Over 3 years, OSEP worked with OxLEP, Oxfordshire’s Local Enterprise Partnership, to deliver eScalate, a three-year project, part funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) which ended in April 2023 to support Social Enterprises, social entrepreneurs, enterprising charities and purposeful businesses.
eScalate Impact Report
eScalate Feedback
Our eScalate grant is supporting the setup costs of the first phase of the project including working with local tradespeople and architecture practice Transition by Design Cooperative to transform what was a dilapidated empty building into a 21st century work space. The grant has helped make the project possible and leverage more support and funding.
Andy at Makespace
The eScalate programme means we can be part of an amazing community of other like minded entrepreneurs. We have benefited from 121s with Grant Hayward, he has been very knowledgeable at helping Waste2Taste to understand how well can we fit as a small social venture in our community, and the next steps we need to take to be able to grow.
Sandra at Waste2Taste
We have benefited from 121 sessions through the eScalate programme, as well as invaluable networking opportunities, new contacts, information sharing and finding out about funding opportunities. We’re very proud to be part of the eScalate community, and look forward to developing further links going forwards.
Josh at Active Oxfordshire
eScalate has supported us to develop a relevant business plan, connected us with supportive peer to peer networks, developed our understanding of the sales process, business structures, and provided one to one support to identify our business needs. eScalate have let us know of opportunities available to help us grow our business further.
Alex at Muddy Feet
Being part of the eScalate programme has first and foremost been an inspiration and a comfort during a challenging year! As a business we feel like we have taken an important step from being in our little corner doing our own thing to finding ourselves part of a ‘an amazing community of other likeminded businesses, all grappling with the same challenges and opportunities of being a business that wants to make a difference in the world while still being commercially viable. We’ve also gained some important practical support, attending webinars on How to measure your Impact, for example, and learning more about the B Corp movement.
Ashley at The Wonky Food Co.
It has helped us to benefit from collaboration, particularly with Flo’s, but also across the partnership of hubs, to offer our social enterprise learning and experience to benefit others who are starting out on their social enterprise journey.
Paul at Aspire Oxfordshire
The support we’ve received from the eScalate programme has been transformative for Curiosity Box. From grant funding that has enabled us to scale up our manufacturing capacity and capability, to the support networks that we’ve accessed to help us navigate COVID and Brexit, eScalate has been a critical part of our growth, particularly in the past year. It has been particularly useful to be part of the purpose driven business/B-Corp/Social enterprise Network.
Renee at Curiosity Box
I am relatively new to the eScalate programme, but even so I feel I’ve had my eyes opened to how a business can develop with social impact and environmental issues at its core, rather than as an afterthought. I have become aware of an entire community of people who are passionate and driven to make positive change in my local area. I’m excited to see what else I can learn from and teach to this community.
Jane at Link Breathing
We have used the Peer-to-peer programme and 1to1 sessions in order to solve barriers to our growth. Support from others in business is a great help and eScalate has given us the platform to do this.
Mark at The Engineering Trust
I attended a Marketing with a Mission workshop recently which was really inspiring. It helped me get clearer on who my target audience is, and prompted me to finally sit down and hone my mission statement. It was also really energizing and encouraging to meet other like-minded small business owners.
Sally at Sally Harris Mindfulness
I have had the opportunity to attend valuable workshops which provided knowledge on starting, growing and also clarifying business aims and goals. It allowed me to connect with like minded individuals who have started, or want to start independent businesses. The eScalate programme gave me hope to grow and be able to offer more through my business.
Ebony at Nettles & Bees
Flo’s has benefited from direct support through an eScalate grant which helped it start up its own cafe and expand its refill shop, creating new local jobs and better services. It has created 10 new local jobs and developed its capacity to respond to the COVID crises through leading the development of the OX4 Free Food Crew, expanding a community midwifery service with OUH, providing childcare for keyworkers, and offering a friendly welcoming space for people to get support – and do some of their local shopping as safely as possible.
