Equal-Works

Background

The lead body, Breathing Space, works to help the disadvantaged or socially excluded to overcome barriers, to progress in their lives and to re-connect with the world of work, training or education. Round Two Equal funding allowed Breathing Space to identify the barriers to self-employment and to work with established partners to create ways of overcoming them. Breathing Space and its partners are well established, know their client base well and are able to make rapid progress in this work.

Aims

Euro Enterprise Evolutions is designed to research and test innovative ways of supporting and empowering people from disadvantaged groups in overcoming barriers and starting their own business.

Objectives

• The project contains tools and support for those people who feel the they cannot even consider self-employment because of a lack of reading, writing and maths skills, lack of confidence, fear of risks, dyslexia or disability issues. etc.
• The project has been developing a range of training and one-to-one support to help clients learn business skills, create a business plan and access opportunities for start-up finance.
• Once clients have set up their business, further support is available from a Business Administration Toolkit, e-business coaching and mentoring support, internet shop creation software, tools to help users fill out forms etc.
• The project is developing research studies, events, training, toolkits and conferences for business advisers, practitioners and policy makers to share information and lessons learnt to a wider audience.

Target groups

• Women
• People with disabilities
• BME groups
• Ex-offenders
• Young people

Breathing Space and its partners are well established and know their client base well. The Equal programme has enabled them to come together to further their joint strategic aims.

Euro Enterprise Evolutions - Summary of Achievements

Barriers to enterprise for specific groups

Research reports have been produced and disseminated looking at barriers to enterprise for women (report entitled Risky Business?) and BME groups, exploring the potential of enterprise for offenders and the possibilities for social enterprises.

The 7C’s for Women into Business has been produced as a book with colour graphics. Although a book in its own right, this has also been used by workshop leaders as a tutor manual.

As a result of the work carried out in the area of ‘women and enterprise’, Breathing Space, the DP lead partner, has been awarded Prowess status.

Courses developed

The project has enabled a wide variety of people to explore the possibilities of enterprise via creative enterprise sessions and enterprise and life coaching sessions.

Five hundred and fifty people accessed the self-employment course over the period of the project.

People have had the opportunity to look at their own goals and aspirations via life coaching and cognitive behaviour therapy.

The Business e-coaching and mentoring course/OCN qualification has inspired confidence and given people already in business the opportunity to help others just starting out. This training initiative is proving very popular.

Skills for Life

The Reading, Writing and Maths for Self-Employment Toolkit (comprising manual, workbook and audio CD-ROM) has been well received by Skills for Life training providers/practitioners as well as by business support advisers and individuals.

Innovative IT solutions

A prototype computerised system/terminal called the Enterprise Pod (E-Pod) has been produced to enable people to explore whether self-employment might be ‘for them’; if so, it will produce a business plan for them, including the financial section, based on their responses to a series of questions. The kiosk is designed to be wheelchair accessible and has touch screen and audio facilities. It is envisaged that the system will also be available online.

A number of promotional mechanisms were tested. Digivey (a touch screen question/answer system) was an alternative way of finding out beneficiary opinions, but perhaps the most entertaining promotional product was transmission of short video clips (filmed using road runners and cartoon characters) via mobile phones.

Dissemination and Mainstreaming

The Enterprise Conference 2007 held in early December had a number of prestigious speakers, including Dr Ernesto Sirolli of the Sirolli Institute, and attracted delegates from across the country.

In terms of mainstreaming, a lot of information has been disseminated via conferences, which have also provided good opportunities to engage with policy makers. However, more ‘lasting’ connections have been made via presentations to small groups.

Equal opportunities

A small but very significant equal opportunities outcome of the project has been to increase greatly awareness of the needs of people with dyslexia. For instance, partners have been encouraged to use pastel-coloured paper for forms and information sheets because many people with dyslexia find it hard to read black on white. It is hoped that this awareness will be sustained and carried over into all areas of work to aid both employees and beneficiaries who have dyslexia.