Peter Stanley, General Manager of the Aldingbourne Trust (which Social Firm wood@aldingbourne is part of) picked up the ‘Innovation Champion’ award at the business collaboration achievement awards at Brighton University last month.
The event marked the last 12 months of the Profitnet programme (a peer to peer business support programme) and acknowledged the achievements amongst the Profitnet groups in Sussex. The award criteria was based on practical application of the knowledge transfer and peer collaboration that had taken place amongst the network over the last year.
Peter Stanley was one of four winners and said “The Profitnet experience has helped me explore ideas and ways to improve the services that the Aldingbourne Trust provides”. The Aldingbourne Trust, a local charity based near Fontwell, supports adults with learning disabilities to become more independent by developing skills and providing support to live independently, seek employment and be fully inclusive within their local community.
One of the Trust’s strengths is identifying opportunities to start Social Firms in order to provide employment opportunities for adults with learning disabilities. wood@aldingbourne is one such example and provides a commercial collection service for builders, joiners and other wood producers. The waste wood is then turned into sellable products in the workshops at the Aldingbourne Country Centre - they now also sell logs, take bespoke commissions and sell reclaimed wood through its own timber yard.