Who should attend: This workshop is aimed at voluntary/community sector organisation and social enterprises that are considering, or are currently in the process of, collaborating or setting up a partnership with another organisation for fundraising, tendering or service delivery.

Date: Tuesday 24th January 2012
Time: 10am – 1pm
Venue: The British Library Business & IP Centre
Price: £30 Inc VAT

Please contact Anna Turner to book your place.

In this workshop we will consider three steps that any individual or organisation can use at any level of expertise to get to the heart of your organisation’s impact.

Who should attend? Anyone interested in understanding the work they are doing and their organisations impact. Including founders and CEOs, members of the senior management team with a performance remit, operational staff with a performance remit.

By the end of this course, participants will:

• gain a better understanding of what impact means for you and your organisation
• leave with a three stage plan to guide your impact work
• run through practical impact exercises and methods
• identify  one or two of the most important things for you to measure
• have the options in how to then go out and measure them
• be better able to answer the questions, who do I need to tell, what do I need to tell them and in what form do they need to know it?

Come to this workshop and improve your impact leadership and impact attitude as well as your impact measurement.

Date: Tuesday 20th March 2012
Time: 10am – 1pm
Venue: The British Library Business & IP Centre
Price: £30 Inc VAT

Please contact Anna Turner if you would like to book your place for this workshop.

Course Content:

• Definition and vocabulary:
  - a guide to common definitions
• What commissioners are looking for
  - motivations and drivers for commissioners and procurement officers
• Tendering processes
  - the commissioning process and how to engage through the official tendering processes
  - PQQ
  - the tender
  - the pitch
• Managing the contract
  - SLAs, managing service delivery under a contract, and associated operational issues including monitoring and      reporting

Course outcomes: 

Delegates will: 

• be able to understand and communicate tendering processes
• have a sound understanding of what makes a successful proposal
• be able to effectively communicate the impact of their service delivery

Who should attend?  Directors, trustees or members of the management committee; members of the senior management team; or any member of staff with a remit to respond to commissioning and procurement opportunities. 

Date: Thursday 23rd February 2012
Time: 1pm – 4pm
Venue: The British Library Business & IP Centre
Price: £30 Inc VAT

To book this course please contact Anna Turner.

The press release provides further information about the programme and you can also find out more by looking at the arc website and launch video.

If you are a social enterprise and would like to apply for arc, please contact Matthew Lill. If you are a business and would like further information about the programme Jennifer Aungst.

Red Ochre is one of the delivery partners, for more information please click here.

Eligibility:

• You need to be already operational with at least 1 employee
• You must have the ambition to grow and be seeking additional finance to facilitate the growth
• You will be required to pay a one-off fee of £200 for this support

The report, entitled ‘A Changing Landscape: A quality and quantative study of the VCS working to reduce re-offending and address community safety in changing times’ was released with two others, ‘When The Dust Settles’ and ‘Changing Times, Challenging Times’; also about the changing environment for these organisations.

The findings of the report looked at the ways the cuts have affected human, financial, organisational and social capital in each of the organisations, with some surprising results…

For more information visit Clinks, http://www.clinks.org/. Contact the author Martin Cooper martin@redochre.org.uk for a copy of the reports or talk about this work.

We can provide for you at no cost:

• Up to 4 days consultancy support
• Incorporation legal advice and registration of your co-operative company (you would just pay for the statuary fee of £40 or £116)
• Free membership of Co-ops UK (actual cost £70)
• Free Co-operative Bank account
• Access to £5,000 (which needs to be taken alongside a loan)
• Access to friendly loan fund which would not seek surety or guarantees

The Beijing delegates, who included founders and CEO’s of a fair trade company, online charity shop, organic farm, children’s charities, funding support organisations and a theatre social enterprise were impressed with the diversity and focus of the organisations we visited, as well as the way in which organisations listened and worked with stakeholders. The Beijing social entrepreneurs were also able to explain to the UK social enterprises how they operated so that we could learn from each other. The week ended with a review and world cafe event, some food and a glass of Beijing’s finest tipple.

See how the Wandsworth Guardian reported the tour - http://www.wandsworthguardian.co.uk/yoursay/communities/battersealive/yourcharities/9230285.Wandsworth_Oasis_Battersea_Hosts_Social_Entrepreneurs_from_China/

If you want to know more, or you would like us to organise a visit programme or session for you please contact Martin Cooper martin@redochre.org.uk

At the conference run by Vertex Consulting on growth strategies and with speakers such as the Chief Policy Adviser for Economics in Estonia and lectures from Henley Business School we ran the gamut of topics from cultural perspectives (David Rees) and customer insight (Jeff Callander), through to innovation and social innovation (me).

My take was innovation is a way to competitive advantage, and that people centric approach is key. Putting people, staff, customers and the wider community, at the heart of what you do is a key differentiator and helps you define and capture value, however you define value. I talked about a variety of non-technical approaches to innovation including tools, culture and social innovation models and even having the graveyard shift interaction was high.

A number of things struck me during my brief stay:

• The (apparent) over-representation of women as entrepreneurs, sales people and public faces of companies and organisations. This is a bit of a generalisation, and may well be a misconception on my part but did seem to borne out of by conversations and observations made by my fellow speakers.
• The presence of delegates from number of countries was high, but not as high as I would have expected. For instance there were a few delegates from Lithuania. Considering the geographical position of Estonia and it’s aspirations to be an export of country this seemed to be a bit of a missed opportunity.
• Surprisingly the Russian press in the Baltic picked up on the social enterprise aspects of my session, while the Estonia and Swedish press reported on my piece on innovation in my widest sense. I wonder whether there is a particular appeal of social enterprise for ex-soviet or communist states. Perhaps an “enterprise social” instead of the traditional “social enterprise” perspective?”

Turbulent times and an unforgiving environment. Constant change in society, the economy and technology. Organisational sustainability is being stretched to the limit. The demand for multi-skilled leadership has never been more pressing.

Organisations are demanding their leaders must be able to implement critical innovation, drive positive change, deliver winning strategies and craft responsive actions. At the same time they want their leaders to exhibit high standards of integrity, take responsibility for their actions and be guided by enduring principles rather than short term expedience. They are required to be visionaries and be convincing communications in order to motivate their teams and create supportive networks of stakeholders.

In 3 x 2-days modules over 4 months, you and a talented group of peers will explore the essence of holistic leadership – from leadership behaviours to the practical competencies of management. There will be a blend of lectures, thought-provoking debate, practical exercises and analysis – balanced with time for self-reflection and personal development. You will challenge and motivate each other, sharing ideas and forging professional bonds that can last a lifetime.

Red Ochre is famed for creating a learning environment that is invigorating, comprehensive and enjoyable. Our team has founded and run successful enterprises and charities; we are challenging and knowledgeable yet practical and grounded – stirred with a hint of laugher.

Download the Leadership Management Programme for full details and costs.