Enterprise Development Programme: Round one cohort
Find out more about the latest projects that have joined the EDP programme
Ambios Ltd
Ambios Ltd is a not-for-profit organisation based in South Devon, providing UK and European training projects in nature conservation. As well as residential training courses at their site on the Sharpham Estate, they have been running distance learning courses over the last few years with paying participants to boost their grant funding. They are looking to set up two additional remote learning courses to help stabilise their income further, with plans to support their trainees by loaning key equipment
Bicester Green
Bicester Green is a not-for-profit social enterprise centred in Bicester based on the belief that our collective well-being is ultimately dependent on environmental sustainability. To this end, they divert specific waste items from landfill including laptops, furniture and bicycles, hold workshops on how to repair or refurbish them and redistribute them to those in need. In particular, they recognise that social isolation can now arise as a result of digital exclusion and that being able to get online is now a necessity rather than a luxury.
They plan to create an Eco Community Hub on Bicester High Street, providing a space where they can grow their partnerships with other organisations focussed on improving sustainability and public well-being. Local collaborations include Bicester Community Fridge, Getting Oxfordshire Online and Zero Waste Retail.
https://www.bicestergreen.org.uk
Craft Wood
Craft Wood is a community woodland project based in Amber Valley, East Derbyshire, which has recently been certified as a Social Care Provider for people with learning support needs. They teach skills such as woodland management, habitat development and run crafts projects for vulnerable adults, providing creative and therapeutic activities to build confidence and encourage them to develop new interests.
As part of a wider plan to provide income-generating day opportunity services for vulnerable adults, they have asked for targeted support to develop a woodland sheltered enterprise: this eco-campsite will be run and managed by adults with learning difficulties or autism diagnoses. Craft Wood are also exploring ways to diversify their approach to face the demands of larger environmental challenges including the ambition to become a zero- carbon organisation.
Forest of Hearts
Forest of Hearts is a non-profit CIO based in Stratford upon Avon and working across Warwickshire. They create ‘gardens for good’, enhancing local green spaces to boost biodiversity, improve wellbeing and provide employment opportunities. They work closely with South Warwickshire Foundation Trust to build hospital gardens that promote patient and staff well-being, and plan to offer an advisory service to other organisations helping them to create and maintain similar spaces.
Additional Forest of Hearts projects include: repackaging their Green Team building events for commercial clients to help them deliver Corporate Social Responsibility objectives; and renting out their five-acre ‘Field of Life’ which they have developed as a wildlife-rich space, to promote learning and recreation opportunities.
https://www.forestofhearts.com
Groundwork Northamptonshire
Groundwork Northamptonshire is a local charitable Trust based in the East Midlands that is part of the Groundwork Federation. They manage a space called the Green Patch on the edge of the Grange housing estate in Kettering. Over 10 years, with the help of volunteers, this has grown into a vibrant and friendly community hub running an affordable ‘Veg Box’ scheme and hosting volunteer days, educational sessions, after-school clubs and family events.
Groundwork Northamptonshire are seeking to diversify their enterprise whilst preserving the on-site benefits for local people. This include providing more training opportunities for their volunteers as well as hosting workshops for both community and corporate groups; these focus on sustainable living and health and well-being. The Trust aim to invest any profits into creating more Green Patch sites in other areas.
https://www.groundwork.org.uk/hubs/eastmidlands
Groundwork Yorkshire
Groundwork Yorkshire is a local charitable Trust based in the Yorkshire. Their Green Doctor programme is part of a wider initiative across the Groundwork Federation providing free, impartial advice to local people to help them stay warm and reduce their energy bills. They now aim to target to the ‘able-to-pay’ sector to provide detailed advice on how businesses (and some households) can reduce their carbon emissions as well as saving income.
https://www.groundwork.org.uk/hubs/north-east-and-yorkshire/
The Library of Stuff
The Library of Stuff is a non-profit Community Interest Company (CIC) based in Hull that lends out a variety of appliances, including gardening, DIY, cooking and cleaning tools for a small charge. As many such items are often owned but infrequently used, the library encourages people to move away from a need to own mentality, by providing a budget-friendly alternative that helps to reduce overall consumption and waste.
https://www.libraryofstuff.co.uk
OrganicARTS
OrganicARTS is an educational charity based at West Town farm near Exeter promoting the arts and rural issues to the public through workshops, exhibitions and performances. They also support individuals who have experience of physical or mental ill health through practical projects such as the Community Garden volunteer sessions.
Support from the EDP will be targeted at the artwork created by their Makers Group; this supports individuals struggling with social isolation through creativity; in these sessions they learn to make items from natural materials such as ceramics from local clay, and jams from home-grown fruit. The project teaches practical skills like weaving, shows the importance of respecting nature and helps to encourage feelings of self-worth.
http://www.organicarts.org.uk/projects
South Dartmoor Community Energy
South Dartmoor Community Energy (SDCE) is a not-for-profit Community Benefit Company (CBC) based in Devon. They collaborate with local industry partners to facilitate renewable energy solutions in their region, working to help reduce carbon emissions and tackle fuel poverty.
SDCE have been engaged with a variety of ongoing projects offering different support pathways over the last five years, ranging from energy advice services, climate education and sustainable housing projects. They are now planning to strengthen their business model as an employer and developer of green solutions but have asked for help to streamline their resources into the most viable schemes.
Stitched Up
Stitched Up is a not-for-profit CBC based in Manchester, promoting sustainable fashion by recycling, reusing and upcycling clothing in the local area to reduce the amount of clothing going to landfill.
They are developing a project called ReFashionMCR to scale up their reuse of textile waste such as fabric offcuts and end-of-roll pieces. They also aim to increase their organisational capacity so they can receive more donations and sell more reclaimed textiles to community groups and sustainable fashion brands. These plans are part of a goal to increase their diversion of textiles from landfill tenfold in the next three years.