I just came across what looks like a fab new initiative via Twitter, run by PwC with chef Simon Boyle and his Beyond Food Foundation, De Vere Venues and the School for Social Entrepreneurs. The three-way partnership between the private, public and third sectors will help disadvantaged individuals develop skills and find work through a new restaurant and cookery school in Tooley Street.

The 1879 former fire station on Tooley Street will house a social enterprise bistro, wine bar, private dining and event business (including a training and demonstration kitchen); a social enterprise business centre and office space for training 40 social enterprise students every year.

The project will be called ‘Brigade’ and will be managed by De Vere Venues, supported by the Beyond Food Foundation’s Freshlife Training and Apprenticeship scheme.

It will provide a location for individuals who have experienced homelessness, and other vulnerable groups to participate in a catering training and an apprenticeship programme.

The redevelopment of the Fire Station is funded by PwC, the Beyond Food Foundation (through a grant from the Homes and Communities Agency’s Place of Change Programme) and De Vere Venues, with support from Big Issue Invest

“We want to create a centre for social enterprise innovation, combining private, public and third sector expertise, and a flagship for business and social enterprise partnering,” says PwC managing partner Richard Collier Keywood.

“The parties we’ve brought together bring that to life.

“Like any business, social enterprises need to build the capacity to operate at scale if they are to be able to compete for the opportunities that are now on the table.

“Ours is an ambitious approach and it only works because all three of the public, private and third sectors have come together. No-one would have achieved this alone.”

Simon Boyle added: “This is a project we’re all incredibly passionate about, it gives us all a chance to build a fantastic business that supports the underprivileged by giving them a career in one of the most exciting industries around.

“The standards we set at the fire station will be exceptional, we’re not just nurturing cooks here, we’re creating brilliant chefs.”

What a fantastic idea! Some of us will definitely be making a trip down there when it opens!

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Last night, Panorma on BBC1 ran an episode on the difficulties of finding work. It featured a fab little social enterprise to help unemployed people in Rhyl, North Wales.

Have you heard of any other social enterprises that have a similar aim? I personally know of the Hoxton Apprentice, The Canteen and Waterhouse Conference Centre.

We asked Julia Middleton, Founder and Chief Executive of Common Purpose who inspires her….

People who stand up and don’t grovel. Whether they are swanky or not. Whether they change the world or just their streets. People who take a step forward rather than back when faced with a challenge.

Who inspires you? What do you see in people that makes you want to learn a new skill, strive to achieve, reach your goals?

In a recession there are many who will become unemployed and suffer as a result of the economic downturn, but it seems somehow so much worse to read that we are heading towards having one million young unemployed people in this country. That’s an awful lot of talent, of bright, enthusiastic and eager young people who should be starting out on their career. When I left university in the early 80s jobs were hard to come by and I remember how quickly I felt isolated and began to doubt my own ability to get a job and pay my way. Two good things happened to me at that time. First, I got a temporary job working as a relief manager in Off Licenses in Edinburgh (that certainly toughened me up and gave me some much needed life experience) and second, when I did get a “proper” job it was with Habitat who delivered great leadership training that was well ahead of its time. But many of my contemporaries missed out and it took them years to catch up with the development I’d received.

At Common Purpose we want to make our contribution to helping some of today’s young people to at least get the leadership development that they would have had if they were in employment, so together with our alumni and supporters we have launched our Young Million campaign. We are running 3-day courses, each for 50 young unemployed people, to help them to be better leaders and understand what it takes to produce change.

Our alumni have been fantastic in donating their time (as speakers) and their financial support (the young people attend for free – their places are paid for by these donations). These are not passive courses in lecture theatres – the young people will hear from local leaders and be challenged to work on problems being faced by them in our current, fast-changing and challenging environment. This is real experiential learning.

Our first courses in Newcastle, London and Manchester are ready to receive applications from anyone currently unemployed, not in full time education and aged between 18-25. If you want more info visit our web site http://youngmillion.commonpurpose.org.uk/

This post is written by Caroline Duckworth, Managing Director, Common Purpose UK

 

Here is a list of Julia Middleton‘s top 10 inspirational leaders:

1. Ronald Arculli
2. Narayana Murthy
3. Jude Kelly
4. Marjorie Scardino
5. Cyril Ramaphosa
6. Matt Baggott
7. Helena Kennedy
8. Devi Shetty
9. Isher Ahluwalia
10. Bernd Kundrun

Who would make your top 10 inspirational leaders? What is it about them that makes them stand out? Share your top leaders…

I had the pleasure of addressing a group of 16 – 21 year olds as part of a Common Purpose event in Sheffield. The group had all been identified as young leaders and my job was to offer them an insight into my career path and some thoughts about my personal brand, in the hope I might inspire them and offer some guidance based on my life experience. Now, as the title of my blog suggests you get a bit of a mixed bag when you Google me so I introduced myself as a 42 year old father of 3, CEO of U-Explore, an international DJ (1 half of the Tidy Boys) and an ex 80’s Pop star who sold over 10 million records with a rabbit called Jive Bunny… I got their attention … although the rabbit thing took some explaining as none of them were born before 1989. One of the teachers was beside herself though!

As we closed the hour long session which i enjoyed tremendously, (and incidentally spending time with this group of 16 – 21 year olds reinstates your faith in the youth of today) I left them with a sobering thought. In this age of social media your personal brand will not only be defined by how you conduct yourself in person but even more so by the digital footprint you leave behind. In the Google age the first thing you do before meeting someone is to generally go Google them and within Nano seconds a digital dossier of images, comments, thoughts, feelings, videos and anything else you can imagine is there to be digested and judged. I relayed a story of my niece who is now a very successful recruitment consultant but was once a ‘mad up for it’ clubber and if you every Googled her name a tricky photo of her straddling a chair wearing not much would be the 4th thing you saw… bit awkward!

I asked the group what did they say about themselves this weekend on their portfolio of social profiles! Did anyone upload any funny photos or crazzzzy videos?….. Their faces dropped a little and there were a few knowing looks!

Your digital footprint is like luggage… it stays with you for a very long time!

This is an excerpt from Andy Pickles’ blog post about contributing to a Common Purpose event for 16-21 year olds. Andy is a graduate of the Common Purpose 20:20 course and is currently the Chief Executive at U-Explore. This excerpt has been reproduced with his permission.

Does it matter what out leaders wear? Are clothes something that is crucial when judging someone for the first time? This is something that I have been thinking about for a while now as I meet more and more people in my role as Common Purpose’s Media and Communications Officer.

When you meet someone in a business or work environment and they are wearing something completely out of the “norm”, does this affect how people treat them? I believe that each person needs to be true to themselves in not only their behaviour, but the way that they present themselves. Saying this, by dressing in an alternate style to your average business man or woman, does this create unnecessary barriers for yourself?

I spoke to a gentleman a while ago who told a fascinating story about his experience. He used to dress in traditional Zambian attire, with the attitude that he could dress however he wanted. Years later he spoke to a friend who simply asked him why he was creating an unnecessary barrier for himself. Since then, he changed the way he dressed to blend in much more with western dress.

There are some interesting views on the topic in last month’s Prospect magazine. They have illustrated the story with people such as Michelle Obama, Margaret Thatcher, Christina Fernandez de Kirchner and Indira Ghandhi.

What are your thoughts? Does the way someone dresses alter how you perceive them enough for this to be an issue?

This post is written by Isabella Betkowski, Media and Communications Officer at Common Purpose.