Social Firms UK

A Non-Executive Chairperson is required for an established Social Firm based in Redhill, Surrey. Travel Matters Enterprises Ltd is a fully bonded travel agency which also offers IT training and work experience to individuals recovering from mental health issues as a route back to employment.

The role involves chairing quarterly board meetings and providing input on strategic planning, business development and budgeting as well as supporting staff. This is an opportunity to support and help develop a dynamic Social Firm which really does make a difference to people’s lives.

-Voluntary Role, expenses by agreement. -Experience of working on a Board or other Committee structure preferred.

For more details please contact Andy Evans (Joint Managing Director) 01737 789997 / andy@travelmatters.info

Offenders have won a prestigious award for their work in radically reducing landfill and improving the environment in the first stage of the new eco-town development in East Hampshire.

Offenders working from the Waste Works project based at HMP Ford in West Sussex have been working with Westridge Construction and East Hampshire District Council on the refurbishment of the old Bordon Fire Station which opened its doors to the public recently.

Waste Works has been named joint national champion of the ESF Sustainable Developing Mainstreaming Leader Award - 2012

Frame of Mind CIC, has been recognised for the service it provides for people with dementia.

It has been awarded a National Dementia Care Award for the help, support and learning they offer. They were declared the winner of the Outstanding Dementia Care Product/Innovation 2012 category.

For more details click here

Has your business traded for at least a year?

Is your turnover at least £40,000?

If so, then Sustainable Routes offers a grant of up to £1,000 to businesses, excluding franchises, who can cut travel costs by adopting new ways of working. If your business employs less than 250 people and is located in the South East of England – Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, Hampshire and Isle of Wight, Kent and Medway, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Sussex, then here is the opportunity to save money on travel. The project has been funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the South East ERDF Competitiveness Programme 2007-2013.

By signing up you will benefit from:

A personalised Travel Efficiency Plan A match funded grant of up to £1,000 Impact your bottom line, save money and help your employees and the environment. Here are a few examples:

A recent national awards ceremony for the British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) saw a Devon lady pick up two hugely important awards.

BASE is the national body that covers all organisations that help people with disabilities, learning disabilities, mental health issues and long term health problems into work. Their annual conference, that includes awards for practitioners, was held this year in Glasgow.

Neil Cattle, Employment Team Manager, says “At Pluss we are proud of all of our staff: everyone works incredibly hard to ensure that Pluss achieves its vision – ‘People of all abilities are inspired to achieve a career’. So when the opportunity to recognise our staff nationally appears, managers jump at the chance to nominate their team members.

Social Firm is Best Provider of Disability Employment Programme

The DWP has announced the results for the Work Choice programme, releasing a report on all organisations that deliver the programme and stating their success levels. The top performing organisation in Britain wasSocial Firm, Pluss.

The Work Choice Programme is the DWP’s specialist programme to help disabled people into work and this is the first set of results announced since the start of the programme in 2010. Pluss is the largest Social Firm in the UK and the only Social Firm to deliver Work Choice as a prime contractor.

Why “Social” Works

As well as topping the table with the best performing area, Devon and Cornwall, Pluss is also shown to be the best provider in Britain.