Brighter Future Workshop, a Social Firm in Skelmersdale, West Lancashire, is celebrating in true royal style. It has won The Queen’s Award for Enterprise for outstanding achievements in Sustainable Development.
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Peter Cousins MBE set up the company with a clear vision for change by offering low-cost recycled mobility equipment and training opportunities to otherwise isolated individuals. In the last four years it has provided over 3,000 training opportunities for people with various types of disabilities and recycled or repaired over 5,000 pieces of mobility equipment - diverting them from landfill to enable disabled people to buy at an affordable price.
By “enhancing the lives of the community in which it operates and embodying sustainability through its committed leadership”, Brighter Future Workshop is today formally recognised as a dedicated and visionary Social Firm, led from the heart by the charismatic Cousins.
The Queen’s Award for Enterprise crowns a series of ambitious measures designed to increase the reach of Brighter Future; including a new eBay shop, an additional warehouse space and, launching soon, a newly redesigned website - completed pro bono by The Cooperative Financial Services team in Manchester. Once you have spoken to Peter you can see how he managed to attract a member of team onto the board and how they in turn were inspired to offer the redesign for free.
Peter sums up: “We recently had a call from the daughter of an 82 year old man who had bought a recycled mobility scooter from us. She rang to tell us that her father had been out of the house to buy his newspaper for the first time in eleven years. This is what Brighter Future Workshop is all about - giving people an entirely new lease of life.”
**Update 03/05/2011**
Corporate Member Wates Group was also awarded in recognition of their continuous improvement in sustainable development. Wates are the only construction to receive the accolade in the past five years - a testimony to their pioneering position in the construction industry.
Wates joined Social Firms UK as Corporate Members in 2011. We have been working with them to help them achieve their ambitious target of spending £750,000 in at least 50 social enterprises by the end of 2011.
Paul Dreschler said on winning the Queens Award: "We are honored to be one of the few companies to receive the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development from Her Majesty...This award also demonstrates that putting sustainability at the heart of your business model does not hinder success; as we recently announced in our Annual Results, Wates has experienced its sixth consecutive year of operating profit** growth."
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