A week in the life of a social enterprise

​Last week was a busy one at Iridescent towers – those twinkly, radiant, spires of optimism.
 
Monday: Zoom meeting on train (well that was awks, all chat no speaking) ...

...about impact and delivery of a capacity building service in Plymouth we co-deliver called POPideas. Then on to Birmingham for day one of the Local Motion conference on place. Great to see and be in Digbeth – one of the first social enterprise places in the UK. Wonderful evening with Memorhyme poetry group – using the power of words and art to tackle global and local issues.
 
Tuesday: Day two of the conference. Interesting talks about progressive governance – making it poetic and beautiful not dry, dusty and dull. From structuredness to structureless: it’s about how we work together to make better decisions and how conventional governance - typically seen as a ‘safe’ bet - is actually a risk because business as usual is making a mess of people and planet. Long old train trip back to Plymouth but got to read a good chunk of a book.
 
Wednesday: Board meeting with the fantastic Memory Matters and the magical Moments Cafe (hey don’t go to Costa go here!) Loads of great plans and ambitions and fabulous impact constantly being delivered and improved. Quirky tax convo about what to do with profit – nice position to be in. Then on to a panel discussion with Arts University Plymouth and the Devon Create Growth all about social investment and how to make it more accessible. Great to meet University of Cambridge/Dyme Consulting lead Anna Wozniak and catch up with Anna Peachey from Plymouth City Council’s Inclusive Economy Team. Rounded off the day meeting the Rank Foundation’s director of finance and new Sunderland lead. Loads of sharing of good practice and inspiring ideas.
 
Thursday: Up early to speak at the Plymouth and Devon Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting on the third sector. No gluten free croissants harumph. I was on a great panel with Hayley Everett of Trevi; Matthew Keane from Westcotts Accountants; Stuart Jones at POP and Liz Harding from Hearts Together. Lots of encouraging talk of buying social – i.e. making our money go further and getting more voluntary, community and social enterprise businesses into supply chains.
 
Friday: Took it easy, walking the dog around beautiful Mount Edgcumbe in the morning stillness. Then writing blogs and quotes for new work and wrapping up with developing ideas for a marketing strategy for SHE UK – a new service we are launching to support women around their social enterprise dreams.