Peter Holbrook: April 2008 Archives
It's been a crazy month and a long time since my last entry - I feel like I've neglected you.
If anyone has been waiting with bated breath for my next post then I'm totally amazed. (and erm sorry).
When we decided to take control of the cafe in the Sunlight centre, it was just about having control of the space and the menu - we wanted to improve health within our community - you see any caterer in Gillingham that wants to make a profit generally buys a burger and hot dog stall.
We also wanted the older folk to feel that they could stay cosy and warm all day - even if they bought nothing at all.
5 years on and our catering activities are about to top £1m. How did that happen? We wanted to transform our community, not sell sandwiches.
I think it happened almost by accident, we could see that running a cafe meant that people could get involved in what we did without having a degree in social work. It changed the nature of our relationship with local people from 'service users' (a term I hate) to volunteers, trainees, and even staff. It created an opportunity for active participation within the centre.
Growing enterprise means more jobs and more opportunities for people in our community. And if i have learnt anything over the past 10 years it's the power of a valuing job with a good employer to transform someones esteem, confidence, independence and future opportunities.
So we keep on growing because we want to offer more and more people jobs and training, give ever more people greater opportunities to make healthier options and because we can demonstrate that good food needn't cost the earth.
A fortnight ago we found out that we'd won a huge new contract - the sole caterer to Medway Unitary Authority which means more jobs and more training opportunities. It has also continued our ethical dilemas - should we give people what they want or what they need? When does encouragement to go healthy and green become food fascism?
Is it right to dump coke and kitkats coz they're unfriendly businesses and yet deprive our customers of the most popular brands? Is bottled water worse for the planet than intensive meat production?
As our business grows we spend more and more time discussing these issues. All round eco super foods are more expensive than simple, good, nutritious food (organic free range chickens fed on alfafa sprouts harvested by a workers cooperative of Tibetan monks from our turf roof are just sooo pricey).
We started out trying to provide healthy options at affordable prices in a fairly neglected area of Kent. These days we're trying to offer employment and training to young offenders and people with disabilities who are helping us to change the world with every single crumb of our gluten free, low GI, organic tofu and freerange chickpea wraps.
I never thought cafes could be quite so ethically challenging, complicated and confusing as they currently seem.
For the time being at least we'll communicate messages about environmental impact, animal welfare, foodmiles and fairtrade (we're covered head to toe with Divine choc marketing) but leave our customers with choice.
We are however dumping bottled water and replacing it with chilled, filtered tap water in reusable glass bottles, have moved to free range chicken and keeping the training of local people as an organisational priority.
It's the sprout harvesting monks that'll have to go.
Oh well lucky for me there are plenty of other distractions to keep me occupied -
We were delighted when Futurebuilders gave us a grant to develop our proposals to take on the GP practice at the Sunlight hub as a social enterprise. (We've witnessed the success at Bromley by Bow and others and seen for ourselves the benefits of integrated healthcare - we are keen to replicate it.) Alas our consultants have been told by Medway Primary Care Trust in no uncertain way that that just ain't gonna happen. Ever.
Seeking change and improvement might imply some failure under the current arrangements - the practice is directly managed by Medway Primary Care Trust.
So it's likely that patient numbers will continue to dwindle (quite some feat in an under-doctored area), the health gains we've made will be reversed, our pharmacy will become unsustainable and close and the whole multi-award winning centre (on which so many other facilities have been based) will die a slow and awkward death.
It won't happen because we won't let it, but I've seen plenty of other incredible community organisations where it has happened and improvements won are so easily lost.
Of course we and the communities we support won't give up on our aspirations without a fight, but it does make you ask why doing good is made as hard as it is and just how much of a role social enterprise can ever really have in transforming public services. I'll keep you posted on how we fare.
Till next time!
P
If anyone has been waiting with bated breath for my next post then I'm totally amazed. (and erm sorry).
When we decided to take control of the cafe in the Sunlight centre, it was just about having control of the space and the menu - we wanted to improve health within our community - you see any caterer in Gillingham that wants to make a profit generally buys a burger and hot dog stall.
We also wanted the older folk to feel that they could stay cosy and warm all day - even if they bought nothing at all.
5 years on and our catering activities are about to top £1m. How did that happen? We wanted to transform our community, not sell sandwiches.
I think it happened almost by accident, we could see that running a cafe meant that people could get involved in what we did without having a degree in social work. It changed the nature of our relationship with local people from 'service users' (a term I hate) to volunteers, trainees, and even staff. It created an opportunity for active participation within the centre.
Growing enterprise means more jobs and more opportunities for people in our community. And if i have learnt anything over the past 10 years it's the power of a valuing job with a good employer to transform someones esteem, confidence, independence and future opportunities.
So we keep on growing because we want to offer more and more people jobs and training, give ever more people greater opportunities to make healthier options and because we can demonstrate that good food needn't cost the earth.
A fortnight ago we found out that we'd won a huge new contract - the sole caterer to Medway Unitary Authority which means more jobs and more training opportunities. It has also continued our ethical dilemas - should we give people what they want or what they need? When does encouragement to go healthy and green become food fascism?
Is it right to dump coke and kitkats coz they're unfriendly businesses and yet deprive our customers of the most popular brands? Is bottled water worse for the planet than intensive meat production?
As our business grows we spend more and more time discussing these issues. All round eco super foods are more expensive than simple, good, nutritious food (organic free range chickens fed on alfafa sprouts harvested by a workers cooperative of Tibetan monks from our turf roof are just sooo pricey).
We started out trying to provide healthy options at affordable prices in a fairly neglected area of Kent. These days we're trying to offer employment and training to young offenders and people with disabilities who are helping us to change the world with every single crumb of our gluten free, low GI, organic tofu and freerange chickpea wraps.
I never thought cafes could be quite so ethically challenging, complicated and confusing as they currently seem.
For the time being at least we'll communicate messages about environmental impact, animal welfare, foodmiles and fairtrade (we're covered head to toe with Divine choc marketing) but leave our customers with choice.
We are however dumping bottled water and replacing it with chilled, filtered tap water in reusable glass bottles, have moved to free range chicken and keeping the training of local people as an organisational priority.
It's the sprout harvesting monks that'll have to go.
Oh well lucky for me there are plenty of other distractions to keep me occupied -
We were delighted when Futurebuilders gave us a grant to develop our proposals to take on the GP practice at the Sunlight hub as a social enterprise. (We've witnessed the success at Bromley by Bow and others and seen for ourselves the benefits of integrated healthcare - we are keen to replicate it.) Alas our consultants have been told by Medway Primary Care Trust in no uncertain way that that just ain't gonna happen. Ever.
Seeking change and improvement might imply some failure under the current arrangements - the practice is directly managed by Medway Primary Care Trust.
So it's likely that patient numbers will continue to dwindle (quite some feat in an under-doctored area), the health gains we've made will be reversed, our pharmacy will become unsustainable and close and the whole multi-award winning centre (on which so many other facilities have been based) will die a slow and awkward death.
It won't happen because we won't let it, but I've seen plenty of other incredible community organisations where it has happened and improvements won are so easily lost.
Of course we and the communities we support won't give up on our aspirations without a fight, but it does make you ask why doing good is made as hard as it is and just how much of a role social enterprise can ever really have in transforming public services. I'll keep you posted on how we fare.
Till next time!
P