Annie at Flo’s | The Place in the Park
eScalate’s ‘Marketing with a Mission’ series helped me to become clearer on my offering, how to communicate it and be clear on my business goals. I greatly enjoyed the sessions and made some great local connections.
Wendy at Reclaim Movement
Not only has it been fantastic to connect with the central hubs in a meaningful way but we have also met numerous purpose driven small business owners who need support and we may not have met if it hadn’t been for the programme. We want to create a network of social enterprises, CICs and charities around Oxfordshire and potentially Nationwide.
Lucy at Town Square
The eScalate programme has helped expose and connect the Safetyknot business to other like-minded people and organisations. Expanding our network has developed the capacity and number of people working with Safetyknot.
Katherine at Safety Knot
eScalate funding helped us buy new woodworking machines for our workshop. When teaching, you’ve got to buy high quality industrial equipment, because it has to cope with heavy use while students are learning how they work. And they’ve got to be as safe as possible. Thanks to eScalate and another charity which match-funded our grant, we placed an order for circa £60,000 worth of machines in March.
Joseph at Sylva Foundation
The eScalate programme has helped me define the vision and mission for Indie Oxford through 121 support, and I have been able to gain hugely helpful business knowledge and connections through workshops, which has helped to grow the business.
Rosie at Independent OxfordTo have others to talk to, and moan with, and talk about the struggles we have had. Just to get that off your chest and to know you’re not on your own, it was like having an extended team that aren’t constantly always there, but you know are there if you need to reach out.
Annabel at Life at No. 27I’ve done the ‘Peer-to-Peer Learning‘, the ‘Meet The Buyer‘ events and the ‘Power of Purpose‘ [week]. It gives us a sense of perspective as to what else is happening, it builds a network, and it’s empowering to go out there and reach out rather than be internally focused. The ‘Meet the Buyer’ event helped us reach out to external parties and to develop business opportunities. The ‘Peer-to-Peer’ was really helpful in group coaching one another.
Richard at Oxford Wood Recycling
The most helpful aspect of the programme was having a peer-to-peer group and knowing that there are others who are doing the same and thinking in the same way as you are. Having this foundation and support network has been extremely valuable.
Julie at Neve’s Bees
I took part in one of the eScalate Peer-to-Peer mentoring programmes. Particularly when you’re working alone, and you don’t have anybody that you can bounce ideas off, it’s invaluable to have a group that can help provide other opinions and perspectives to help you. We’ve kept in touch and continue to share ideas and support each other.
Sarah at Y.O.U Underwear
eScalate introduced us to a group of awesome, passionate and like-minded entrepreneurs and owners of other SMEs.
James at Jericho Coffee Traders
I particularly enjoyed a peer learning group for ‘charity leaders’ near the start of lockdown where we supported each other with the big issues we were facing as our organisations rapidly changed to adapt to the pandemic. It was brilliant to feel supported by others going through similar challenges.
Katherine at CAG Oxfordshire
It has been brilliant to be centrally networked into the vibrant community of social entrepreneurs in Oxfordshire as a social enterprise hub, even if the effects of the pandemic have meant there have been less face to face networking opportunities than we would have liked. We have also been fortunate enough to be successful in our application for an eScalate grant to support our project to launch a new hospitality venture, including a training kitchen, at the White House on the Abingdon Road in central Oxford.
Paul at Tap Social Movement
The eScalate programme has enabled us to further develop from a minimum viable product to a fully functioning commercial service, now available as B2B2C and D2C models. We have also benefited from peer support programmes and 121 support with marketing, business development, research assistance and social networking.
Darren at After Cloud
Current OSEP business support
Going forwards, OSEP is still here to support Social Enterprise, purposeful businesses and trading charities in Oxfordshire. You can find useful signposting and resources here, or book a 121 with OSEP’s Enterprise Support Manager, Grant Hayward, here.
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