Michael Whippman Client Involvement Award 2010

Homeless residents from The Salvation Army’s The Sandwich People win the Michael Whippman Award 2010 for social enterprise in the local community

ABOUT THIS YEAR'S AWARD: 

The Michael Whippman Award focuses on the contributions that homeless people make to society. It was set up to challenge stereotypes about who is and can become homeless, whilst also showing homeless people that anything is possible.

This year the award scheme was looking for a social enterprise that:

• involves homeless people and empowers them to make a contribution
• is aspiring to be entrepreneurial and profit making
• can demonstrate its impact on society.

We were looking for new, or existing, social enterprises that are innovative, successful business models, which benefit the lives of those experiencing homelessness. We wanted to find enterprises that promote inclusion and partnership and that play a positive role within their local community.

The shortlisted applicants were asked to present their business case to a ‘dragons den’ style judging panel at Homeless Link’s Annual Conference in July. Based on their pitch the dragons and the conference audience voted for the winner.

winning entry

The Sandwich People team from The Salvation Army’s Lifehouse*, Booth House, for homeless men and women in Swindon won the 2010 Michael Whippman Award.

The Sandwich people involves around 20 homeless residents in making and delivering sandwiches on foot to local companies on a daily basis.  Working for The Sandwich People gives individuals an opportunity to get back into a regular routine, undertake training, gain confidence and develop work skills, for example sales and marketing skills, customer service and food hygiene.  The business works hard to minimise its environmental impact and uses salads from its own allotment in season.  

Gary Stott, Managing Director of CREATE in Leeds who sponsored this year’s awards and was also one of the ‘Dragons’ said, “CREATE was delighted to sponsor the Michael Whippman award. We truly believe that Social Enterprise has the potential for transformation; transformation of homeless services, of the way the corporate world does business and, most importantly, transformation for the lives of homeless people. All the entries were visionary and ambitious businesses delivering value for people, profit and the planet. The Sandwich People balance great business ideas with great passion for people and we are delighted for their success.”

Jenny Edwards, Chief Executive of Homeless Link and one of the ‘Dragons,’ said, “I am regularly astonished by the talent that we uncover through our work.  The short listed applicants were all excellent and all the social enterprises demonstrated real commercial sustainability.”

Liz Osborne, Business Project Coordinator said “we are thrilled to have won the award. It is a fantastic achievement and recognises the skills and hard work of the whole team who despite facing the difficult issues around homelessness have proved they can operate a successful social enterprise and make a difference in their community”

Dan one of the Sandwich People team said “I had won as soon as I conquered my fears and went into the dragons den. When I heard we had won the award I was on cloud nine, I’ve never won anything in my life before.”

The winning team has decided to invest the prize money in its most important asset ,the team members and is planning a motivational day out to celebrate!

The shortlist applicnts:

• Shekinah Trading Ltd
• SPARK Fabrications and Framing Ltd
• Paint It

WHO Could ENTER?

We welcomed entries from all social enterprises, as long as they fully involve homeless people and encourage this involvement as a means of developing personal skills.

WHAT weRE THE JUDGES LOOKING FOR?

All applicants were judged on the following criteria:

• role of homeless people within the social enterprise
• role of the social enterprise within their local community
• financial aspirations and sustainability of the social enterprise

SHORTLISTED APPLICANTS

We were pleased to announce that the following social enterprises were shortlisted to enter the final stage at the conference:

• Paint It
• Shekinah Trading Ltd
• SPARK Fabrications and Framing Ltd
• The Sandwich People

Each of these shortlisted entries were asked to present their business model, in a ‘dragons den’ style, to the judging panel, in front of the conference audience. Both the audience and the panel then voted for the final winners and presented them with their prizes.

At least one of the presenters was a homeless client involved in the social enterprise.

PRIZE

The top 2 short-listed entrants received a cash prize of:
1st place:    £800
2nd place:   £200

The top 4 short-listed entrants also received

• two free one-day delegate places for representatives from the social enterprise, at Homeless Link’s annual conference in July
• an exhibition stand at the conference that they could use to advertise their social enterprise

The winning entry also featured in Connect (Homeless Link’s quarterly magazine), on the website, and in a press release.

ABOUT MICHAEL WHIPPMAN

Michael Whippman CBE PhD joined the board of the Homeless Network In 1998 and in the following year he became the Chairman, a post he held until his death in 2001.  Michael was passionately interested in the causes of homelessness amongst single people and how that cycle might be broken.

The Directors of Homeless Network endowed a small fund so that the Michael Whippman Prize can be awarded to enable and encourage innovative thinking or work in the area of homelessness.