ENTERPRISE
Developing social enterprises together
LOOKING AT THE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE MODEL
We wanted to use some of the funding to set up mini social enterprises, to build on our skills and to help others in the community. We set up hubs, initially at home, to create necessities that could be sold fairly cheaply or given away as necessary. We wanted to provide essential, quality and natural products that people wouldn’t necessarily be able to afford otherwise. As a result, we have developed a range of hand sanitisers, spritzers and good quality face masks.
At the time the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we already had two essential ideas. Initially, hand Sanitiser and face masks were scarce commodities (along with loo rolls) – so we set about using sewing skills and knowledge of complementary therapies to respond to those needs. We tested the sanitisers within the dynamos group, friends, and family to get initial feedback and based on this extended the reach to the social supermarket at Kingsley Hall.
We made good quality re-usable face masks that could be then sold in the community or given free to those that couldn’t afford the product. Through our mini enterprises, we were continually testing, learning and modifying to develop the best products we could.
At the start of this process, we didn’t even know what a social enterprise was and it has been a learning curve throughout. Using a common definition, a social enterprise is “a business that is changing the world for the better and wanting to use the product/idea to give back to the community.
The process has given us the opportunity to be able to share our knowledge and skills with each other.
50 hand-made facemarks
250+ residents engaged
100+ sanitiser range distributed
“I’m a bit of a perfectionist and therefore I’m continually tweaking my product. it’s also been hard as I sometimes find it difficult to reach out for help and guidance. However, working with the Dynamos has made me feel supported throughout the process, and meant I have received valuable feedback Thank you so much!”
Su
Founder, ‘Rooted’ organic sanitises
Su, founder of Rooted, developed her organic sanitiser idea during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Out of necessity – as well as a lot of extra time – she decided to start developing product that would support the pandemic effort.
In her early research, she noticed that the hand sanitisers on offer in stores had a high alcohol content and were very drying to the skin, especially with constant use – as well as having knowledge about specific skin conditions as one of her children has suffered from these in the past.
As she says: ‘Since skin is the biggest organ of our bodies, we should give it the due care and respect it deserves by looking after the skin we’re in’. So, using her knowledge of Compementary Therapies, she decided to formulate a kinder version instead.
With help and support from Lankelly Chase and Kingsley Hall, she was able to fund the project before donating 200 Hand Sanitisers and 200 Spritsers to our local homeless community, The Source in Barking.
Her aim is to provide these essential items to those living within our communities who may not have access to them otherwise, due to lack of funding or marginalisation.
The brand is currently being developed and we look forward to showcasing it here soon!