Check out the clips of our Learning Launchpad selection workshop held at the Young Foundation in February.
Faking it chefs cook for the Queen
March 4, 2010 – 11:36 am
Jack, Sameer and the Queen
Just days after Faking It participants Jack and Sameer cooked us a delicious lunch at our workshop day they casually let us know that they were cooking for a certain member of the royal family… I’m sure that the Queen enjoyed their food as much as we did. It is so rewarding for us to see young people we have worked with doing so well, so a huge congratulations to Jack and Sameer!
Opportunity – DreamIt Ventures Summer 2010 Incubator Program
March 4, 2010 – 11:05 am
Startl (an innovative American social enterprise) is launching its first cohort in the DreamIt Ventures Summer 2010 Incubator Program. They are looking for promising early seed stage companies focused on building creative digital products and services for learners.
Startl is selecting five LEARNING COMPANIES to participate in the regular DreamIt three-month residency program in Philadelphia running from Mid-May through Mid-August of this year. If chosen, Startl will cover the cost of your participation.
Applications opened Monday January 25, 2010 and close Monday March 15, 2010. Projects are selected on a rolling basis so apply as early as possible.
Jack on sustainability
March 2, 2010 – 12:36 pm
more about “Sustainability“, posted with vodpod
This is the excellent presentation Jack gave on sustainability at our workshop on 19 February. And follow the link if you would like to see the other presentation from the day about Working with Young People.
Social enterprise: the lonely adventure
February 25, 2010 – 2:12 pm
During my time with the Learning Launchpad, meeting many inspiring social entrepreneurs, I have been struck by the feelings of isolation that this group of individuals seem to experience. Whilst enterprise is often a rich and fulfilling experience, there are moments of the journey where individual entrepreneurs are struck by feelings of extreme loneliness and isolation.
Loneliness can come in many forms – physical isolation is felt by many entrepreneurs who often start working on their ideas at home or in a very small office. They are physically alone in the process, a process that is very personal to them and is often very consuming. Modern technology, which is meant to connect people is convenient, but it can often exacerbate physical isolation because it means that there is often no need for face-to-face meetings and interaction.
Social entrepreneurs are usually very gregarious and sociable people and are not short of friends, families and business contacts, but they are often left with the feeling that no else can understand or share their vision — they are emotionally and mentally isolated.
Feelings of loneliness can limit creativity and productivity, and in the long term effect self-esteem. It can also contribute to stress, which can in turn manifest itself in physical ill health. Therefore it is really important that the social entrepreneur tries to nip these emotions in the bud. This can sometimes seem like an insurmountable problem, so we’ve tried to think of some helpful suggestions:
You have to try and entrust your idea and vision to others, two heads are better than one. So try and build up a team that understand you and your hopes, so they can support you along the journey. You can also think about approaching another more experienced social entrepreneur that you know and ask them to become a mentor to you, as they will understand exactly where you are coming from and be able to guide you through good times and bad. It is very important to try to set aside time where you can socialise and interact with people wholly unrelated to your venture so that you can completely unwind. Finally, entrepreneurs should research and join any business networks in their local area so that they can meet people in similar situations.
Monthly Opportunities Roundup: funding, training, networking and resources.
February 25, 2010 – 10:56 am
Monthly opportunities roundup: February 2010
1. Learning Launchpad portfolio member, Future First is recruiting a Project Coordinator— Future First builds alumni networks around schools to advise, inform and inspire young people about careers. Operating in five comprehensive schools in Camden, Future First is now looking for a Project Coordinator to lead operations in these schools as well as to expand the initiative to new schools in the borough. To apply please e-mail Jess Cordingly for more information, Jess@futurefirst.org.uk (deadline is 9 March 2010).
2. An exciting North East project to develop 192 social and traditional enterprises and create over 200 jobs in disadvantaged areas has been given the green light with confirmation of funding from the European Union (£1.8 million). With over 800m2 of incubator and managed workspace facilities, the hubs will provide accommodation and start up support for small and medium sized social enterprises across Tyne and Wear. For more information please see the One North East website.
3. Vote Social Enterprise 2010: Social Enterprise London AGM and Hustings (3 March 2010) Attend this free AGM held by Social Enterprise London and be involved in a debate with the third sector spokespeople of all three main political parties, who have agreed to take part in this pre-election debate with members of the SEL Network. Register here.
