Winsent

Current Social Enterprises that WINSENT are working with in Ireland and Wales

Sensational Kids is a registered charity that provides family centred therapy and educational services for children of all abilities in our state of the art occupational therapy centre in Kildare. We take pride in providing the highest quality occupational therapy, speech & language therapy and other therapy services. The Sensational Kids Shop is now open at our premises at Unit F2 Kildare Business Park, Kildare town so you can now visit our shop as well as buying online!

Marsh Tracks is the only national standard BMX track in north Wales, with Olympic standard gates. The closed circuit road track will also be used by runners and Nordic walkers and will be suitable for disabled cyclists a crucial additional asset for the town of Rhyl which will help to draw visitors from all over the UK from 2012 and beyond due to a planned programme of competitions and events.

Justin Lewis has been appointed Manager for the venture and is excited by the opportunities that this investment will bring to the community.

The venture was set up by a team of entrepreneurs who identified a brown field site which the County Council was happy to see developed. Many hours of meetings and ground works has resulted in this high quality venue which it is hoped will be self financing in the very near future.

The Chairman said “The board members are extremely grateful for the assistance Denbighshire County Council have provided Marsh Tracks, not only in terms of getting the project off the ground and project managing the development of the site itself but also for providing vital grant funding to allow us to purchase BMX bikes, adapted cycles for disabled use and safety equipment that will allow the widest possible use of the facility. Additionally, although it’s very early days in terms of running Marsh Tracks the WINEST funded business support offered from Consultancy Co-op will prove invaluable in ensuring the facility adheres to sound business principles which will lead to long term sustainability”

Justin Lewis
justin@marshtracks.co.uk

CoOptions Social Enterprise (Welsh Social Enterprise of the Year 2011 and UK Social Enterprise of the Year runner up 2011)

Co-Options Community Co-Operative Limited was formed in 1989 to develop a link between employment, businesses and people that have a learning disability. We are a social enterprise and our work is audited socially, financially and environmentally.

We create Businesses and locate Employment and Training Opportunities that include people with Learning Disabilities. We base these services on the individual needs of people we support.

We offer a range of working environments from paid employment through to voluntary jobs and individualised leisure support.

We own 9 businesses that people can come and work in. This helps our people learn new skills, make new relationships and make a contribution to the community.

We are so grateful for the support given to us through the Winsent programme and Denbighshire County Council. Visits to other social enterprises in Dublin helped us to reshape some of our thinking particularly our textile reuse and recycling business. Kit out the Kids. www.textiles-recycling.co.uk This led to us increasing our turnover and profit and additionally we have now helped two other organisations to set up similar enterprises.

Andy Lowe
www.cooptions.co.uk

The Raven Inn has been run by the community since August of 2009. A traditional country pub offering locally sourced food and the best real ales north Wales has to offer.
A company ‘limited by guarantee’ has been set up run the pub, Raven Mad Ltd. The Raven Inn is manned by volunteers and any profit can only be used to fund village community projects.
When the pub was threatened with closure and possible disposal, meetings were held in the village of Llanarmon yn Ial to see if the locals could purchase the licence. It helped that the owner had struggled to find a buyer in the midst of a recession.
The Raven Inn finally reopened with a two week loan of £1,500, a month’s free rent from the owner and the good will and hard work offered by the villagers.
The kitchen was scoured clean, walls repainted and historic photographs and brasses donated to hang on them. Furniture was given and a chef was ‘volunteered’ to come out of retirement.
The Inn now doubles as the village post office and hosts many community meetings and events.
In its first year of trading it made a profit of £1,000 on revenue of £190,00 and the Enterprise has just secured an extended 10 year operating lease and is considering opening up the bedrooms for walkers.
WINSENT is helping two of the volunteers to attend a micro brewing course in 2011, so who knows; in the not too distant future drinkers could be downing Raven Made Ale.

