Social Investment & Property Finance

For Wander Wild Forest School, the Power Up London Accelerator Programme – and Ann Nkune’s support – have been a great way to take the first steps in our business. I feel more confident now, Having the support from Ann has made me feel I’m competent enough to run a business and I also know that there’s a lot of help and resource out there, if you know where to look.

The main issue for us was not having a formal structure. We were an informal community group and that meant there were funds that we couldn’t apply for. Ann provided a checklist of things that needed to be done during the registration process, which was invaluable, as was Ann’s support to complete all the paperwork. It was really reassuring, because it was all new to us,

We truly enjoyed working with EP on our Power Up Programme. Each consultant greatly supported our participants with workshops and tailored business support. We received great feedback from participants who reported being more confident and resilient.

Working with Eastside People has helped us move an idea that was aspirational and conceptual towards a thought-through and modelled project. Stephen's (our consultant) knowledge and expertise has opened up new business opportunities, increasing our in-house knowledge along the way.

The YIF coaching support (from consultant Katie Roberts) has been really helpful. I feel more confident in approaching people and problems and have a tool box of strategies to improve relationships, get buy-in and realise the success of the projects I'm working on. I've felt empowered to start asking directly and clearly for what I need and have moved our project from a stalemate to being able to break ground this week.

We are thankful to EP for the support provided to the social enterprises in our accelerator programme. We received great feedback on the workshops led by EP consultants.

ShareAction engaged Eastside People to help us understand the strategic options available for an operational unit, including partnership, social investment and spinout. We were grateful for the breadth and depth of experience which EP consultants John Leach and Warren Taylor brought. Their advice greatly strengthened what we would have been able to do ourselves, giving the management team and board assurance that the market had been fully explored. They delivered a great outcome to maximise the success of the important programmatic work and ensure its long-term sustainability.

Working with Eastside People was brilliant for our growing social enterprise. Kevin's exceptional support played a pivotal role in helping us attain our investment objectives, thereby contributing significantly to our ability to enhance our overall impact. Thanks again for the support, we'll definitely work with you again.

Ann, our Eastside People Consultant, helped us get a group of new Mentors ready to support Social Entrepreneurs. She has an incredible ability to listen to the needs of the trainees and adapt her style and the content of the sessions to suit them, and it was a real pleasure to work with her. As a result of this partnership, we were able to train 18 new Mentors and develop a series of auxiliary materials to aid them in supporting Social Entrepreneurs to sustain and increase their impact.

Eastside People understands the space in which we work, our concerns and the relationships with the organisations we are connected to. They also have the experience needed to help clients meet the stringent good governance, due diligence and data requirements made by funding organisations such as CAF Venturesome.

Thank you for helping us to measure our social impact better and produce financials that make sense.

We are very grateful for the support provided by the Eastside People team during the process of putting together of our 5-year strategic plan. They were able to put together a diverse team enabling us to benefit from their wide knowledge and skill base.

We are very grateful for the support provided by the Eastside People team. It is impossible to overstate how much the support has meant to us and how integral to our success it has been.  Being able to call upon such a supportive, knowledgeable, inspirational and patient group of people has been invaluable as our trust seeks to begin engaging with the public health agenda.

I want to say a big thank you to Eastside People consultant Lisa Lucas. She was really good at keeping us on track focused and organised. She also was really flexible and supportive with our needs.  Her approach was fantastic coupled with her patience and knowledge.  She was a really calming and clarifying force through times of change.

Eastside People helped us with an application to Homeless Link for social finance, which will be transformational for us and the young people we support. The support and expertise that Eastside People and their consultant Catherine Grayson have provided has been absolutely superb. I hope there will be further opportunities for us to work together.

Action for Sick Children came to Venturesome at a crossroads, needing to change their business model and requiring an investment to do. Using the Reach Fund we were able to put the charity in touch with Eastside People to develop a robust plan for the future. Eastside People were able to respond quickly to the project and deploy consultants with appropriate skills to work closely with the charity. This resulted in a clear plan for the future without which we would not have been able to invest.