Social Saturday 2015 almost upon us

By Yousif Farah

One in a series of blogs celebrating Social Saturday

In the build up to Social Saturday 2015  Poached Creative is profiling social enterprises that trade with the public in East London.

In our previous blog dedicated to celebrating Social Saturday 2015, we went through the concept of social enterprises, its history  and development, and how in a short space of time they have become an integral part of everyday life, impacting individuals, societies and the economy.

We also embarked on a voyage aboard the Hackney Pirate’s ship of adventures, but this week we will focus on a sports social enterprise which we are immensely proud to have in our local area of Dalston, East London.



Circle Sports

Photos by Stephen Archer
 (Big Issue Online Journalism trainee).

Circle Sports is a social enterprise trading in sport’s clothing and equipment. They provide practical customer service work experience, training and mentoring to young people aged 18-24, in their trendy Circle Collective shop on Kingsland High Street,

In their four short years of existence they have helped many people progress through their lives, pulling them out of hardships and into a stable life and promising future.

Denis is truly a shining example and testament to the outstanding work Circle Sports is providing to young people. He arrived from Lithuania and managed to teach himself English in less than seven months, after which he was referred to Circle Sports via the Job Centre. It took Denis no time to prove himself as an asset to the company; he shone as a diligent young man. However, he then suddenly disappeared.

Staff tried hard to track him down until they managed to find him and found out that he had been made homeless. They provided him with help and assistance and helped him get back on his feet and find accommodation. Eventually - with some help from Circle - he secured a trainee role in construction with their sponsor Land Securities.

Inspirationally, since starting work at Land Securities Denis has won their Employment Strategy Award in the 18-24-year-old category.

Denis is just one of the countless people guided and assisted by Circle Sports, who will be joining in the celebrations of Social Saturday 2015 on the 10^th of October.

Turly Humphreys, Founder and Managing Director at Circle Sports says:

“Since we started in 2011 Circle has helped many young people discover their true potential and secure full-time employment, alongside improving workplace skills, confidence and a positive mind-set.”

“My advice to new and emerging social enterprises is to have a commercial aspect to help them cover the cost of running a social enterprise."

Social Saturday 2015 is coming on 10 October

Social Saturday is a nationwide day dedicated to promoting social enterprise.

Following the enormous success of the inaugural Social Saturday 2014, Social Enterprise UK, and more than 70,000 social enterprises across the country are preparing for this year’s event. 

Their activities will raise awareness of the significance of the social enterprise sector to individuals, communities and the economy as a whole.

A social enterprise is a business model that works to achieve a social mission. Profits are usually reinvested in social causes and sustaining the business.

When you buy from a social enterprise, you buy social. Buying social means you provide an unemployed person with a career opportunity, or provide a homeless person with a bed for the night, or help the environment, as well as saving money and challenging profit-driven only businesses through competition.

Social enterprises have been working hard to elevate communities since the nineteenth century when workers in Rochdale formed a co-operative in response to the exploitative working conditions. However, social enterprise as we know it today re-emerged in the mid-nineties.

When a new social enterprise emerges, entire communities reap the benefits. Varying in size, purpose and industry, they range from small social enterprises like Poached Creative to nationwide enterprises like the Big Issue. 

Being a social enterprise ourselves, specializing in writing and design we completely understand the importance of buying social. We are also pleased that in recent years social enterprises have become an integral part of everyday life in London. 

Over the years we have had many partnerships with social enterprises across the country, including Social Enterprise UK – who we proudly created the original Social Saturday marketing materials for. We buy social whenever we can. 

To mark the occasion, in the lead up to Social Saturday we will shed a light on different and unique social enterprise in our local area of Hackney. 

The Hackney Pirates

Part of the Hackney Pirates Ship of Adventures
Courtesy of The Big Issue Online Journalists

The Hackney Pirates is an enterprising charity working to develop the literacy, confidence and perseverance of young people in Hackney, so that they achieve both in school and in the world beyond.

The educational social enterprise was thought of by Catriona Maclay, who at the time was a teacher at a primary school based in north London. Through her experience as a primary school teacher she realised that a change in the learning environment could benefit pupils aged 9-12 and make them more receptive to learning.

The Hackney Pirates began as a pilot scheme supported by Bootstrap, now it is well established. They work together with local schools, volunteers and families providing local kids with the dream class room: a Ship of Adventures complete with secret passageways, an underwater cave and a ship’s cat. 

During the voyage participating pupils receive support in order to enhance their writing and reading. They are also encouraged to take part in a unique creative publishing project in which young people work with professionals to write their own books, CDs and websites, allowing them to practise their writing skills as well as see the whole project through to publication.

Catriona Maclay, Founder of The Hackney Pirates says:

"We believe that young people learn best when there's a little adventure involved, and when they can see that their work has consequences in the real world, so our publishing projects are a great way for young people to develop their literacy while also building up their confidence and perseverance.

 If you would like to spend your Social Saturday supporting The Hackney Pirates, then pop by our Ship of Adventures - a unique gift-shop, book-shop and cafe where you can see all the fantastic work of the Young Pirates on display."

Read our Social Saturday blog #2 on Circle Sports.