If you were still wondering what Poached is about...

I couldn't put it any better than one of our trainees, Brij, who has just got his first full-time job as a care worker in Tottenham. What that has to do with writing and communications, you might well ask.

I've always wanted Poached to be about helping people to find out what they're good at and gain the confidence to go on and do the things they want to do with their lives. Communications is the world I know and understand, and it's a great way to help people open up to oneanother and to the thoughts and ideas within themselves.

The way Brij explains it really touched a chord with me (and, without wanting to be too soppy about it, his email did bring a warm tear to my eye).

On Fri, Jan 8, 2010 at 3:56 PM, Brij Burrun wrote:
Hey Jess,

I got your text, and thanks for sending the reference.

I'm also very thankful for the support you gave me whilst at Poached, as I think it has helped me a lot in finding a job that I am interested in (Health Care).

I honestly think, if it hadnt been for Poached, I probably wouldn't have even bothered looking for a job in the care field, so right now I would still probably be unemployed and very frustrated.

Thanks again for everything - your time, support, information, guidance, training, confidence, and motivation...

Will definatly be in touch, and let you know how it all goes.

Take care.

Brij

Read Brij's blog from his time at Poached Creative.

First Christmas, first paid staff member and funding help

Having your first company must be a bit like having your first baby. Here we are, approaching our first Christmas. Everything's new, we're making some mistakes, relishing all the experiences and learning so much every day.

This week we offered a job to our first member of staff through the Future Jobs Fund, which means we'll be reimbursed for their wages for 25 hours per week and they'll receive expert coaching from social enterprise Striding Out.

It's an exciting step. We'll have to set ourselves up to pay National Insurance and monthly wages. And I'll have someone to help me with everything from sifting through tender opportunities to chasing invoices and helping us minimise our impact on the environment. After the first six months, we'll have to ensure we can afford to keep paying her without the Future Jobs Fund help. Quite a responsibility. But my hope is that our new person will more than pay for herself.

The other thing I'm doing right now is trying to secure some more funding to run more Poached programmes in the new year. Strange that as a communications professional I should have so much difficulty articulating my case to a funder. I think the problem is that when you're so close to something it's nearly impossible to see the best way to describe it to someone else. Fortunately, I was offered some free consultancy with PA Consulting through UnLtd. They took a look at a specific funding application and then took me right back to basics in terms of the impact we are having, how and why we're the people to do this kind of work. What a relief! I've now got an outline proposal to work on and a lot more confidence that I can convince funders that we're worthwhile. Well, of course we are.

This week was also our first Christmas party with a mixture of supporters, clients and trainees coming along. Incredible to think that at this time last year, Poached was still just an idea. We didn't have any funding, didn't have anywhere to work from and didn't really have much of a clue. Now we've got clients, trainees, staff, a shared office, an identity and an emerging culture of our own.

Just want to finish, then, with a big thank you to everyone who's helped to get us this far.

There will be time...

It's been a busy few weeks and I had two new trainees start today. Things are really moving on quickly, meaning I've got to work hard to keep up.

First, there's the training. This is priority number one. I've got three people now relying on me every Thursday to give them training, guidance, feedback, work and support. If I do nothing else I have to make sure I get that right.

Second, there's the business essentials. Make sure there's somewhere to train out of. Make sure the paperwork's filled in. Account for the money spent so far. Try to make sure we've got enough computers, the right software, people to train and work to do.

Third, there's the business development. By which I mean business survival. We need more funding, we need paid work, we need organisations that are willing to pay us to train their beneficiaries. I'm finding it difficult to get the time to sort all this out.

Fourth, there's the professional development. I need to learn from this pilot, develop as a leader, influence others, build contacts and maintain existing relationships.

Finally, there's the people. Now if I'd really done this in priority order I would have to put them first because without them, none of this could happen. There's Angela, Jeevan, Chris and Brij, my trainees, who inspire me to get up every morning and work late into the night. There's Saba, Chris and Martine, Claire and Louise, who are all successful professionals in their own right and have volunteered their time to contribute (or promised to contribute) to the training programme. There's Claire, my development manager at UnLtd, without whom I'd have no money (and probably very little sanity). There's Sophy, Chris, Otu and Paul who are all helping in an advisory capacity with their various areas of expertise. There are my contacts at CDG - Michael, Kemi, Darren, James and Natasha who have all helped me get office space and people to train. There are my colleagues and bosses at work (the paid variety) who have been so supportive of this new venture. Then there are all the people - my flatmates especially - who just support me as a person to get all this done.

I'm afraid this is a really boring blog post - it doesn't think of its audience, it doesn't add anything of wider value, no links, no pictures, no particularly stylish use of language - just about everything I've ever told my trainees not to do. But it's going up for the record as a massive thank you to everyone involved so far.