Tracey Richardson – Tyne Gateway Manager, South Tyneside Council Jennifer Feckie – Community Entrepreneur, South Tyneside Council Gillian Gillespie – Community Entrepreneur, North Tyneside Council 15 July 2010 Tyne Gateway

Joint scheme between North and South Tyneside Councils 20 Community Entrepreneurs (CE) recruited Bespoke foundation degree in Community Entrepreneurship with Sunderland University Based on the “barefoot professional” model High level mentor programme to unblock development ‘problems’ Tyne Gateway Child Poverty Project Encouraging projects with an employment outcome

The “Piggy Bank” scheme and doorstep lenders

The reasons behind this idea…

The Piggy Bank scheme Two part project: –Set up Credit Union access points in primary schools –Set up doorstep collection scheme for savings and loans Targeted primary schools – to engage with children and their parents Encourage children to set up savings accounts Phase 1 complete - access points in 3 primary schools Phase 2 – extend access to 4 more primary schools

Doorstep Collection pilot Many people use high cost doorstep lenders Key attractions are convenience, trust and no penalties if they miss the odd payment Can we offer an lower cost service that meets these needs? We are developing options to pilot doorstep collections for savings and loans and about to present the idea to our Steering Group

- what’s next…. The scheme will: –Employ six people –Provide an incentive to save Credit Union working with major bank to help roll out access points in all other primary schools, providing free money boxes etc. Finalise the development of the doorstep lending pilot, implement the project and evaluate results.

– “A Hand to Help” A Basic DIY Service for Vulnerable/Elderly Tenants in North Tyneside

“A Hand to Help” Two phase project: - Phase one will focus on the “A Hand to Help” scheme. This will provide training and employment opportunities via North Tyneside Homes and Keir. -Phase two will seek to identify links between this Project NTH, Keir and other Community Entrepreneur Projects e.g. Call Centre, Fuel Poverty and Home Buddies

“A Hand to Help” Phase one – the service will go into the homes of elderly/vulnerable tenants and do a variety of jobs such as hanging a curtain rail, replacing hard to reach bulbs, assembling flat pack furniture and other minor DIY jobs. Phase two – as well as linking into other CE projects we will work with Kier to identify other opportunities for local employment for young people/parents experiencing poverty

– what’s next…? What happens next – discussions are still underway with NTH and Kier about the required training for the different schemes. However, it is likely these will include: - personal safety - customer care - basic DIY - conflict management

Other Community Entrepreneur projects include … Community Energy Advisers – providing employment opportunities through energy advice Everyday Childcare – extending childcare provision to enable parents to work Will U won’t U choose – peer support project focusing upon teen pregnancy prevention Get up and Go – incentivising parents access to services Home Buddies – support for young people in their first tenancy On the Job – volunteer support workers in Job Centre Plus – joint North/South Tyneside project Blossom Forth – childcare and support workers for disabled children – joint North/South Tyneside project Unity Calls – a community based call centre Future Focus – employment through family learning Hear-U-Clear – community interpreting/translation service for North Tyneside Bridge the Gap – broadening career aspirations with BME communities

What’s next for the Tyne Gateway National Award winners 4Children – support for children and families Dragons Den!! Further project development / pilots / evaluation. Tyne Gateway evaluation Social Enterprise aspiration – new model of delivery Watch this Space Any questions??