The Value of Money
Last week I read that seven top local council chiefs enjoyed rewards up to £15,000 on top of there six-figure salaries. This was the same week that I was reminded by one of my social entrepreneur students that she doesn’t get paid a penny for the amazing work she undertakes.
This is a cruel world and the injustice in this staggers me. What is it about money? How can one person’s labour command such financial riches when another has to hope for ‘treasures in heaven’? We have a football manager earning £6m and a nurse who saves lives earning £20k, so don’t tell me it’s all about the responsibility.
The not-for-profit (NfP) sector is renowned for scraping by, relying on good will and sweat equity, It’s no wonder the Big Society’s looking to us to fill the gap. There’s no denying we are the people with the expertise, who have the experience on the ground to turn things around and restore our communities; we hold the keys.
Yet I get this sense that to NfP’s CASH is a dirty four letter word. When we apply for grants we cut off our noses to spite our face; we tremble at the thought of full cost recovery. We are so used to doing things on the cheap that funders and procurement officers have come to expect that of us.
Ok, I know it’s not all about making money and there are other motives for drawing in customers. I still feel though, that we have got to address the value of our products and services and be confident in what we’ve got to offer; again – we hold the keys. This is the window for social entrepreneurs, enabling a healthy balance of sustainable businesses that create social change. Making money, for good.
Conroy Williams
HSSE Programme Manager
Student Case Study
Charlie is a student of the Hampshire School for Social Entrepreneurs . Charlie is developing a project that uses street art as a means of addressig social issues with young people. Watch more below.
- Craig Deardon-Phillips and HSSE Students
HSSE Surgery
On a beautiful sunny morning we arrived at Bury Court in Bentley, a beautiful setting for the HSSE surgery day titled “Advice and Inspiration for Emerging Entrepreneurs”. A day filled with the promise of hearing about social media, having one to one time with professionals giving advice in their specialist fields and being inspired by Craig Dearden-Phillips, a successful social entrepreneur.
It lived up to the expectation of being inspiring but also very useful. A large part of our wish to encourage positive change is through communication and during the day we heard from Mark Walker, an ICT Champion, about the abundance of social media sites. He showed the endless possibilities we have of getting our voice heard in the modern world.
There were many professionals giving us advice from ‘Start-Up Funding’ to ‘Trading for Sustainability’. Although these clinics seemed a bit short, it was great to have the opportunity to make the contact and get some advice about where to go from there.
I am a person with big ideas with a very real belief that I want to encourage positive change and to make a difference in the world, particularly for those with disabilities. Hearing from Craig about his experiences in this field was really inspiring but also very helpful.
What is so encouraging at events such as this is to see people willing to give their time to help us find a path through all the obstacles that are placed in the way of positive change and help us construct stable foundations. By hearing about the mistakes and steep learning curves along with the successes of others gives us an honest insight into life as a social entrepreneur and shows that by learning from others, keeping determined and motivated we can all achieve. Ros Peckham, HSSE Student
Student Profile
Feel Good UK is a new positive mental health charity designed to teach people drug free techniques to effectively eliminate feelings of stress and depression from their lives.
With Feel Good UK, I’m eager to share pioneering thought and emotional management techniques with people of all ages across the UK. With the arena of mental health being incredibly private, and the UK experiencing a huge mental health crisis, I plan to utilise the very latest internet technologies, selling video and audio based training materials from the charity’s website –
www.feelgoodukonline.com
The school has been fantastic, a far greater training resource than any university or business course. With its focus on practical development and working business examples, it’s up to the student what they apply and how they apply it to their own organisation. You can either apply everything you are taught or apply nothing; fundamentally it’s down to the drive and willingness of the individual as to what they take away from the school.
Feel Good UK is set to launch this summer.
