As we enter the final month of our funding from players of People’s Postcode Lottery, via People’s Postcode Trust, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on what we’ve achieved together. This grant has given us the breathing space and confidence to test new ideas, support our community and lay the foundations for the future.
What we’ve achieved so far
- Over 50 members are now part of our affordable, neurodivergent-friendly co-working space. We provide daily free lunches for co-workers, organise and facilitate socials and hangouts and a calm, inclusive environment where people can thrive.
- We launched our regular in-person meet-ups for neurodivergent creatives and social entrepreneurs to connect and share resources. Attendance for this was low, so community feedback has helped us redesign the format and we’re excited to launch new daytime sessions soon!!
- We’ve provided over 40 hours of free 1:1 support to neurodivergent social entrepreneurs needing help navigating the ups and downs of social entrepreneurship.
- In direct response to the needs of individuals, we have launched our Dysfunctional Executives support services, with discounted rates for neurodivergent individuals.
- We introduced a service specifically for those in receipt of Access to Work funding, helping neurodivergent individuals navigate employment and funding challenges at rates that meets their funding amount.
- In partnership with First Port, we designed and delivered a 4-week Business Finance Confidence programme, supporting a cohort of neurodivergent social entrepreneurs to feel more confident about money and business planning.
- 500+ lunches lovingly made for our community members!
The ripple effects have been huge. We have a variety of new workshops and projects that we have been able to develop over the last year. And we have one very big and exciting development that we’re not quite ready to share yet, but keep your eyes peeled for exciting news!!
What we’ve learned
Like many community-led organisations, we’ve learned that people’s needs don’t always translate into attendance, especially for free activities (If you also run a social enterprise you’re probably nodding your head right now) and as a social entrepreneur this can be tiring and disheartening when you’re also trying to juggle the day to day of running an organisation, but we’re continuing to adapt and co-design our services to ensure they’re relevant and accessible, so we’ve put a lot of effort into looking into ways to help people step out of their comfort zone and participate.
We’re also going to start using Plinth for all of our events going forward, so we can better capture the difference this work makes in people’s lives, and we’re implementing a new social media and outreach strategy to better keep you all up to date with what we’re up to!
Please get in touch and let us know what you need! We want to support you in any way we can!!
Thank you
We are so grateful to players of People’s Postcode Lottery for believing in our work. Your support has been transformational. Not just for us as an organisation, but for the neurodivergent individuals we serve!!
