As VCSE Representative, Claire acts as an intermediary between government and the voluntary sector to champion the Social Value Act and an improvement in commissioning practices.
Claire was appointed as VCSE Crown Representative in February 2018. As a key player in the social enterprise movement for over 30 years she brings a wealth of experience to the role. Claire’s priorities include…
- Enabling a thriving voluntary, community and social enterprise sector
- Working with industry and sector experts to identify and reduce barriers to VCSE participation in public service markets – including those small and medium sized.
- Raising awareness of and improving use of the Social Value Act in central government and the wider public sector
You can find out more about Claire at gov.uk/government/people/claire-dove and find a guide for VCSEs to form bids to work with government.
In October 2019, we hosted our first event with the Royal Society of Arts, bringing together Fellows from around the North of England.
The RSA has been at the forefront of social change for over 260 years. With 30,000 global Fellows, their work focusses on supporting innovation in three major areas: creative learning and development, public services and communities, and economy, enterprise and manufacturing.
Guests at the event:
- shared updates on RSA activities, ideas and areas of interest with one another;
- discovered more about Impact Hub Bradford’s community of social entrepreneurs, the city of Bradford, our work in Little Germany and our mission of social innovation and creativity in the city;
- showcased interesting people and projects in social innovation;
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As members of both the RSA and the Impact Hub Network, we look forward to hosting similar events in the future. If you’d like to partner on an event, contact our team today.
Impact Hub Bradford worked with Red Bull to bring their global social innovation programme, Amaphiko Academy to Bradford. Find out more about the programme below.
Red Bull Amaphiko is a global programme to help Social Entrepreneurs create innovative and sustainable change in their communities. Inspired by the Zulu word for ‘wings’, Red Bull Amaphiko helps support social entrepreneurs to get their vision off the ground through an integrated network of development tools, support structures, and storytelling know how, designed for sustainable, socially minded, grassroots ventures.
Impact Hub Bradford partnered with Red Bull on two occasions.
- In Autumn 2018, Impact Hub Bradford brought Red Bull Amaphiko to Bradford, for a weekend bootcamp for social entrepreneurs.
- In September 2019, Red Bull returned for a more ambitious week-long bootcamp which offered aspiring social innovators the chance to connect and collaborate with some of the world’s leading entrepreneurs and storytellers.
The programme of workshops and lectures are designed to offer inspiration and equip attendees with the practical skills required to take their projects to the next level. Following the academy, there’s an opportunity to receive 18 months of mentorship and support in developing a business, personal and strategic development plan.
Find out more at… redbull.com/gb-en/events/red-bull-amaphiko-academy-uk
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Impact Hub Bradford worked alongside the Red Bull team. If you’d like to host an event or programme in Bradford, contact our team to learn how we can help.
In September 2019, our team hosted Social Enterprise 101, an interactive workshop introducing the fundamentals of social enterprise.
Participants ranged from people with an idea to those at various stages of start-up.
Programme Outline
During the half day workshop, participants were motivated to act on their ideas and specifically think about how to make their social impact sustainable. Participants were equipped with an understanding of not just legal structures, but more importantly, a range of models of social entrepreneurship and an understanding of where product-based and service-based ventures can have a social impact.
On completion, participants have started to:
- understand social entrepreneurship.
- think about an idea for a social enterprise.
- have a clear understanding of how to make social enterprises sustainable.
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Impact Hub Bradford is building a community of social entrepreneurs. To attend future workshops, contact our team or stay connected through our newsletter
In August 2019, we worked with Red Bull’s Social Innovation team to host a Q&A about their upcoming Amaphiko Academy. Red Bull worked with our team to bring the Academy to Bradford – the first time it has been held in the UK.
This transformational Academy aims to give wings to grassroot social entrepreneurs, and the wider Bradford community. Participants met with Red Bull’s Head of Marketing Damian Marshall and Amaphiko Project Lead Natalie Duvall.
