Scottish Government

Case Studies

Supplier Development Programme (SDP)

Rainbow Services

Alice Abbott from Rainbow Services started as a sole trader providing homecare in South Ayrshire in April 2005. Since then, she has progressed to provide homecare in Dumfries and Galloway and opened an Opportunity Centre for the elderly in Maybole, Ayrshire. In April 2009 Rainbow Services became a Ltd Company. Rainbow Services currently employs 90 staff and has a turnover of £850,000.

Alice attended the SDP's Love Me Tender event in Ayrshire in 2008, since attending Rainbow Services have went on to win a public contract and have plans for future organisation growth. "The Love Me Tender event was a fantastic opportunity to help grow my business and this event helped us to secure a contract" Alice Abbot, Rainbow Services.

Alice Abbott

rainbowservices@hotmail.co.uk

01655 882022

Firstport

Street Soccer

Street Soccer will operate at two levels. One is to work with street workers and the Big Issue to engage with people who are homeless, living in hostels, or generally disconnected from society to participate in regular 5 a side football matches. SS have already agreed free use of 5 a side pitches with a major UK chain. They are also in negotiation with a Council for a substantial annual contract. The second goal will be to set up an Academy where players going through Street Soccer will be trained to become qualified coaches. This will then allow them to provide coaching to the next generation of homeless players, as well as being able to generate personal income from coaching of other groups.

Firstport has assisted with business planning, personal coaching on how to plan for and achieve objectives from meetings with Councils and other organisations, while looking in detail at the operational side of the business as it increases its capacity and the number of players they are working with. The long term vision is clear, but we have helped them focus on what key decisions are essential in the next six months to create early success.

Street Soccer is looking to pilot this initially in the central belt of Scotland, so it can then be rolled out across Scotland, the UK and eventually worldwide, not just for soccer but other sports such as cricket in Asia.

The project is led by David Dukes who himself has gone through homelessness and through sport has regained a full and active role in society.

Fairlie Gardens

The main leader of this project helped the village become an Eco Village, and all schools within it become eco schools. Firstport has been introducing him to similar projects across Scotland needing his expertise. Firstport has provide extensive coaching prior to meetings between Fairlie Gardens and the Scottish Government, potential funders and other bodies such as WRAP and CRNS to ensure positive support and decisions are obtained. This had culminated in a number of successes such as obtaining funding for a presence at the Scottish Garden Show in Perth, funding to develop the eco model and support to pay Fairlie for a field worker to share their experience with grass roots garden and composting projects.

Firstport is now also assisting them in carrying out feasibility on the development of a Scottish owned and based eco schools programme which would be more suitable to the needs of Scottish education with dramatically reduced licensing costs compared with the current Eco Schools programme.

The support and coaching from Firstport was described as 'transforming' the attitudes and commitment obtained at meetings.

West Craigie Farm

A social enterprise to give work experience to ex offenders and others involved in community service programmes.

With land donated by the local farmer, fully equipped with polytunnels the social enterprise is now operating at the detailed planning stage. Firstport is working with them to help with funding applications based on realistic projections including the various income streams. Contacts are in place with various bodies and prisons to provide workers who are ex offenders, involved in community service, or groups with particular learning needs. At this stage the farmer is paying basic wages to Ian as a project worker to get to a starting trading position when workers and volunteers can be deployed, which in many cases will also attract associated funding. With the two main entrepreneurs involved at this stage we have a project which will be very successful in its own right but has enormous potential as a demonstrator which would allow similar projects to be developed in other parts of Scotland, but locally led.

Highland & Islands Social Enterprise Zone (HISEZ)

ILM (Industrial Labour Market) Highland

ILM was established in 1994 and operates as an independent social enterprise with charitable status. ILM (Highland) is situated in Alness and delivers various services that cover all over the Highlands. Presently ILM Highland has 36 employees. The organisation also provides up to six or seven training placements through New Deal.

The organisation provides four main services:

• Insulation of houses across the North of Scotland, from loft to cavity wall insulation. ILM (Highland) insulates around 900 homes a year.
• Care and Repair: this service provides free information and advice to enable people to improve their homes across Sutherland and Ross and Cromarty. Services include organising surveys and drawings, applying for loans and funding, dealing with contractors and monitoring the quality of the work. The improvements to the homes include the installation of new doors and windows, re- wiring and central heating, as well as full house renovations.
• Handyperson: provided throughout the Sutherland and Ross and Cromarty area. This service is available to those over 60 and for those who have a disability and may be unable to undertake tasks around their homes. Staff undertake small repairs and odd jobs. Tasks include fitting hand rails, moving furniture, fitting shelves, changing fuses and unblocking sinks. ILM only charge for the cost of the materials. The cost of the labour is free.
• Waste Electrical Re-use and Recycling: ILM Highland collect and receive electrical goods from individuals and businesses. The service provided for businesses allows them to comply with regulations involving the correct disposal of electrical waste. ILM Highland repairs the electrical waste (where it can) for re-use. Any other items are recycled

ILM has achieved sustainability by moving away from grant dependency by securing and delivering on contracts, as well as providing their services and recycling electrical waste.

