dishes.