In July 2019, we invited charities, social enterprises or anyone interested in starting a venture with a social purpose to an open consultation on support for social enterprises.
The event is part of a new social investment fund that our team has been invited to lead on. Access (The Foundation for Social Investment) and Big Society Capital invited twelve cities to submit a proposal to their ten-year £33m programme of support for charities and social enterprises. Bradford is one of the cities Access and Big Society Capital have identified as being of significant interest. Five cities will be selected, meaning Bradford could access £6m to build resilience and provoke some innovation. We believe the programme could be a game changer for our social enterprise scene and the community and voluntary sectors.
If you’re interested in partnering with Impact Hub Bradford to host a consultation, contact our team today.
In June 2019, we partnered with Impact Hub Kings Cross as part of the British Council’s Developing Inclusive and Creative Economies (DICE) programme. Our team hosted a delegation from Pakistan, building links between the city’s Pakistani diaspora, its wider economy and Pakistan’s creative industries.
The delegation included representatives from Invest2Innovate, Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund and The Nest i/o.
Our team developed a detailed programme for the delegation, ranging from roundtables, events and workshops…
- An overview of the local social enterprise and creative ecosystems.
- A civic reception at City Hall, with local and civic leaders.
- A reception at the local Pakistani Consulate.
- Visits to Duke Studios, University of Bradford, Bradford Literature Festival and Yorkshire Adabee Forum.
- A workshop to allow delegates to co-design future collaborations together.
The visit was followed by a reciprocal delegation to Pakistan in September 2019, to further cement collaborations between our communities.
In April 2019, we led a creative co-design workshop on designing a vision for social impact and social enterprise in Bradford. Participants explored everything from the support that innovators need, to ensuring that Bradford’s diversity of voices are represented.
The event was part of Bradford’s social investment bid. Access (The Foundation for Social Investment) and Big Society Capital have invited twelve cities to submit a proposal to their ten-year £33m programme of support for charities and social enterprises. Bradford is one of the cities Access and Big Society Capital have identified as being of significant interest; five cities will be selected, meaning Bradford could access £6m to build resilience and provoke some innovation. For our social enterprise scene and the community and voluntary sectors, this could be a game changer.
The workshop was supported by a local representative from Access with participants from across the district.
Over the last year, our team has been leading an exciting social investment bid for Bradford district. This £33 million, 10-year initiative brings together grant and repayable finance, in order to provide local place-based partnerships in England with both enterprise support and flexible finance for charities and social enterprises to test and grow.
Access (The Foundation for Social Investment) and Big Society Capital approached Bradford in March 2019 – alongside 11 other places – to invite the city to bid be part of a new place-based blended capital initiative.
It is intended for five places to be successful and share the investment. Specific criteria for the programme haven’t been set with each area being asked to shape how they think investment and support would most benefit their place.
Though the city council was approached initially, they in turn approached Impact Hub Bradford’s CEO Kamran Rashid to lead Bradford’s bid for these funds, including convening and chairing a partnership panel, organising visits by the funders to the city; undertaking surveys; delivering and designing workshops, to shape the content of the bid and leading the city’s response.
Throughout 2019, Impact Hub Bradford supported the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council with the goal of nurturing and building the city’s social enterprise sector, sustainably, in the medium and long term.
As part of the programme, our team has hosted a series of workshops, roundtables and events:
- Mapping social enterprises and the local support ecosystem into a coherent network.
- A series of monthly networking events, supported by training workshops and peer support events.
- Producing and curating an annual conference for the sector.
- Communication, marketing and promotion of the sector.
- Ongoing research, evaluation and monitoring of the sector.
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Impact Hub Bradford is part of the world’s largest network of social entrepreneurs. Alongside our co-working space, we work with partners to boost social enterprise and innovation. If you’d like to discuss partnering on a programme or event, please contact our team today – we’d love to help.
