Applications open today (December 10th) for the Spark Challenge, a pioneering development and investment programme to prevent and tackle homelessness through social enterprise.

Organisations providing services for homeless people such as accommodation, training and employment are invited to apply and vie for a share of £1.6 million of prizes, which include investment, business support and corporate sponsorship. The deadline for applications is: 9 February 2009.

For more information, visit the Spark Challenge website

Spark is a unique cross sector partnership that promotes the use of enterprise as a means to create long-term solutions to homelessness and to offer people a permanent route off the streets into training, employment and independent housing. Spark has been developed by social enterprise champions - The TREES Group, Eastside Consulting and Big Issue Invest - and is backed by the Department for Communities and Local Government, BT, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Places for People.

Homelessness Minister Iain Wright said:

"Tackling homelessness requires new and innovative solutions and this is exactly what SPARK makes possible. I would encourage social enterprises to grasp this great opportunity not only to obtain funding, but also to get expert advice from leading businesses to both grow as an enterprise and be able to help change the lives of many more people."

Submit proposals by Monday February 9th, 2009.

The most promising enterprises will be announced in March 2009 and invited to participate in a 9-month support programme to maximise their impact and financial viability.

Winning applicants will receive investment coaching from Eastside Consulting and have the opportunity to pitch for investment to Spark's high profile panel of social enterprise and business leaders.

Winners will also be invited to develop a business partnership with one of our corporate partners and receive the necessary skills and resources to grow.

Lois Samuel from Gilead Foundations, a previous winner of Spark, says:

'Gilead has never had this kind of help before, and the ongoing ripples from the time and help PricewaterhouseCoopers contributed are still having a huge effect. Spark has helped Gilead to really think outside the box, to venture out into new business and bigger enterprise thinking.'

Who Can Apply to Spark?

If you are a social enterprise - an organisation that uses an entrepreneurial approach to prevent or tackle homelessness and its root causes, you can enter by registering at www.sparkchallenge.org

For the first time we are also inviting individuals who are homeless, have been homeless in the last five years, or who are at risk of being homeless,to submit business ideas. You will need to be supported by a registered charity. Full information is available on the project's website:

Spark stimulates enterprise in the homelessness sector. It ensures much needed funds and business resources are invested in smart and sustainable social enterprises that give homeless people an opportunity to move towards independent living.

Notes to Editors

Spark is part of Communities and Local Government's £200million recently announced rough sleeping strategy "No one left out" which aims to eradicate rough sleeping by 2012. The strategy is founded on the belief that rough sleeping in the 21st Century is unacceptable and that now is the time for something to be done in order to move forward and combat the stereotypes.

What is Social Enterprise?

Social enterprises are profit-making organisations which reinvest the majority of their profits for the benefit of their community to tackle social and environmental problems. There are at least 55,000 social enterprises in the UK with a combined turnover of £27billion per year. They account for 5% of all businesses with employees and contribute £8.4billion per year to the UK economy - almost 1% of annual GDP.

Why encourage social entrepreneurship in homelessness?

Developing a business approach in organisations who are already working in the homelessness sector not only increases its capacity to deliver services, but it offers a long-term and sustainable way to address an immense problem.

Entrepreneurial business models enable organisations to receive a greater proportion of their total income from earned income - as opposed to grants or donations - and gives them greater control in planning the sustainable delivery of their services. Making a profit releases charities from the grant trap that perpetuates dependence and gives them greater freedom about how their money is spent.

The adoption of this 'enterprise' approach has also been proven to create employment, to broaden training and development opportunities and to build the self-esteem of people working in social enterprises. The Big Issue and The TREES Group - founding partners in Spark - are two of the leading examples of this approach in the UK.

Local Case Studies from Spark 08 Winners available, For all media enquiries please email Rachel at Eastside Consulting or call 020 7770 6144.

INTERVIEWS

The following people will be available for interviews:

John Montague, The TREES Group: Social Enterprise Champion and Project Representative

Richard Litchfield, Spark Project Director, Eastside Consulting

Sparks Social Enterprise Champions:

The TREES Group TREES (Training, Regeneration, Education, Employment, Sustainability Services Limited) is the largest social enterprise group in the midlands.

It was founded in 1995 to create employment, training opportunities, local services and wealth in deprived communities across the Midlands, while supporting community regeneration throughout the region.

The TREES group is the umbrella organisation that supports four businesses that operate in a range of commercial and social sectors - from conferences and construction to gas services and landscape gardening.

The group first helped launch Thorpete Gas Services (commercial and domestic gas servicing) followed by Newlife Regeneration Construction (building and construction) in 1999. The outstanding success of both companies enabled the TREES team to focus on developing Highpoint in 2002 - a unique conference venue on the outskirts of Leicester city centre. The group's most recent addition is Braunstone-based landscaping and maintenance firm, Ground Control, started trading in 2004.

Eastside Consulting

Eastside Consulting is an advisory firm that facilitates the flow of skills and capital into social and environmental enterprises to help them increase their capacity and impact.

Eastside's philosophy is to take the best management techniques and practice from business and apply them to the real-life situations experienced by social and environmental enterprises.

Since formation in 2004, Eastside has worked with a wide range of social enterprises including The Big Issue group and Computer Aid International and has raised more than £21m for clients.

Big Issue Invest The Big Issue group, the publishers of The Big Issue magazine, launched Big Issue Invest in 2005 after raising £3.5million from, among other sources, the Phoenix Fund and Halifax Bank of Scotland.

Big Issue Invest, which is a specialty finance company for social enterprises, was established to support the growth of social enterprises in the UK. Organisations it has worked with so far have included Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant group and the mineral water company Belu.

The average size of its loans is around £200,000 although it has put packages together with other social finance institutions for more than £500,000.

Quick Links... www.sparkchallenge.org APPLY NOW

Contact Information

phone: For media inquiries including, interviews or photos call Rachel Edumunds 020 7770 6144 or 07970 869 683 or email rachel@eastsideconsulting.co.uk