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BARNADOS DEVELOP SOCIAL ENTERPRISE MODEL
When Barnardos UK Director of Operations, Chris Hanvey, decided to expand the charity's income base and bring what all charities desperately need – no strings attached funding – his corporate volunteer co-ordinator recommended contacting PrimeTimers for the skills he needed.
“I wanted to explore the possibility of setting up a social enterprise within the charity so that some of the things we run on a charitable basis could be operated commercially” Chris explained.
“To help me achieve this I needed to bring in people with a real entrepreneurial edge, strong commercial backgrounds and sound business sense. These were not the sort of people we could have easily attracted through other sources so, for us, PrimeTimers was a perfect skills source. Its members are doers, operationally focused, people that really achieve and make things work who have been senior managers within large prestigious organisations” he continued.
One of the hardest parts for Chris was to convince people within Barnardos that this was the way ahead - that social enterprise is a spectrum that can range from simply not losing money on a conference, to running some services that generate a surplus. “While for many people this felt like a bridge too far, we have progressed significantly and are now winning more and more people over to the work we are doing” he expanded.
PrimeTimers has also played a significant role in engaging the hearts and minds of Barnardos staff according to Chris, with its external validation and advice on how to get people on board.
As Brent Thomas, director of PrimeTimers said: “Working for a large established charity gives our members the opportunity to be exposed to significant challenges, and challenges that can be replicated throughout the charity world. They get the opportunity to get their teeth into some real cutting edge issues that will stand them in good stead for later career development or change.”
Exposure to a charity culture is also important and this works in reverse as well. In Barnardos some people were initially sceptical about what these business people could offer and were concerned that there was some kind of hidden agenda. “By working alongside the PrimeTimers consultants, the employees learnt to appreciate the skills and understand the motivation of our members” Brent explained.
“We have had three PrimeTimers working with us during the past two years to pull this project together and now we are starting to bring the money in, which is excellent” Chris concluded.
