ncise Derbyshire Activity Report

WELCOME TO THE PLACE OF WELCOME

Just to remind you that we had our NCISE Launch in  May  2008 at St. James Centre. Derby. It was a really good event attended by representatives from the New Communities and also we had  attendees from Nottingham and Northampton. The event  were opened by “The Right Worshipful, The Mayor of the City of Derby, Councillor Pauline Latham OBE and Consort, Mr Derek Latham.
 
Since that, we have been progressing and declining too. Social enterprise is a new shape of business being introduced and  known for last several years. We have not managed to consolidate our organisation on time, and many of our members took rather care about themselves than to be involve into development  of NCISE organisation. Now, the situation is different.

We have had trainings organised at former B-H Community Centre back to 2007-2008, attended around 10 representatives from 4 new communities group. Later, we did employ a Development Worker on part time, in October 2008.
 
I share with you that there is a great potential,  hidden within our  new communities to develop and facilitate social enterprise and entrepreneurship . The opportunities are all around us: in the community, neighbourhood watch, school gates, parent and Toddler Group, community Forum, residents meetings, social gatherings and events.

To engage our potential, we have to: being active in our community, building relationships, having a network of contacts, asking , recommend, advertising good news stories.
Some of our members are already with one step ahead in social enterprise, and we should learn from them. (translating, link with mental health, community shop, catering etc.) but there are much more. We can set up and develop our own  enterprise, unique to the point that can not be  found anywhere else.

There is a community needs and community spirit very much alive amongst us.
Just a few possibilities, like  Community Cafe, Neighbourhood Nursery, Training Centre, youth project ,events. 

We  should admit that ncise Derbyshire itself as organisation is at initial stage of development and suffers from the lack of credibility but it will grow.

I wish to thanks to all our members organisation and to members of the Management Committee  for their time and effort to  participate in developing of our NCISE.

Social enterprise - an alternative way of development
 
I spent three years at the University of Derby studying global development and  had enough time to understand that global top down policies are not in favour of people who struggle today. Each community has to look for alternative local initiative based ways of finding solutions to the existing social problems.

I believe that social enterprise is something that gives freedom for people to be creative and to do things in different ways.

People collectively can create a meaning for themselves and their community. I find social enterprise as a very interesting and diverse way of addressing the problems because it can include economic, political, cultural and environmental aspects.  It is not about choosing the best and leaving the rest. It is about helping those who struggle. It is not about personal gain, it is about gain for the community, caring about  socially excluded, caring about environment and the world. It is not about turning people into slaves but finding value in each person and reinforcing social innovation. 

I believe NCISE has great potential to develop into a unique network of culturally diverse organisations where people share their knowledge, experience, work together and demonstrate an ability to reach the marginalised communities and unlock their potential.

“SOCIAL BUSINESSES ARE SET UP TO PURSUE SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS. PEOPLE CREATE A MEANING FOR THEMSELVES AND THEIR COMMUNITIES”.

What I found special about New Communities?
 
The official definition says that new communities are groups of individuals, refugees or economic migrants, who have come to the UK during the most recent wave of migration.

I can add much more meaning to that. These two month were very special in my life as I met many incredible people who devote their free time and energy for the benefit of their communities. They are all driven by a desire to help those who have no skills, opportunities and feel isolated. New communities have something very unique and common between them, even though they come from very culturally diverse parts of the world. They are people who experienced great difficulties but had the courage to take a risk and look for a better life. They are people who know what is deprivation, threat or exclusion and they have great compassion for those who are in this same situation today.

Based on my findings I believe there is a great potential hidden within new communities to facilitate social enterprise. I would like to say that in spite of the fact that many members are at the very bottom of their organisational development and are experiencing a funding crisis, their activities are fragmented,  they own something that cannot be purchased for money. There is a community spirit very much alive and with professional support, training and guidance we can achieve great results. ncise Derbyshire itself as organisation is at initial stage of development and suffers from the lack of credibility but it will grow with its members and will become a successful model for social enterprise in the future.

ncise is nothing without its members and we have to be so clear from the start about how we are going to  work together. At the moment we have fragmented, scattered pieces of a puzzle and we have to put them together into a one big picture. I agree that it is a very challenging task taking into consideration complex power relations within each community and we have to acknowledge that even diversity has its divisive side. However, we have to concentrate on positive aspects because we all came here to look for a better life and different relationship between people.

ncise Derbyshire member organisations

Derbyshire Bondeko Congolese Association African Family Support Group Iraqi Community Association Eastern European Migrants Advice Committee Derby Congo Support Group Derby Bosnia-Herzegovnia Community Association Persian Cultural Association Derby African Association Derby Afghani Community Association Derby Chinese Walfare Association Voice of Congolese Women UMOJA - Womens Group Zimbabwe Womens Project

AT THE MOMENT WE ARE FRAGMENTED, SCATTERED PIECES OF A PUZZLE AND WE HAVE TO PUT THEM TOGETHER INTO A ONE BIG PICTURE”

What has been done during two month of my work

My first step as a Development Worker was to get in contact with my member organisations, build relationships, investigate the level of their organisational development and assess existing infrastructure problem and needs. Initially I had a list of 34 organisations. However, as you can see from the above, this number decreased to 14. Following my research, this decrease can be explained in many ways as follows. Some organisation were unable to get funding, some possibly misused public funding, lost credibility and closed down, some possibly were disappointed with support offered by ncise and had chosen not to respond. However, I believe that when ncise produces its first success story, membership will increase and more organisations will turn for support.

To summarise the current member’s situation, I can say that some organisations are doing well and some are experiencing a deep crisis. The ones that feel confident normally have paid experienced staff and the ones that struggle are run only by volunteers. I also found some organisations created partnerships with academics from the University of Derby and it proves that attracting expertise can make a difference.

The second step was based on existing needs to create an action plan for the organisations that really struggle. Up to the current time we have developed a strategy framework and a proposal on how to regenerate the Derby African Association with a focus on social enterprise. We are progressing very well with the Derby Congo Support Group and also made preliminary project plans with Umoja and Arabesque organisations. Preliminary project outlines have also been discussed with Iraqi and Afghani Community Associations.

Working as a professional team

Much of my time has been spent in upgrading ncise Derbyshire visual profile that has to be in line with set up standards for all ncise locations. I have provided information to upgrade our website, now we have a new leaflet, business cards and a general information pack.

I have established good communications with the University of Derby, Racial Equality Council and currently focusing on a partnership with Business Link.

I created a vision statement and identified core values and leave it for further consideration of our respective members.

Proposed organisational values based on findings and feedback

During my two month of working in this position I have met and had discussions with all of the members. My findings are amazing and I hope I have managed to capture all the things that are important to everyone and for you to be motivated to be part of ncise Derbyshire. 
 

• Kindness (facilitates respect and understanding)
• Creativity (stands for diversity, entrepreneurship and innovation)
• Contribution (embraces participation, inclusiveness and self-esteem)
• Passion (represents high motivation)
• Accountability (we do what we say)
  

What does it mean MAKING UNITY IN DIVERSITY WORK?
 
I believe this vision statement is dynamic and captures a great ambition of what we want to achieve and how we want to work. Diversity is a central word that represents different cultures and embraces the nature of social enterprise of being creative and finding alternative ways of doing things. Unity is so important to maintain a strong network and represents a peaceful relationship between people. Making all this work is a big task and it means that we have to be very professional in making our plans and taking an action.

We always appreciate and value your opinion. Please don't hesitate to express your concerns and critique. This helps us to improve our services.

Phone or E-mail: derbyshire@ncise.org