News & Events

Last Thursday Steve headed over to Imperial College, London to talk to business students about the world of social enterprise. He was given a warm reception and encountered plenty of enthusiasm for his talk. The event coordinator gave encouragin feedback:

We’ve recently published our environment policy, which demonstrates our commitment to minimising our environmental impact.

The policy can be viewed here.

Last Wednesday saw Steve, Tim and Jess running the second working group with staff at Connexions Thames Valley. We spent the afternoon reviewing staff’s progress with the ‘distance travelled’ tool, making fascinating comparisons between the way it works across different client groups. We were particularly pleased to see the efforts they had made despite the challenges arising from budget cuts.

Intentionality CIC now has a Twitter account so that you can keep up with our news and so that we can share some thoughts and resources. Follow us by going to http://twitter.com/#!/Intentionality_

Over the last five months, Intentionality’s founder, Steve, has been working with the Surrey Youth Consortium (SYC) to build social and environmental impact measurement capacity. The contract concluded successfully last week, with a report and presentation to the Board. Over the course of the project, 18 individuals from 8 different members organisations participated in a programme of stakeholder mapping, identifying outcome and impact measures, piloting an impact survey and Eco-Mapping the premises of one member organisation. Jenny Griffiths OBE, the Independent Chair of the Surrey Youth Consortium, says:

“As a Consortium of voluntary and community organisations, it is essential that we have embedded methods to measure the social impact of our services on young people. Steve has skilfully guided us through a well-devised work programme, walking alongside us every step of the way, demonstrating an authoritative grasp of knowledge in the field, relating very well to everyone – young people, youth workers and Board members alike. His material was always focused, easily understood and very well-presented. He also kick-started some work on eco-mapping our premises, which was welcomed as being easy to comprehend and execute. We hope Steve will be able to work with us again before too long. He is exceptional value for money – and we love his values.”

We are really pleased to be able to announce that both Connexions Thames Valley and One in Four Magazine have recently engaged Intentionality to develop, implement and build capacity in social impact measurement. Both programmes of support and advice will begin in late August or early September and will last for 6 to 8 months. Both are fantastic organisations that really change lives – we’re excited to be working with them. For more information about our services, do get in touch.

In partnership with Secos, we’ll be presenting a free seminar on Measuring Environmental and Social Value, on Thursday 30th June in Reading from 9.30am to 12.00pm. It’ll be held at RISC, 35 – 39 London Street, Reading, RG1 4PS.

For more information, contact us on info@intentionality.co.uk or our friends at Secos on info@secos.co.uk

As a Community Interest Company, Intentionality is committed to equipping social enterprises to fulfil their mission and to seeking to benefit the social enterprise community. While Intentionality sustains itself through paid work, we also set aside time (and therefore money) to support fledging new enterprises and budding social entrepreneurs. In the 10 months between May 2010 and the end of March 2011, we provided almost £2,500 worth of pro bono mentoring, support and advice. Doing so is a real pleasure and the number of inspiring people and brilliant ideas that we come across is staggering.

Intentionality’s founding Director, Steve Coles, attended Voice11 – the UK’s largest social enterprise conference – over the last two days. The event was full of inspiring social entrepreneurs, engaging debates and opportunities for networking. The debates were particularly interesting with discussion of asset locks, the value of ownership, the transformation of public service delivery and of the place of social enterprise within it all. Matthew Taylor of the RSA, Hazel Blears MP, Claire Fox and Nigel Lowthrop of Hill Holt Wood made particularly exciting and challenging contributions.

Intentionality’s founding director, Steve, has been invited to take part in an expert seminar hosted by the Young Foundation and the National Youth Agency to discuss future strategies for investing in youth work. With his particular interest in social impact measurement, his MBA research on the wellbeing of NEET young people and as a trustee of a youth work charity, Steve is really pleased to be part of this important debate.

Voice 11, the UK’s biggest social enterprise event, is taking place on 30 March at The O2 in London. It is the first time Voice has taken place in the capital. The new-look programme includes live debates, 60 minute practical how-to sessions and on-the spot business advice for social enterprises at all stages of their journey from getting started to scaling up and out, as well as for charity and public sector staff considering a move into social enterprise. Meet people who have already set up their businesses, as well as experts in HR, marketing, finance and more! A great place to network and do business. Come to Voice11.

To find out more and read the event programme, visit www.socialenterprise.org.uk

Why is Intentionality so interested in social impact measurement? This is why:

“Why put your energy into an activity that is not directly producing results? Because you want better results, that’s why. Just as production-floor metrics improve the processes in your factories, social-impact metrics help you find better, faster, more efficient ways to deliver to the world what it needs from you. You measure what is important. If it is not measured, it is likely not something that you are trying to improve.”

From: Kevin Lynch & Julius Walls, Jr., Mission, Inc. – The Practitioner’s Guide to Social Enterprise, p. 131