Do Good Design

Perhaps you have an idea you’ve been mulling over for years, an idea for a project that helps people that you’ve never seen anyone else do. But you aren’t a charity and you want to earn a living doing good work. Enter social entrepreneurs.

Examples of successful social entrepreneurs

Maybe you’re like Andrew Mawson and the Bromley-by-Bow Centre, who turned a run-down church with a congregation of 12 in a run-down neighbourhood of London in a thriving health centre that combines “prescriptions” for art classes or business start-up help alongside alternative and conventional medicine.

Or Michelle Baharier, who created Cooltan Arts to offer arts workshops run by and for people with mental distress in London.

Or Lynoa Cochrane, who started Fife-based BabyGROE, a magazine for new parents that helps them raise children in ways that save money and protect the environment.

Getting started: Firstport

I used to think you had to have a lot money or connections to get projects like these off the ground, but after meeting with Jay Lamb at Firstport (I mentioned them in another article, Resources for Social Enterprises) now I feel giddily optimistic.

Firstport is meant to be your first port of call when you’ve got an idea for a do-good business in Scotland. (I’d like to know what their equivalent is in England and Wales and the U.S., so if you know, email me.) For free, they meet with you to discuss your idea and form an action plan for making it a reality.

Finding funding: UnLtd grants

Almost as cool is UnLtd, a UK-wide charity that gives grants to people not organisations, which is almost unique because just about every other charity only gives to other charities.

UnLtd has 2 levels of awards that you might be eligible for:

Level 1: Getting your project off the ground (£500 - £5000)

Level 1 awards are for people who:

• Have an idea which will benefit their community
• Have thought about how they will run their project
• Have some evidence that there is a need for their project
• Will learn a new skill from carrying out their project

Level 2: Turning your project into a reality (£10,000 - £20,000)

Level 2 awards are for entrepreneurs who have:

• a viable business case for their project development
• a clear social need for their work
• evidence of the social, environmental or economic impact to date

Applicants have usually been operating their projects for over a year.

You can do it

The point is, there’s a lot of people, money and advice out there if you genuinely want to do good and make a living. You don’t need to be rich or well-connected, or wait to find a whole committee who agrees with you.

You don’t need to keep working in your miserable job to earn savings to do it either. I’m not saying it’ll be easy but the first step is to get in touch with FirstPort and start making your dream come true.

Don’t forget to get in touch and let me know how it goes.