The organisation attempted to expand by venturing into plastic recycling. However, this was unsuccessful. ILM has found it challenging to move away from being Grant dependant and has found it complicated dealing with the amount of bureaucracy surrounding grants and employment initiatives.

ILM Highland has achieved various successful ventures, helping those of the Highlands:

• The Handyperson service has fitted temporary ramps so that individuals are able to leave hospital earlier, and so that those who are terminally ill are able to spend their last few days in the comfort of their own home.
• Through the Handyperson service, some 22,000 jobs have been completed, since the service was established in 2004.
• ILM has helped those living in poor housing to lead better quality lives. To date, some 10,000 people have been supported through the Care and Repair service.
• Have helped the environment by successfully diverting 1,000 tonnes of waste from landfill sites each year.
• They produce 50 electrical units per week that can be re-used
• Have insulated some 15,000 homes.
• The care and repair and handyperson services benefit five to six thousand individuals per year.

The organisation aims to continue to provide their services in a sustainable manner

• They wish to further develop their services in relation to electrical waste so as to include four strands of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive

• They also wish to develop their Handyperson service further.

ILM Highland have recently opened a new shop in their Alness premises, which now stocks a broad range of new and refurbished electrical items, such as washing machines, cookers, refrigeration and tumble dryers.

Andy Dytch
ILM (Highland)

Unit 1G

Teaninich Industrial Estate

Alness

Highlands. IV17 OXS
Tel: 01349 884774 Fax: 01349 884660
Email: ilm@ilmhighland.co.uk Web: www.ilmhighland.co.uk

New Start Highland

New Start Highland was established when a group of individuals identified a gap in support service provision. The organisation became a vehicle to channel the goodwill of the community in offering practical support to people who were experiencing a period of vulnerability. Its services have grown to include preventative support in addition to the initial support provided to address barriers to social inclusion, create opportunities for engagement in the life of the community and avoidance of a destructive negative spiral.

Today New Start offers a distinctive and holistic suite of services. These include:

· Starter Packs (the basic small items required when setting up a home,e.g. crockery)

· Furniture Packs (includes all furniture, electrical and white goods)

· Housing Support (individualised support centring around issues of housing)

· Training Placements (work placements offering relevant qualifications)

· Job Club (job search and personal support)

· Shops (retail outlets providing reasonably priced household goods)

· Volunteering Placements (structured placements encouraging confidence)

Items they re-use are kindly donated by the people of the Highlands and include all furniture, electrical and white goods that would otherwise go to landfill. The development of each service has naturally progressed from existing services to provide additional support for people in a holistic way, further enabling them to begin their new start.

One of the fundamental parts of New Start's work is to encourage individuals to realise their potential and support them to become their own solution to whatever they may face.

The organisation has 35 employees and 10 full time trainees, and has provided structured volunteering opportunities for over 50 people. Some of the organisation's employees have experienced homelessness or social exclusion.

To sustain the delivery of New Start's overriding social purpose within its values, the organisation continually evolves in order to remain relevant to its external environment. New Start's objectives fit with the strategic priorities of Local and Scottish Government, meaning it is well positioned to be able to deliver services for statutory bodies. In addition, it has a number of retail outlets which also contribute to achieving sustainability.

Whilst there are various milestones and achievements that could be quoted, being a part of someone's life whilst they are transforming it themselves is something New Start finds the most rewarding.

As the organisation has grown, a challenge has been to balance the development of the organisation whilst the requisite expertise and resources were being built.

New Start Highland plans for the future include:

· to continue to create opportunities to support people who use the

· service to make positive life changes

· to continually provide and develop high quality services

· to become grant free in five years

Veneta Vitel

PA to Chief Executive

New Start Highland

9 Carsegate Road North

Inverness. IV3 8DU

Tel: 01463 728776 Fax: 01463 729549

Email: office@newstarthighland.org Web : www.newstarthighland.org

Aspire to Enterprise

Stepwell

Based in Inverclyde, Stepwell is an award winning social enterprise company delivering a range of high quality health and wellbeing services to individuals, organisations and businesses; focused on impact, their person-centred approach enables them to journey with clients as they embrace 'a change in the right direction' increasing confidence, enhancing skills and maximising impact. They are committed to impacting health inequalities, reducing absenteeism in the workplace and creating employment opportunities for people furthest from the labour market.

Stepwell has currently a staff team of 11 (8 directly employed staff and 3 seconded posts) with a turnover of just under £300,000 and provides three main services to both the local community and workplace sectors: a variety of confidence building (and teambuilding) cook schools, a comprehensive stress management service and a range of courses covering health and well-being.

