Social Entrepreneur in Residence Initiatives (SEiR)
1st Oct 2010
As part of a trailblazing and unique partnership, NHS Birmingham East and North collaborate with the Young Foundation to host the UK’s first Social Entrepreneur in Residence (SEiR) to support dynamic people with innovative ideas and new solutions to tackle health inequalities.
“The development and introduction of the Social Entrepreneur in Residence at NHS Birminghm East and North in 2009 was because of a belief in the need to find new ways of supporting communities to help themselves to improve health, create aspirations and deliver economic prosperity. The work to date of SEiR has demonstrated that the above can and has been achieved”.
Andrew Donald, CEO of NHS Birmingham East and North
Social Enterprise
A social enterprise is a business that trades and re-invests profits back into the business to benefit the local community. To date, the SEiR has supported two social enterprises to increase their sustainability and scalability. Both enterprises launched one-year test & learn pilots for NHS Birmingham East and North on May 10th 2010.
Saheli is a health and fitness service by and for local women, removing barriers for Asian women to engage with leisure facilities and manage their health.
What does it do?
Saheli – a friend dedicated to improving community health and wellbeing: by providing innovative services and solutions that educate, motivates, inspires and empowers. Saheli was born from a grassroots need to break the barriers that Asian women experience in accessing leisure facilities. However many individuals from a variety of cultural backgrounds access and utilise the service because members value the unique ethos providing a personalised; friendly; culturally appropriate; holistic; enhancing and community empowering experience. Saheli objectives are:
• Contribute to a reduction in local health inequalities
• Improve health, well being and self confidence
• Support positive lifestyle choice and increase participation in health activities
• Decrease dependency on primary care facilities
• Increase patients ability to manage chronic disease
• Harnessing local leadership qualities and the creation of volunteering and
employment opportunities
Saheli provides the local Asian women with a holistic, personalised life enhancing and community empowering experience.
To find out more contact: www.saheli.co.uk or www.youngfoundation.org/files/images/Saheli_Case_Study.pdf
Start Again is a social enterprise empowering young people with mental health issues through exercise, community re-integration and employment opportunities to young people with or at risk of mental health issues.
What does it do?
The mission of Start Again is “for young people to develop their personal, spiritual and social development, enabling them to lead a fuller life in their communities”. Start Again aims to encourage young people to regain control of their lives and re-ignite a sense of purpose and wellbeing.
Need
One in six people suffer, at some point in their life, from a mental health issue in the UK. It is widely known that effects of mental illness in early life have a negative impact upon individuals’ opportunities to complete education, training, gain qualifications or become socially and economically independent.
Solution
Start Again requires the individual to play a central role in the selection and delivery of therapeutic activities. Options stretch beyond traditional approaches and integrate exercise, which has been shown to improve mental wellbeing, as well as offering social benefit. Start Again’s range of initiatives include a ground breaking football coaching service that is uniquely designed and tailored to the needs of individuals suffering with, or at risk of mental health issues. This approach provides young people with access to a structured, safe and enabling environment whereby football is used therapeutically and as a gateway into a wide range of developmental services. The service covers the entire spectrum of illness from low level anxiety and depression to acute psychosis. Specific focus is placed on supporting individuals during the challenging transition from adolescence to adulthood, including young people making the transition from care or supported accommodation to independent living.
To find out more contact:
www.start-again.co.uk or www.youngfoundation.org/files/images/Start_Again_Case_Study.pdf
Eleanor is a Social Entrepreneur in Residence (SEiR) based in Birmingham and joined the Young Foundation in May 2009.
She is responsible for sourcing a number of sustainable innovatory ventures that meet the health and social care needs of residents in the North and East of Birmingham. Ventures must have the potential for large social impact and offer the scope to be replicated on a national scale. Before joining the Young Foundation, Eleanor worked in a social enterprise building the capacity and sustainability of the third sector in the West Midlands. Eleanor’s interests lies in impact measurement tools, business planning, facilitating collaborative working and research to identify new market opportunities for potential high growth social enterprise start ups. Throughout her roles Eleanor has worked in public, private and voluntary sectors and has successfully achieved awards as a PRINCE II Practitioner and a SFEDI qualified Business and Social Enterprise Advisor. Educated at Nottingham University Eleanor holds a 2:1 BA (Hons) in Social and Cultural Studies.
