Earlier this year Flourish launched Flourishing Mondays to support social ventures in Manchester to create the change they see needed in communities. Last week we launched Flourishing Fridays in Stockport to support even more early-stage and developing social entrepreneurs become financially sustainable and deliver their purpose at the same time.
We’ve developed Flourishing Mondays and Fridays as a new way for social enterprises in Manchester and Stockport to access tailored support to develop their organisation.
We’re inviting social ventures (these can be individuals, groups, organisations) to join us to learn, connect, collaborate and grow. We’ll be joined by inspiring, specialist speakers across a broad range of themes, plus there are opportunities to network and access free 1-2-1 mentoring from the Flourish team.
If you’d like to join us, you can see what’s coming up and book your place here.
We’ve hosted three events to date – read on to find out what we’ve been up to – and to catch up with our Expert Panel Discussions.
Income Generation (Manchester edition)
For our first Flourishing Monday we explored Income Generation for Social Enterprises. We were joined by expert panellists Grace Dyke (Yellow Jigsaw), Nicci Dickins (Profit for Purpose) and our own Nickala Torkington who talked about different routes to becoming financially sustainable. They shared their experiences as intrapraneurs, a variety of career pathways to creating change and practical ways to use your current projects to generate future income.
For those who missed it (or want to listen again) you can hear their Income Generation insights here.
In the afternoon we had round-table discussions on budgeting, piloting, pricing, negotiation and – crucially – how to get paid for the good work you do.
Income Generation (Stockport edition)
Same topic, different borough! And different completely different content. Always a hot topic, we ran a second session on income generation, which threw up a host of different pathways and opportunities for social entrepreneurs to give their ventures a financial boost.
Oonagh McDonell (ItsHerStory) shared her journey to becoming the first non-profit to receive an investment grant from social investment fund Proper Good. She shared how collaboration and a rock-solid business plan were key ingredients to getting the investment to grow her trading income.
Flourish’s Nickala Torkington highlighted the value of shifting to traded income quickly – be it through selling products and services or contracts and commissions.
Claire Worthington (The Village Web Company) explained how her various revenue streams – which include website development, digital marketing, training and room hire – enable her to deliver her vital work around digital inclusion.
We also heard about the power of a strong network from Amanda Fourie and Mel Page who set up the Heatons Post and Drawing Board Productions in just before the pandemic hit. They have since developed a host of creative income-earning strategies spanning advertising, subscriptions, events, crowd-funding and micro-donations to support their community newspaper and events.
Some really brilliant ideas and advice offered – you can catch up on the panel discussion here.
Finance, Community Assets, Buildings and Spaces
In this session we focused on Finance, Assets, Community Buildings & Spaces with a broad panel discussing what motivates individuals and organisations to take on a building or space. We looked at different pathways to finding, financing and managing an asset plus practical ways to engage your community to make it happen.
Petra Morris (Co-operatives UK, Stretford Public Hall) shared a number of examples where groups formed co-peratives to save community assets – including her own experiences with Stretford Public Hall. We also heard from Tom Hickson (Asset Transfer Specialist Consultant) who outlined what groups need to do to get themselves ready to take on an asset as well as the importance of securing revenue stream(s) from the get-go.
Gurj Kang (Further Finance) highlighted the need for robust financial processes to develop a sustainable community asset and Juanita Margerison (The Resonance Centre) described her pathway to funding her passion and purpose to make her vision a reality.
Sarah Spanton (Waymarking & Community Development Consultant) explained how vital it is to really understanding what – and who – the community space is for. Rachele Everoa shared her inspiring journey to setting up The Old Abbey Taphouse as a community pub, emphasising the importance of embedding yourself in – and properly listening to – the community.
If you’d like to hear more about finding – and financing – a community asset, plus a host of practical steps to getting started, you can catch up with the panel discussion here.
More Flourishing Mondays and Fridays coming soon
Our Social Enterprise Support days scheduled to continue until March 2023. These are open to all change-makers (including individuals, community groups, organisations and charities) whatever stage you are at – whether you have a seed of an idea or are looking to grow an organisation. So why not join us?
Each day will features an expert panel plus you’ll be able to connect with other ventures and access free 1-2-1 mentoring from the Flourish team. See what’s coming up and book your place via Eventbrite.
- Friday 9th September: Income Generation for Social Enterprise (Stockport)
- Monday 12th September: Finance, Assets, Community Buildings & Spaces (Clayton)
- Monday 26th September: Media, PR & Comms (Clayton)
- Friday 7th October: Digital Tools and Skills for Social Ventures (Stockport)
- Monday 10th October: Social Value & Evidencing Need (Clayton)
- Monday 24th October: Staffing and HR(Clayton)
- Friday 11th November: Corporate Partnerships & Cross-Sector Relationships (Stockport)
- Monday 14th November: Social Prescribing, Contracts & Strategic Links (Clayton)
- Monday 28th November: Festive Celebrations (Clayton)
- Friday 13th January: Theme tbc (Stockport)
- Friday 10th February: Theme tbc (Stockport)
- Friday 3rd March: Theme tbc (Stockport)
If you have any queries – or would like to suggest a theme – do drop me a line: shelley@flourishtogether.org.uk
We hope to see you at a Flourishing Monday or Friday soon!
Flourishing Mondays are FREE (with an option to pay-what-you-can). Flourish supports women changemakers in particular – but everyone is welcome!
Flourishing Fridays are backed by The Business Growth Hub, Manchester City Council, NatWest, Sector3 and Proper Good.