Their vision is: Transforming Lifestyles : Changing Lives

Their aims are:

• Social Impact: Enabling local people to make positive life changes through person centred interventions and health and wellbeing training.
• Workplace Impact: Improving the productivity and service impact of the workplace by providing high quality health and wellbeing services.

Stepwell Consultancy Ltd. applied to the Aspire to Enterprise programme for assistance. A business health check was conducted and Stepwell was identified as eligible for support under the Aspire to Enterprise programme.

The development needs of the organisation as identified in the action plan of the health check were in relation to the development of Financial Strategy and Market Research. Specifically, Stepwell wanted to establish market rates and customer preferences for their services in each sector.

The Aspire to Enterprise programme responded by offering Stepwell Consultancy Ltd. assistance to conduct market research and develop a costing strategy by:

o Engaging key staff in the development process through structured sessions.

o Analysing existing services and market opportunities.

o Conducting market research into market rates for proposed services.

o Developing a costing strategy for service delivery of Stepwell Consultancy.

Steven Watson (Managing Director) commented: "The market research gained via the support of Aspire to Enterprise programme is invaluable to Stepwell as we seek to develop quality products/services which are responsive to the needs of the various sectors we are aiming to sell to. We have an increased awareness of market rates as well as clearer understandings of who are competitors are, what they offer and any gaps in the market. This research will enable us to make strategic decisions on how we move forward as a company."

Steven Watson (right, Managing Director, Stepwell) receives the award from Gerry McCarthy (left, Interim director of National Semiconductor). Photo courtesy Greenock Telegraph

Two participants at one of our extremely popular Wild Food Cook Schools

Two members of Stepwell's team at one S2S trade fair 2009

CEMVO

Dundee International Women's Centre (DIWC)

Dundee International Women's Centre (DIWC) is rapidly becoming one of Scotland's leading BME focused Social Enterprises. With having over 40 years of experience working with BME women and their communities it has have developed two inspiring social enterprise models that other organisations models of good practice for other agencies

"You have to go with your heart. It's scary but if you feel this is something that can happen, don't get put off by the scare factor," comments Pervin Ahmad, Executive Officer with Dundee International Women's Centre (DIWC). Being bold is an everyday activity for DIWC, an enterprise which has "been on a roll" since 2005 when it became independent from the YWCA and developed an ambitious vision based on what women said they wanted. This included new income generating services so that the centre can sustain its core programme of social, educational and recreational activities for women.

"Women were coming to us with all sorts of ideas. They wanted to work and take part in the community but they were struggling to achieve this as they were finding the mainstream job market uncomfortable. We were able to give them volunteer opportunities but they wanted more - they wanted to work. So we talked to them about what they would like to see in the centre and what they would like to do and two clear areas for opportunities were identified : catering and childcare."

Since 1969, the centre has offered social, educational, recreational and volunteering activities. Limited mainly by space, over three years ago, the centre acquired bigger premises and, with a grant from the Community Regeneration Fund, kitted it out with a large catering kitchen and a purpose built crèche.

For the past two and a half years, Rise and Shine Childcare, a daily care commission registered childcare service staffed by women who have been trained in-house as childcare workers, has been offered to service users participating in centre activities or to those women who need childcare so they can study out with the Centre (as well as the general public and local organisations). As one woman says, "My dream is to study, but I can't as I have not had access to crèche… here at Dundee International Women's Centre I do."

The Coach House (Balmore) Ltd.

The Balmore Trust was established in 1980 by a group of friends in Balmore to the north of Glasgow who opened a shop in a former coach house with the purpose of selling goods from Third World projects through Oxfam, Tearfund and Traidcraftraising money and supporting development work. The shop is staffed by volunteers and all profits go the to thrust. In 25 years of trading they have raised £440,000, together with donations this has enabled the Trust to give away £750,000. Two thirds of the money disbursed goes to overseas projects and the other third to projects in the UK.

The main grant recipients tend to be families, teenagers and women's aid groups, the trust likes to maintain links with those who receive grants, either through local support groups or directly with the projetcs themselves.

The Coach House employs 7 staff supported by 60 volunteers and has an annual turnover of £161,000.

Rainbow Turtle

Rainbow Turtle was set up in Paisley in 2002 by a group of friends concerned with the promotion and development of fair trade. Our objective is to raise public awareness of fair trade and encourage more people to buy fairly traided products. The shop stocks a diverse range of goods from foods to clothes to crafts and jewellery. There are 3 staff supported by 30 volunteers, the shop has a turnover of £140,000.

The charity works in several ways to enhance the profile of Fairtrade:

• Campaigning
• Taking part in Fairtrade Fortnight
• Lobbying
• Organising events & fundraising
• Directly supporting partners
• Education

Rainbow Turtle are looking to develop extra services such as a coffee shop/fairtrad educational centre redeveloment and expansion of the industrial unit to scale up the imports and wholesale work and to develop a "Fairtrade" wholesale hub for the West of Scotland.