The Good Finance team reflect on our away day to Norwich where we visited various charities and social enterprises, to learn about their mission, listen to the challenges they face and to see first hand the positive impact they have on their community.
On Wednesday 10th August, team Good Finance went on an away day to the wonderful, sunny Norwich! We use away days as an opportunity to visit charities and social enterprises around the UK to see, fell and live the fantastic work they're doing. We had a jam packed day in the beautiful sunshine and met some really wonderful people.
Our first stop of the day was social enterprise, Bicycle Links CIC operating across two sites, and aiming to improve access to cycling for people in the community. They recycle, sell and service bikes for all ages. Bicycle Links receive bike donations from locals, to recycle the old parts or fix them up to be sold again. In 2018, they also set up a crowdfunding campaign for refugees and asylum seekers to access second hand bikes called the 'Welcome Wheels' project. During the 11 years they have been trading they have tried lots of things, some have worked and some haven't. Their honesty was both refreshing and sobering.
A short walk away and a cold drink away later was The Benjamin Foundation, our next stop. A fantastic charity who help children and young people with a variety of struggles they may face in their lives, all across Norfolk and Suffolk for over 25 years. They have helped countless young people through support and guidance positively impacting many lives, and continue to do amazing work. Not afraid to explore using social investment to scale their impact they have delivered on a Social Outcomes Contract and are on the cusp of further investment to scale their services. We had some great discussions with the team and think we left behind some food for thought on other ways social investment night help them to deliver on their mission. Huge thank you for your generous lunchtime hospitality.
Moving on to a fun team activity, we visited The Shoebox Community Hub to attempt their Escape Room! Wearing the fabulous hard hats, we set off underground on an excavating mission to rescue Herbert by solving various clues and riddles. It was great fun working as a team in different way than usual and we escaped with 4 1/2 minutes to spare - not quite the record, but we're proud! The Shoebox is a community hub, where people can come and chat, connect and experience new things (Escape Room included!)
Next stop after a lovely stroll near the canal, was the Adult Centre at The Hamlet Charity. A wonderful organisation who are a day centre for 19-29 year olds with disabilities and complex care needs. They offer a range of educational opportunities and experiences such as gardening, cooking, playing, making music and being creative. The work they do has a huge positive impact on these individuals and their families. Thank you to Lorraine for educating us and showing us around. It was inspiring but further highlighted how resilient charities and social enterprises have to be as their client needs change, their client needs change, their building ages and their resources are stretched. It was great to hear how their trustees have accessed the Reach Fund support to explore what the future might look like for the centre.
To end our amazing team day, it was only right to stop for some food and drinks at a local Community Pub! The White Swan in Gressenhall was purchased by the community using community shares and with the fantastic support from Good Finance partner the Plunkett Foundation which opened earlier this year thanks to 6000+ volunteer hours. It's a hidden gem and we highly recommend it to anyone passing through. Some incredible food and drinks to end our wonderful day - huge thanks to Alex Begg (ex On Purpose and Big Society Capital alumni) for taking care of us!
We then set off home to London and the Midlands after a fun filled, inspiring, thought provoking day. Another big thank you to all the wonderful organisations for having us and teaching us about your great work. It's incredible to see charities and social enterprises in action and seeing the impact first hand.
Here are some key takeaways from the team:
Rosie - It was a great experience visiting charities and social enterprises and hearing about the impactful, positive work they do. I learned a lot about the realities of running an organisation, including the joys but also the struggles. The day left me feeling inspired for the future due to the incredible work of charities and social enterprises.
Annie - We had such a fantastic and inspiring day in Norwich. One reflection for me was the key challenges and barriers facing charities and social enterprises in 2022. With demand for essential services + general costs on the rise, it's inspiring to see how organisations are continuing to thrive in the face of adversity and explore the 'Art of the Possible' to create greater impact for the users they serve.
Ishita - The resilience and resourcefulness of all the organisations we visited shone through. Big or small, local or county wide the uniting factor was the passion, the investment of self in supporting each of their different communities was both humbling and emotional.
Olivia - Taking a day out of the office was invaluable to meet and connect with just some of the people and organisations making a positive change in Norwich. It was incredibly humbling to hear how organisations face challenges and adversities, but yet continue to provide vital services and create impact in their communities.
Mel - The escape room really showed the value of each team member. From those great with logic puzzles, numbers, to those who would calmly hold their nerve. I already knew I am fortunate to work with some great people who like me share a passion for change through our support for social enterprises and charities but the day shone a spotlight on those skills and how we need to redouble our efforts to help those looking to sustain or to scale their impact to better understand how social investment could be a tool to do just that.
‘Are we there yet’ a question we are often asked acknowledging that social investment is not for everyone and whilst Good Finance has made huge strides there is still so much more we and the wider social investment community needs to do to support organisations like those we met in Norwich
Fayyadh - The away day in Norwich demonstrated the impact local-led social enterprise and charities have on communities who rely on their amazing services to overcome challenges and barriers they may face. Their resilience and resourcefulness is testament to the innovative approaches they have taken to overcome difficult periods during the pandemic for example. Their warm smiles, kind hearts and relentless commitment to serve others at the grass-roots captured us all, thank you.
We're already looking forward to our next team away day, where to next?