Wigan Extreme 1

Interviews at Wigan Extreme summer school, August 2007

The Wigan Extreme summer school – also branded the Ideas Factory – was designed to encourage new and existing social enterprises, using RE:generate’s techniques of community engagement. It was an intensive three-week course, and introduced participants to the basics of business planning, marketing and publicity – as well as explaining the concept of social enterprise and putting in place the foundations of a social enterprise network. More than 50 people attended some or all of the sessions, and by the end of the three weeks 25 potential businesses had been identified and helped with business planning.
The interviews – summarised below – took place with participants in the summer school on 16 August. The social enterprise ideas are a selection of the ideas put forward during the summer school.

Aims and achievements

Stephen Kearney, RE:Generate:
‘We decided to run the summer school to recognise the work people have done and think about projects, but put them into the context of social enterprise.
‘We used the “personal development and social action” formula – we listened, advertised, used local press and booked Wigan Investment Centre for three weeks. [Wigan Council] are spending £230k over two years and need results. If we get these people [potential social entrepreneurs] in, you create a community holding team – it will grow and teach them the Listening Matters process.
‘We have helped them build visions, look at teams, resolve conflicts, research markets, develop budgets and cashflows and publicise what they can do and put it into action. That’s involved really tough work. Some guys have developed their ideas and gone off to develop business plans. Others have filled with tears when we have spoken to them.
‘There are issues here – we really listen deeply to people and support them to develop the projects and structures they want.
‘A lot of people are requesting a network. The network here will be a social enterprise, an autonomous body run by people who live locally. It could be a pilot for other network structures. People are very keen to lock this into local government and the RE:generate process is at the heart of it. These people will take on social enterprise with the values and principles of community development at its heart. We will facilitate that but we won’t run it.
‘There’s not a day gone by when there haven’t been 20 or 30 people through the door at different times of the day. Fifty-two people have had enterprise ideas. Two or three have dropped out and 25 want to get involved. We have overachieved our expectations and met our target outputs with ease. Success will be dependent on a long term support structure, which is the social enterprise network.’

Peter Takaona, coordinator of the BME network and a refugee from Zimbabwe, sees Wigan Extreme as a way of strengthening the network and giving minority ethnic residents a more powerful voice in Wigan. The businesses will create income and give the network a higher profile.
‘We have had ten people [here] every day for three weeks. I have found it very educative. Some of our members have learned to stand up and talk. They feel comfortable to say what they want to say.
‘I feel happy because at last people are coming forward to say what they feel. I see that as positive community behaviour. I feel very confident about the businesses – it’s the only way forward.
‘Right now I am involved with citizenship issues and bringing people together. What I see as my duty is to round up people. By sitting on the board of the LSP I ask officers to hear from BME communities what their feelings are.’

John Clarke, head of operations, IAS Supported Employment, was put in touch with RE:generate by Wigan Economic Partnership.
‘We have had to balance between our day jobs and popping in [to Wigan Extreme] – we have covered most of the three weeks between us. We had three intensive days getting to know the group.
‘Our ideas have developed quite considerably. I am a trained social worker and teacher of social workers. If there’s been a shift for me, it’s been away from talking to people who want to work within a service, to selling a business project. It’s a big shift.
‘I know I can get the local authority or PCT on board. What I am keen to do is get the big ones on board like M&S who have good corporate responsibility.’

Joe Taylor, secretary, Billinge Local History Society:
‘I am interested in this as an opportunity for the community to get involved in looking after itself. I had never thought of a social enterprise because I am not business inclined or money motivated. This is a different way of doing it.
‘I can see there’s a dramatic difference when people get involved. This RE:generate way of looking at things really needs serious consideration. I am interested in seeing where you can go [with it]. Because I like the idea of it, I have put together what I think is a viable social enterprise so that money can go into a social enterprise network. That can then help bring other people in.
‘My particular social enterprise idea is about heritage. Wigan must keep its BLINT – buildings of local interest – list updated. It’s a big job to be done by council officers. I want to do it with the heritage network.
‘If you GPS information, link it to a digital photo and connect to the council’s geographic information system, it’s all on a digital map. Any application that affects a building of local interest is flagged up immediately. We want to do it as a pilot project with one township. We could do that over one year and the entire municipality over two years.’

Ed Ellis, first aid trainer, Wigan Council of Voluntary Health Services:
‘I had a meeting with Regenerate and we got involved in helping with their mailout. I read the leaflet and thought, I really want to go on that. I have been here all the time.
‘Before I came I was very afraid it was going to be pre-scripted. It’s been very reactive. They finish this by 7pm and produce stuff for us to use the next day, and they could only have produced it after we had gone home. It’s learner led and I have thoroughly enjoyed it.’

The social enterprise ideas

World in Wigan aims to use the talents of members of Wigan’s BME network to run social enterprises. These include an internet café serving a range of cultural food; an interpreting service; music and dance classes; and cookery training. Proceeds would be used to tackle poverty in Wigan and overseas. Interpreting services would meet existing demand locally – services are currently provided by agencies in Manchester.
Peter Takaona, coordinator of the BME network, suggests turnover could total £350,000 in three years. Suleyman Mohammad, who is organising the interpreting service, believes it can be started with minimal capital outlay, offering translation services in Kurdish, African languages, Arabic, Persian, Iranian, Russian, and Eastern European languages.

Inside Out Access Consultancy will employ people with disabilities as consultants to check that businesses and public agencies are meeting their legal obligations to provide access, but also meeting the needs of potential customers. It will advise businesses and public agencies on appropriate changes. The organisers have worked in supported employment for 35 years, and have been advised in this enterprise by the chief executive of Marks and Spencer and the area manager of W H Smith.

Dogtastic will provide ‘a dog training class with a difference’ for customers who would not usually take part in dog training – people with disabilities, for example. It will offer one to one training for dog owners, including home visits. The business expects to be self-sustaining within three years.

Ed Ellis plans to offer first aid training to public agencies in ways that meet the needs of different community groups. The aim is to offer 480 training places a year to local residents, and it is hoped a cash surplus of £42,000 can be generated within a year.

Joe Taylor aims to use GPS technology to help the local authority update its ‘BLINT’ list – buildings of local interest – so planners will be able to tell when a planning application affects a locally important building. The aim is to use members of Wigan’s heritage network to test the proposition in one area, and then extend it across the borough.