4. thinkpublic is looking to recruit a managing director. They are looking for a natural born leader, who is great with people, to join their exciting, award-winning social innovation and design agency. thinkpublic has led the way in social innovation and design and are looking for someone to help navigate and maximise the business potential of their vision. For more information see here.
5. Westminster Education Forum Keynote Seminar: Finding a NEET solution: re-engaging young people not in employment, education or training (10 March 2010). Attend this seminar with Oliver Newton (NEET Policy Manager, Participation and Progression Division DCFS). Tickets cost £190, but concessions are available. Book places here.
6. Consulting Inplace (the economic and social policy consultancy) has rebranded. Previously WM Enterprise, the company has rebranded to reflect their transformation over recent years from a business working mainly in the West Midlands, and across a narrow range of topics, into a nationwide consultancy, working broadly across the four areas of communities, economies, skills and enterprise. Consulting Inplace helps public, voluntary and private sector organisations discover what works.
7. Win the ultimate social enter-prize! The Social Enterprise Ambassador programme has just launched its first-ever mentoring competition, offering an exclusive one on one session with one of the 28 ambassadors. This is an amazing opportunity to learn from the best and receive expert advice and guidance, tailored to you and your goals. Ambassadors include Nigel Kershaw (the Chairman of The Big Issue Group and Chief Executive of Big Issue Invest), Tim Campbell (CEO of Bright Ideas Trust) and many others.
8. Social enterprise structures guide launched by specialist law firm, TPP Law, to help businesses through this minefield. They have now published the 2nd edition of their “Practical Guide to Structures for Social Enterprises”. The guide has been updated to cover recent legislative developments, such as the entry into force of the Charities Act 2006 and development of government policy in this area. Order this guide now.
9. BME Social Enterprise Networking Event: Lambeth (10 March 2010). This event will provide quality sub regional and local networking opportunities for London’s BME social enterprises. Book now.
10. Cultivating Social Enterprise – free master classes on funding, business support and asset development (8 March 2010). Attend this free event and find out more about social enterprise support and resources. See here.
Miss out on investment this time? Here’s why…
February 24, 2010 – 9:35 pm
With the latest round of Learning Launchpad investment all but done and dusted (watch this space to find out who the lucky ones were), it’s only fair that we let you know the reasons why we might not have selected your idea this time. A lot of our feedback for Round 1 still holds but we hope this post is still of some use to you.
Ask yourself whether we are the right investor for you before applying
We work with ideas that break from the norm, offering a more efficient and effective solution to the problems of youth disengagement, unemployment, low creativity and resilience among many others that affect young people. These ideas must have a smart business model (that means, not dependent on charitable grants) and scalable (that means, have a robust plan of how to reach 1000s of young people). Unfortunately this means that we can’t support a lot of community-based youth work projects – no matter how great we think they are or how much we think these services should be valued by central and local government commissioners.
Tell us what your idea is (no, really…)
The best applications are those that can explain their idea concisely in really clear terms — would someone on the street understand what you do?
It’s surprising how many applications are unclear. If we’re left asking each other ‘So, what is their idea? What do they do?’ after reading the application, it’s not a great sign.
Be clear, concise and avoid jargon and fluffy sentences.
Be open about your challenges and what you need help on
This doesn’t mean telling us that you want to spend the money on marketing your services more widely. This means explaining what part of your service design, business model or scaling strategy isn’t working and how you propose to work with us to solve it.
It doesn’t matter if you haven’t got everything in place. If you are aware of the gaps and keen to fill them, we can work with you.
Don’t tell us you’ve got no competitors!
‘We have no competitors’ is often a warning sign for us and our expert reviewers when we are screening applications – it hints that the applicant doesn’t know the ‘market’ that they offer their services in. For example there are lots of organisations trying to increase young people’s wellbeing or reduce exclusion rates – we are more impressed when you know who these organisations are.
The best applications can acknowledge competitors and show an awareness of the market in which their idea will operate and show that they’ve thought laterally about who their competitors might be and how their project is different and better than the competition.
Skip the national stats…
We know how many NEETs there are (and many other commonly cited statistics) so limit this part to one sentence. We’re much more interested in how you think your service solves the social challenge that you are trying to solve (what’s your theory of change?)