Scala Cinema and Arts Centre

Satellite technology makes business larger than life on the big screen
A cinema complex is revolutionising business conferences in North Wales – with the help of the silver screen.
Delegates at the Scala Cinema and Arts Centre in Prestatyn can now use satellite technology to link up live with colleagues anywhere in the world.
The larger than life images are beamed in using the same high tech wizardry that brings world class opera and theatre productions to the Scala.
The centre also boasts a media suite kitted out with state-of-the-art computers and software while digital network links allow for interactive dynamic presentations on the big screen.
According to General Manager Chris Bond, being located on the North Wales coast means the complex is the perfect place for business, training, private, public and charitable organisations to hold conferences and meetings of any size.
He said: “We are finding that business and organisations that come to us for conferences and meetings come back to us because of the brilliant facilities we can offer.
“I just want to ensure that as many organisations, businesses, statutory bodies and agencies as possible are aware of just what we have to offer.
“The media suite has 16 Apple Mac lap-top computers all with the latest software available.
“We also have the latest high definition cameras available meaning films and presentations can be recorded and edited on site and the finished product projected onto the large screen.”
The campaign to promote the Scala as a venue for business conferences has been boosted by a £1.3 million project is to breathe new life into communities across Anglesey and Denbighshire.
WINSENT (Wales Ireland Network for Social Entrepreneurship) aims to support new and existing social enterprises to grow, network with each other and become sustainable. The project is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Ireland Wales Programme (INTERREG 4A).
Social enterprises are often groups that offer childcare, recycling, art projects and key community projects like opening a community run shop or pub, all of which are for the benefit of the local people.
WINSENT helped in securing funding for the media suite as well as staff training at the Scala.
Mr. Bond said: “We have had a great deal of help from WINSENT for which we are very grateful. It’s wonderful to be able to access a scheme that was set up specifically to help Welsh and Irish social enterprises.
“There is no doubt that we can do a great deal to help, through our first class facilities, small business and charitable organisations. We really do have everything on site to arrange everything from a big conference to a small meeting.
Mr. Bond revealed the interactive facilities proved a big hit with Wrexham Glyndwr University students.
He said: “During the recent Cardiff Film Festival, Wrexham Glyndwr students using our facilities here were able to converse in real time with Aberystwyth and Cardiff students via our interactive and dynamic digital network.
“We also had great success with a question and answer session with actors Dame Judi Dench and Jude Law. They answered questions from filmgoers here and at other cinemas across the country.
“The important thing is that we have the capacity and technology to allow conference delegates or businesses to converse with colleagues anywhere in the world.”
And when it’s not in use as a conference facility the Scala’s satellite screen is proving a big hit with cinema goers.
“Satellite performances are hugely popular. We are screening a live performance by the Bolshoi Ballet in the coming weeks while a Royal Marines concert has already sold out ” concluded Mr. Bond.
Sue Haygarth, of Consultancy Coop based in Wales, is assisting Denbighshire County Council in delivering WINSENT for social enterprises in the county.
She said: “The Scala is a perfect example of community focused social enterprise in action.
“Social enterprise is about the art of the possible and the Scala is doing everything it can to maximise its potential. It’s a business with a social ethos.
“I want to raise the profile of social enterprises and social entrepreneurship so that they can draw on our free support and help.
“A social enterprise can be any number of things – it can be a person looking to transform a derelict building into a community hub, it can be people looking for a place to exhibit arts and crafts or it can be youth projects or a childcare scheme.
“Our aim is to enhance the social fabric of communities. If you have lost the community feeling, you have lost the area.
“Very often they need help with funding applications and business planning or marketing and communications.
“I work collaboratively with other support organisations to help them find the assistance they need. If we can’t do it, we’ll find somebody who can help.
“Ultimately, we want to create a network of social entrepreneurs and enterprises in conjunction with our colleagues in Ireland.
For more information about business meetings and conferences at the Scala Cinema and Arts Centre call + 353 1745 850 197 or visit www.scalaprestatyn.co.uk and anyone wanting more information about WINSENT should contact Sue Haygarth on +353 7786 171125 or email her at haygarthberry@hotmail.co.uk.