Challenge

Thousands of young people across the UK are being failed by the existing education system due to the inability to cater to individual needs of each child. 

For-profit businesses are exploiting the pressure for Local Authorities to offer children a registered placement, profiteering out of the lack of suitable provision elsewhere. As a result, the services are not child-focused and as such have a high turnover of staff as those that generally care about better outcomes for children affected are difficult to retain. 
There is a huge overspend on services for high needs children across the South West and beyond as local authorities pay the price of a broken system.  

Solution

We are providing child-focused support for some of society’s most vulnerable individuals, when they need it most. We have created a school that operates on a not-for-profit basis, meeting the individuals where they are, accommodating complex needs and focusing on giving these kids the life they deserve. 

We prioritise genuine, trauma-informed practice and education to create better outcomes for children, while reducing short term education and longer term social costs for the tax payer. 

We first took social investment from Resonance to cover the costs of setting up the school and getting it running well, including passing its first Ofsted inspection and renovating the school property and grounds to be compliant as a school premises. 

A few years later, when our turnover was around £375,000, we secured more social investment in order to buy the building and grounds for the school.

The financial toolkit for purchasing Royston Farm for The Wildings:

£250,000 in Blended Finance from Postcode Innovation Trust. £125,000 Loan, £125,000 grant, for 7 years at 3% Cost of Capital. 
£150,000 in Blended Finance from Social Investment Business. £37,500 grant, £112,500 loan for 6 years  at 7.5%. 
£325,000 Standard mortgage from Reliance Bank. 20 years at 3.25% - permanent capital of 2% on revenue over £400,000. 

Revenue

We generate revenue by providing contracts to Local Authorities. Recently, another Ofsted inspection enabled them to double our capacity from 5 to 10, resulting in an even higher projected turnover for next year (around £800,000). 

Impact 

It’s difficult to quantify long-term impact as we’ve had no school leavers to date, and we do not know with certainty what the cost of supporting these young people through their lives would have cost without our intervention and support, but you can look at the profiles of some of the students on an individual level to see just how much The Wildings has positively affected their life, with one student referring to us as ‘the only place he has ever felt safe’. 

This pupil went from no school in the UK offering them a place in 2021, to now thriving at The Wildings, on track to complete core qualifications and with their sights set firmly on becoming a Security Guard in the future. This young person was on the verge of incarceration and was suicidal when he arrived with us. 

In terms of the second round of social investment, the purchase of the building provided directors with security and was a huge weight lifted – enabling them to focus on the things that really matter. The school adopts a democratic ethos, meaning the young people are able to get involved in some of that top-level decision making, ultimately empowering them to use their voice and make a positive impact on their future environment. 

“It’s been a challenge to get investment. Some people won’t fund us as we provide statutory education and finding the ones that will is difficult. It’s also been a challenge to navigate the tricky dynamic of working with local authorities who know very little about working with social enterprises– all the while knowing very little about running a social enterprise and how it works, alongside the day job of running a school. There are definitely things I would do differently if I was to go through the process again, but we’re extremely grateful to our social investors – and there’s no doubt we be struggling to remain open had they not shown faith in us and enabled us to take the leap with repayable finance.”

Mike, Principle at Mime Heuristics CIC (The Wildings)

“It is very unusual for us to invest into complete start-ups, but with MiMe Heuristics, Mike came to us with a credible background and a serious proposal. He was replicating an existing successful model in the social enterprise space and had the team, vision, and the substantial experience to credibly deliver. It was touch and go for the first 12 months, especially with the impact of covid-19, but I am pleased that I followed my gut on this one. The caring support and education they give young people and the difference The Wildings makes to their lives and their wider families and society is immense. Further investment to secure their property for the long-term was obviously essential, but I know this is just the start of an even more ambitious journey and I can’t wait to see where they go next.”

Leila Sharland, Senior Investment Manager at Resonance

“MiMe Heuristics were able to present a potentially very impactful proposition that stood apart from the for-profit schools that dominate the social, emotional, and mental health needs education sector. Our Social Investment Programme was created to support social enterprises in their early stages of growth through the use of blended finance and MiMe Heuristics are a very good example of such an organisation disrupting their sector through an alternative business model.”

Joe Ray, Social Investment and Innovation Advisor at Postcode Innovation Trust