Established 2005 Registered Charity No. 1110656

Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760

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Is social enterprise a cure for society?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s ills?

September 16 2011
The Jericho Foundation‘s new wood recycling scheme points the way

 

“This is an opportunity to stretch myself and adapt to working in a fast-growing business.” “I have come a long way and gained lots of skills which help me deal confidently with the working world.” These are the words of Steve Evans and Daniel Bland, two men thrown a lifeline by the Jericho Foundation, a social enterprise based in Balsall Heath, Birmingham. In June it opened a new wood recycling scheme to provide the region’s homeless people with skills and training opportunities.

Jericho began in 1993 as a drop-in centre for disadvantaged people and today operates seven other social enterprises, including a printing business and construction and landscaping services. At any one time, they cater for upwards of 70 people; some are in-house placements and others work with Jericho’s social enterprise partners.

The wood recycling scheme originated with a £80,000 award from the Spark Challenge, a £1.6 million pot of private sector funding available to social enterprise initiatives improving the lives of homeless people.

“Our unique selling points are the work experience we provide, the motivation we generate and the confidence we instil in people,” says Carlo Ropos, the Foundation’s deputy chief executive. “When I started at Jericho [in 2001], there was no such thing as social enterprise, but that’s what we were.

“Back then, the purpose was to get prostitutes off the street and help them move forward. Since then, we have widened the remit to include to homeless people - not people who sleep rough, as we are not geared towards dealing with that, but those in temporary accommodation.”

Evans and Bland have achieved stability following periods of great distress, Evans as a volunteer and Bland as an administrator, both with the wood recycling scheme.

Lee Johnson was brought up in care homes and left school with no qualifications. Thrown out of his brother’s flat some time ago, he lives in temporary accommodation.

Johnson - now Ropos’s executive assistant - is grateful for his association with Jericho: “Jericho has helped me see what is available and what I can achieve in life. Jericho has helped me consider different paths and it’s now up to me to decide.”

“Lee has great potential,” Ropos enthuses. “He has a great work ethic and is keen not to let his past hold him up. We are helping him look for his own flat.”

Ropos operates a zero-tolerance approach to drugs and alcohol: “That’s standard, especially in businesses like construction or wood recycling, where huge industrial saws could take your arm off. We can call on a client-support division based at Jericho including qualified psychologists, ex-lecturers, mentors, practitioners - a good spectrum of people provide support for the facility.”

What is a social enterprise?

In the West Midlands alone, over 5,000 businesses run operations that, in many cases, fill the gaps created by cuts to public services. “Social enterprises need to have a social or environmental mission or identified beneficiaries to be so defined,” says Kevin Maton, Social Enterprise West Midlands Network Director. “They are primarily businesses, and their area of activity could be anything. Some may help those in need by operating a business that has nothing to do with ‘helping those in need’ but, instead, generates profits that can be used to help. With public-sector cuts, the transformation of certain services into social enterprises may increase flexibility and provide more innovation. But they will still be businesses that need to pay for staff.”

Maton is impressed by the Jericho Foundation’s work assisting the homeless in the region and is confident that other organisations will follow its lead: “Housing associations are looking at how their wider supporting people services, their specialist shelters and other accommodation for homeless people can be set up as social enterprises. Social enterprises across the region work with individuals who are in need and may be homeless to help them find employment and increase the stability in their lives.

“We encourage all social enterprises to grow and diversify. Jericho is a good example of an outward-facing social enterprise that is always looking for new opportunities. This allows it to offer increasing prospects for people with a range of disadvantages either in the services it provides or in the jobs it can create.”

As funding cuts continue to take their toll, Maton is guarded as to whether social enterprises can really pick up from where public services may fall. “A day centre run as a social enterprise still needs to win contracts to ensure that services are provided. Social enterprises can be more flexible and innovative - they often trade on their local connections and can encourage investment from wider range of providers than local authorities. But they are not a ‘catch all’ solution for the ills of society.”

For Ropos, Jericho’s main consideration is not whether social enterprises can or should take on those responsibilities normally shouldered by local authorities but rather, how they can improve lives: “We take homelessness very seriously. We have found over the years that people like coming to Jericho. We can’t give them a job for life, though we’d love to be able to, but we provide a helping hand until they are ready to take the next step in the journey of their lives.”

*  The Jericho Foundation welcomes volunteers. Jericho Foundation, 196-197 Edward Road, Balsall Heath, Birmingham B12 9LX; 0121 440 7919; Birmingham@jericho.org.uk; www.jcp.org.uk

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