Creating Enterprise was selected as one of the social innovators in the UK and was named 1 of 50 UK ‘New Radicals.’

Hollywood Actor Michael Sheen has praised the social enterprise. The Welsh actor is one of the judges for the prestigious honour. He said: “I’m proud to see some great people from Wales in the list of 50 radicals, though there weren’t nearly as many as I would like to see. In this year’s list we include Creating Enterprise CIC, showing how an employment and property services organisation can put social impact first and still deliver an award-winning service in North Wales.”

https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2018/sep/16/2018-new-radicals-story-winners-michael-sheen-nesta

New Radicals​:​ New Radicals is a search led by Nesta, the innovation  foundation, and The Observer to find the top people, projects and  organisations offering innovative ways to tackle social challenges. It was  launched in 2012 and runs every 2 years.

About Nesta: ​Nesta is a global innovation foundation. It backs new ideas to  tackle the big challenges of our time, through its knowledge, networks,  funding and skills. Nesta works in partnership with others, including  governments, businesses and charities. It is a UK charity that works all over  the world, supported by a financial endowment.

To find out more visit  www.nesta.org.uk 

Nesta is a registered charity in England and Wales 1144091 and Scotland  SC042833.

(Published in the North Wales Pioneer article, 5/8/18 https://bit.ly/2vHjqjc).

Creating Enterprise has secured £500,000 in funding for a pioneering project to help struggling working families who are living below the poverty line in Conwy.

The money to pay for the four year programme: Making Work – Work For All, being launched by Creating Enterprise, is coming from the Big Lottery Fund.

The scheme will support up to 100 tenants of housing association Cartrefi Conwy and the private lettings agency HAWS, who are living on the breadline.

It will specifically be targeting poor working families on the Peulwys Estate, Llysfaen, Mochdre, Rhos on Sea and Llandudno.

Last year it helped 39 unemployed tenants find paid work via its ground-breaking Employment Academy.

Through this latest project they are branching out into working with families and they will be working in in partnership with Community and Voluntary Support Conwy.

They will soon be appointing a project officer to run the programme which gets underway in the autumn.

According to Sharon Jones, a director at Creating Enterprise, the scale of the problem is huge. It is underlined by the fact that 50 per cent of the people living in social housing spend a third of their income on rent while the figure rises to 70 per cent for those living in private rented accommodation.

The aim is to identify the struggling families and work with them to address the problems that are plunging them into poverty and often into debt, making them easy prey for high interest lenders and loan sharks.

She said: “Securing this funding from the Big Lottery Fund is a massive vote of confidence in us.

“We’ve been working with people who are unemployed for a number of years and to have £500,000 to support local families is fantastic.”

Sharon added: “We are aiming to make a real difference to these families by helping them get out of poverty and improve the quality of their lives.”

Creating Enterprise is launching a new Jobs Bus and job seekers are invited to jump on board to apply for a job.

The first stop is Penmaenmawr Library, Bangor Road on 4th July from 1.30pm until 4pm. The mini-bus is kitted out with on board Wi-Fi access and laptops.

Check out the timetable below. Jump on board and apply for a job.

North Wales-based Creating Enterprise has been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark, which proves it is in business to benefit society, community and the environment.

The Social Enterprise Mark is the only independently assessed social enterprise accreditation, and Creating Enterprise had to meet robust qualification criteria to prove their commitment to creating positive social change. They guarantee that their profits are used to create employment, volunteering and training opportunities for local unemployed people.

Government data estimates that nearly 9% of the UK small business population is social enterprises, contributing over around £24 billion to the economy and employing over 1 million people. Social enterprises plough the majority of their profits back into activities that benefit people and planet, rather than just lining shareholders pockets.

Creating Enterprise, a subsidiary of the Cartrefi Conwy housing association, provides facilities management and building services to clients around North Wales as the ‘social contractor of choice’. Through their Employment Academy, they give out-of-work Cartrefi Conwy tenants the chance to train and get qualifications while they earn. In the last 12 months alone they have helped 40 local people to find a job, 179 people looking for work with training and gaining qualifications, and 23 volunteers to get work experience.

Sharon Jones, Business & Partnership Director at Creating Enterprise said:

“We’re really proud to have been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark. Creating Enterprise is absolutely committed to supporting sustainable businesses and consequently helping local communities to thrive and prosper”.

Lucy Findlay, Managing Director, Social Enterprise Mark CIC, advised:

“We are delighted to award the prestigious Social Enterprise Mark to Creating Enterprise. Social enterprises work to many different priorities, so it’s great to see a local buildings and maintenance contractor understanding the importance of showing their true colours, and demonstrating the truth about their business.”

Creating Enterprise’s Chairman Peter Parry (centre) presents the Social Enterprise Mark to Adrian Johnson, MD (l) and Sharon Jones, Director (r)

Looking for a new job?

This is your chance to meet local employers and apply for jobs.

Employers at the Job Fair include:

• NHS
• Brenig Construction
• Cartrefi Conwy
• Deganwy Quay
• Travis Perkins
• Supertemps
• Allied Healthcare
• Novus

*  Prize draw        *  Refreshments

Where? Creating Enterprise HQ, Cartrefi Conwy Business Park, Station Road, Mochdre, LL28 5EF (opposite Mochdre Infants’ School)

When? Thursday 12th April – pop in anytime from 10am to 2pm

Wales Social Enterprise of the Year, Creating Enterprise, is to open a new training centre for local people wanting to get back to work.

The organisation, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cartrefi Conwy housing association, runs an innovative employment academy which has already helped 29 unemployed tenants find full-time jobs and provided training support for almost 200 out-of-work tenants.

The new premises, which include a 3 room training centre with 4 job search workstations, has been supported by the European Regional Development Fund through Welsh Government. Work is being carried out by local companies Brenig Construction, from Colwyn Bay, and Just Imagine interior designers in Bodelwyddan. Creating Enterprise’s own painting and decorating team will be adding the final touches.

The new building in Mochdre, on a new business park on the site of the old dairy, will open before Easter. The training facilities will include a lounge space to drop in for informal advice, job search rooms for Cartrefi Conwy tenants to use computers, employer databases and online courses, and training rooms for useful courses such as employability skills and health and safety.

Business and Partnership Director Sharon Jones said:

We are very grateful for the £60,000 social investment from Wales Council for Voluntary Action’s Social Business Growth Fund. The money is covering the majority of the fit out costs and will help us to create six full-time jobs in the next 12 months, including a trainee post, trades jobs and office jobs.

The new centre will be an informal and comfortable setting for job hunting and training. It will be open 5 days a week, so tenants can pop in whenever it’s convenient for them to use the job search facilities, complete online courses and get advice.