The TREES Group

WINNERS OF THE SPARK CHALLENGE

Wednesday, June 11 2008

Three organisations from the South West of England that make money to tackle homelessness have scooped the largest slices of a £500,000 prize in a unique competition that aims to get hundreds more people off the streets.

Gilead Foundations - an organic farm and rehabilitation community, whose headquarters are near Oakhampton - won £90,000, while Plymouth Access to Housing (Path), which plans to establish a not-for-profit letting agency in Plymouth, won £85,000 and Plymouth-based Shekinah Mission, which teaches bricklaying, plastering and art and craft skills to people who have been homeless, was awarded £50,000.

The three, along with 12 other finalists in the Government-backed Spark competition, shared the fund. They were joined today at an awards ceremony in London by more than 100 other guests - all associated with initiatives to tackle homelessness. The guests included Junior Housing Minister Iain Wright and The Rt Hon. Patricia Hewitt, MP for Leicester West.

The money awarded varies in amount according to the specific needs of each organisation, topped by Gilead, which won £90,000 to help grow its social enterprise. The organic farm currently provides accommodation, rehabilitation, training and employment for 25 men, women and children, who would otherwise be homeless. It will use the money to train people to produce and sell high-quality, organic soft cheese.

Lois Samuel, Marketing Manager for the Gilead Foundation, said: "The project has been so inspiring and really made us step back and look at our social enterprise in a new light. It's made us think how we can expand to a bigger level and make a greater difference to more homeless people and those with addiction problems."

TPath won £85,000 to establish a not-for-profit letting agency to create an easier route into privately-rented housing for clients. While fellow Plymouth social enterprise Shekinah Mission won £50,000 to package its 'back-to-work' training programmes to sell to other organisations around the UK.

Other major recipients included: London-based Bikeworks, which employs homeless people to recondition stolen or recovered bikes which are then made available for people in the capital to use for free. It was awarded £75,000.

Brighton Housing Trust was awarded more than £20,000 to help set up a commercial catering service called 'Dine!' providing catering to functions, while giving people access to training and employment.

Congratulating the finalists on their innovation and commitment, Housing Minister Iain Wright, said: "The scheme shows what can be achieved by people and organisations adopting an enterprising approach to tackling homelessness, giving former homeless people the opportunity to get involved in the workplace to help end the cycle of homelessness. With expert business mentors backing them up along the way, these social enterprises have every chance of flourishing. I want to congratulate all the winners for the impressive range of their ideas and I know they'll make a huge difference to many more people's lives."

As well as the prize money, the 15 winning organisations will receive business coaching and mentoring from high-profile social entrepreneurs, including Nigel Kershaw, Chief executive of Big Issue Invest and Timothy Campbell, the winner of The BBC's The Apprentice, plus business insights and management support from Spark's corporate partners: PricewaterhouseCoopers, Places for People and BT, to increase the winning organisations' impact on homelessness.

The 15 winners will use their awards either to establish or increase the scale of their operations, aiming collectively within three years to earn £10 million annually to help thousands more people into education, training, accommodation and independent living.