…but tell us all about your own stats
Tell us specifically what impact your work will have on the young people involved, facts and figures and concrete evidence is good if you have it.
Where does the money come from?
We need to know about your financial sustainability – how are you moving away from unstable and unsustainable sources of funding (like charitable grants)?
Tell us who your client is. Your client might not be the same as your user or beneficiary:
- Perhaps you train your users to deliver a service to paying customers
- Perhaps your customer pays for you to deliver a social impact for your users.
If you’re up and running, tell us what proportion of your income is earned not charitable, how much revenue you have generated, how many clients you have and what you charge.
If you’re just getting started, tell us what evidence you have that clients will buy your service.
What does scale mean to you?
Scale for us means national – reaching out to the whole country like Teach First, Open University or the School of Everything.
It’s easy to say ‘our idea is very scalable/replicable’. It’s not so easy to explain how you will reach lots of young people in a short period of time without markedly raising your costs. Check out this post for some tips.
Tell us about yourself and your team
Name names! Who are you, what are your backgrounds, what relevant expertise do you have? Acknowledging and demonstrating that you are aware of your own gaps and those of your team is really important to us.
Edge Learner Forum
February 18, 2010 – 2:34 pm
Bright and early on Tuesday morning Learning Launchpad attended an Employability Summit hosted by the Edge Learner Forum and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. Bright and early on Tuesday morning Learning Launchpad attended an Employability Summit hosted by the Edge Learner Forum and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.
Some of their key findings are worth reading of the Edge Learner Forum Survey which surveyed 7000+ young people:
- 64% of young people believe that the recession will have a long-term effect on their employability
- Fear of being rejected for a job was the single biggest barrier to applying
- 85% of under-17s felt that education had prepared them for employment but only 53% of over-17s felt the same (perhaps indicating that the grim realities of job market entry have hit)
- 69% believe that employers place more value on academic rather than vocational qualifications
- Only 33% said they had had enough work placements to get into paid work
- Only 21% disagreed that their background would have a major impact on their career opportunities
The young people also presented a five point manifesto, calling for better careers IAG and work experience, earlier employability education, promotion of vocational routes to success and a call for employers and young people to work closer together.
The Edge press release can be found here: The UKCES also reported on their progress in developing their Employability Challenge report, which is due to be published in two parts in March and June. The CEO of UKCES highlighted UK careers advice provision as being “one of the worst IAG systems in the world”. It was valuable to hear from a group of young people on this topic and the Launchpad will be taking action in this area.
What are we educating for?
February 17, 2010 – 12:45 pm
The Learning Launchpad team went to a very interesting event about free schools and the future of state education in Britain. It was hosted by Bright Blue (new organisation campaigning for “progressive conservative” policies) and we heard from Anthony Seldon, the Master of Wellington College and Toby Young, the journalist who is currently interested in setting up his own school in West London.
The questions that were discussed throughout the evening were — what are schools for? Are they to impart knowledge or to teach employability skills? What is learning for? And what are we educating for?
Toby Young was in favour of promoting the traditional ‘liberal’ education at his new school where access to good education will not be based on income. For example, pupils at the school will have to learn Latin and a stringed instrument throughout their school careers. Anthony Seldon talked about how state education has been a force for good over the last century, but as a ‘state-experiment’ its time is over. He was advocating the move towards more free schools and eventual privatization of all schools, of all different ethos and curriculum.
Both parties agreed that we are in a very pivotal moment in education and that we have to seize the opportunity to question what we are educating for. Food for thought…
Fed-up pupils turn to Working Rite
February 3, 2010 – 12:57 pm
The Guardian has done a great feature on our investee Working Rite, recognising their efforts to engage young people through their work-based mentoring programmes. They are taking young people between the ages of 16 and 18 and matching them up with small businesses and trades to learn a skill and find their feet as a young adult. In the six years since it was formed, they have set up nine projects in England and Scotland, and dealt with more than 600 young people, 75% of whom secured an apprenticeship or job at the end of their placement. The Edinburgh-based social enterprise that has caught the attention of Conservative shadow ministers, who say they plan to use it as a model for dealing with disaffected youth.
It is fantastic to see the project getting the recognition that it deserves.
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