We are now 1 year into our community micro-enterprise project in Kent, supporting local people to set up their own small businesses offering care and support to other local people so we thought it would be a good time to stop, reflect and share some of the highlights so far…
Creating more options for more people
In the first year, Amy, Katy, Lauren and Nicole (our local Catalysts) have helped 47 community micro-enterprises set up across Kent. These are hugely varied, from self-employed people offering care and support in the home, to exciting activities outside the home like music classes for people with learning disabilities. The community micro-enterprises in Kent can be found on our Small Good Stuff directory website which is growing all the time!
Winning awards
We are also extremely proud to announce that our partners, Kent County Council, have recently been awarded bronze for Community Focus and silver for Procurement in the iESE Public Sector Transformation Awards for our community micro-enterprise project in Kent. This demonstrates the great impact that the project is having for people who draw on health and social care and how our work is maximising the value of business and community.
Building and nurturing wider connections
Lauren held a fantastic speed networking event in North Kent recently which gave social workers, support workers and commissioners from Kent County Council the opportunity to meet the community micro-enterprises in the local area that have joined the project so far. It was a really successful event with lots of links and connections being made.
We’re excited to see what this next year will bring!
By Amy Harris, Katy Overhead, Lauren Thompson and Nicole Monahan (Community Enterprise Catalysts – Kent)