All Saints Action Network - Winner Best Entrepreneurial Social Enterprise or Charity 2008

Founded in 1995 by a group of residents from the area of All Saints in Wolverhampton who were angry at the decline of their local economy and lack of opportunities for their young people, the charity now runs four businesses and a range of community projects. If offers traineeships and volunteering schemes, has built an all weather flood-lit sports facility and this year has created a managed workspace in a former primary school.

Mike Swain of ASAN comments, “The award has been a very important boost to our organisation for a number of reasons.

“Firstly it has given us some considerable credibility in that we have become associated with a high level award, which we are able to promote when we meet others and discuss our organisation and what it has achieved. We feel that the award is a high visibility endorsement, which adds considerably to our organisational CV.

“Secondly the award has given the organisation the opportunity to develop its skills in an area which it has limited knowledge – in the area of supporting local business. We indicated that we would like to use the award to enable us to put resources into becoming more effective in helping new businesses to get going. Although we have only just started this process, nevertheless we have begun to make some progress in helping local people to develop their business ideas.

“We indicated in our presentation during the selection process that we would use our award to help to support young entrepreneurs in the area develop their businesses. We have started to do this by providing an instant response service to young people who approach us about their business ideas or by working with individuals to develop business ideas with them. One particular success story, which is still developing, is with a young woman living in All Saints who we have helped into employment and we are now assisting her to establish the business; providing dance classes to other young people. We are looking to do the same thing with a number of volunteers who have become involved with our sports facility and who we are keen to assist in becoming self-employed through providing coaching in either football or basketball.

“We are also now planning to put in IT facilities in one of our rooms at the Workspace to enable us to provide a flexible facility for any young person who wants to use the space to help them develop their business. One woman has started to use the Workspace as a virtual office and holds meetings occasionally using the facilities at the building.

“I think it is fair to say that becoming involved in helping people to do business and become involved in business has helped our organisation to more effectively play a capacity building role in the local community.

“We can claim that we really do now have something to offer people through our ability to provide facilities for them and to encourage them to develop aspects of their business idea.

“At ASAN we check our progress through our social accounting activity and we are looking forward to seeing how the impact of the award (and the work we are doing as a result of the award) has affected the way people in the local community see our organisation and what it offers.

“I think there are two important messages we can give to other applicants for the awards. The first of these is that community enterprises and social enterprises need to be prepared to be bold, be pushy and never accept that something can’t be done. There will always be people out there who tell you that this thing or that thing is impossible.

“Our view is that standing still is not an option and that if you want to do something you need to go ahead and do it. The organisation needs to keep developing and providing new ways of engaging local people in enterprise activities.

“The second message is that to be bold and to take on new ideas, develop new plans, you need to be prepared to carefully think through what you are doing. Just as you can never stand still, you also can never stop planning. New ideas need to be thought through. Sometimes you may not have the knowledge yourself and you then need to find someone who can help. But there are always people out there who can help. You just need to find them!”