Community Catalysts Ltd
Community Catalysts Ltd is the name of the new NAAPS Social Enterprise launched on 1 January 2010.
BACKGROUND
Why has NAAPS decided to set up a Social Enterprise?
The Board of Trustees for NAAPS UK has been concerned for some time that our charity is far too dependent on grants from central government (60% of our income in 2008 came from the Department of Health) This makes planning difficult as grants are time limited and tend to be given for innovative projects rather than to support the core costs of running the organisation and providing services to members. The situation has become much more difficult with the recent financial crisis. The Department of Health is radically scaling back its grants programme and has warned charities like ours that it will be much more difficult to get grant funding from them in the future.
The Board had agreed a financial strategy last year which it had been hoped would allow NAAPS to take forward its aims and objectives and generate the income that it needs to meet its core costs in order to make sure that NAAPS continues to have enough money to represent and support its members properly. This was based on extending membership to new groups of providers – principally small community services (SCS) providers but also Homeshare programmes. The numbers of SCS members are growing but more slowly than the Board had hoped and the income that NAAPS is receiving from these new members is not going to be enough to make up for the loss in grant income over the next few years.
A new source of income that would solve the problem of NAAPS long term funding could come from local authorities, who are increasingly asking NAAPS to help them set up new Shared Lives Schemes, to develop their existing Schemes and to stimulate and support the development of small community services and of Homeshare, However NAAPS UK is a charity and is not allowed to ‘trade’ with local authorities in this way.
Therefore, the Board, with advice from lawyers who specialise in charities, has decided to set up a ‘trading arm’ – a social enterprise – which will enable us to take forward our aims (promoting the effective provision of accommodation, care and support for vulnerable adults within very small-scale family and community settings) by working directly to provide local authorities and other organisations with consultancy support and services This is a common approach for charities that wish to trade and generate further income, without affecting their status as a charity.
How will Community Catalysts be set up and managed?
Community Catalysts Ltd is a separate company but is wholly owned by NAAPS UK. It is managed by a Board of Directors consisting principally of NAAPS Trustees and with an independent Chair with good experience of making a business work. The new company has a clear remit to promote the aims of NAAPS through selling consultancy and other services and to generate income that will fund NAAPS services to its members.
The new company will have its own Chief Executive who obviously must have the interests of NAAPS at heart, really understand about Shared Lives and Small Community Services and have good links with local authorities and central government. For these reasons the new Board of Directors of NAAPS Enterprises has asked NAAPS UK to consider seconding Sian Lockwood to act as Chief Executive of the new trading arm for two years. The Board of Trustees of NAAPS UK considered this request at its meeting on 13 October and has agreed to Sian’s secondment. She will move across to head up NAAPS Enterprises for a two year period beginning early in 2010.
What will Community Catalysts Do?
The NAAPS Social Enterprise aims to provide real choice for people who need support and services by ensuring that very small care services delivered by individuals and families in local communities can develop and thrive
It is going to do this by providing:
a) Help to local authorities and other organisations who want to support very small care services or expand their Shared Lives service. The help could be just providing advice and support or we can if the local authority wants run the service on their behalf.
b) A kite marking service for agencies that support very small care services and for Shared Lives Schemes (the kite mark will allow agencies and Schemes to show local authorities and others how good they are)
c) Products and services (such as training, seminars and publications) for Shared Lives Schemes and Carers, support agencies and small community service providers to help them meet standards and improve the way in which they are working.