The foodbank in Hackney will provide emergency food parcels to local families in crisis. The foodbank will rely on the goodwill of the local community, a large team of volunteers and support from local businesses. Our PR efforts will support fundraising efforts along with the volunteer recruitment drive.

Figures released last week show a 150% increase in demand for UK foodbank services. For many foodbank clients, the rising cost of food and fuel combined with static incomes, high unemployment and changes to benefits have forced them into a crisis where they cannot afford to eat. Food really does matter to them and we hope our efforts will go a little way to ensuring that those living on our doorstep don’t go hungry.

Hackney Foodbank will be launching its first food drive later this month. If you want to support our efforts through time, food or money donations please do get in contact: lisa@matterandco.com, jessica@matterandco.com

Well, that is exactly what happened when one of our longstanding clients, Andrew Robinson, director at CCLA, asked us to design an invitation to an event he was chairing at St Paul’s Cathedral titled, ‘Low pay and high cost lending: the role of mission-driven investors on achieving a better society’.

The debate, hosted by the St Paul’s Institute and the Church Investors Group, had on the bill some leading opinion formers: Catherine Howarth, CEO of Fair Pensions; Edward Mason, secretary of the Church of England’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group; former Bishop of Worcester, Rt Revd Dr Peter Selby; and Stella Creasy, Labour and Cooperative MP of Walthamstow.

We couldn’t resist finding out more about what ethical investors could and should be doing to tackle these issues.

Working together with the St Paul’s Institute, Matter&Co director and editor of Social Enterprise Live, Tim West and team filmed snapshots of the debate as well as interviewing each of the speakers to delve a little deeper into the notions they were bringing to the table.

To find out what we uncovered and view the video click here

To find out more on future events run by St Paul’s Institute click here 

Surveys and statistics always contain some important stories, and it’s the job of our design and editing team to illustrate the key findings with clarity and style. This report, based on a survey of 80 of Scotland’s largest community organisations, is a fine example – which also lets the character of the community transport sector and of the CTA brand shine through. The results demonstrate that community transport is a crucial service for thousands of older and disabled people across Scotland. For example:

More than 80% of passengers of community transport are older and/or disabled people

100,000 is at least the number of people who benefit from community transport in Scotland

2,500 people volunteer for Scotland’s top 80 community transport organisations

£1.7m is the annual value of community transport volunteers’ time at minimum wage rates

To find out more click here.

To find out more about the CTA click here.

So said Paul Druckman, CEO of the International Integrated Reporting Council, at Business in the Community’s Responsible Business Convention 2012 this morning – Tim West, our director, reports

Now I admit that words like ‘integrated reporting’ are a communications disaster in themselves: jargon that is far too dry and hardly engaging.

Yet the concept behind ‘integrated reporting’ could hardly be more important as we consider current economic challenges, the role of business within society and how this is communicated.

Essentially, integrated reporting is a new approach to corporate reporting that aims to show the links between an organisation’s strategy and finances and the social, environmental and economic context in which it operates.

Simple. And yet, we know that very few organisations – whether corporates, charities or even social enterprises – are yet very good at doing it.

Druckman sees this new approach as “not as the evolution of sustainability reporting – it’s the evolution of corporate reporting”. This is an important distinction. It means that demonstrating and communicating social, environmental and economic value must be viewed as core to the whole business – not just an add on.

This is but one snapshot from a two-day event that has brought together a remarkable collection of responsibly minded chief executives, chief finance officers (so not just CSR people) from across the world and across sectors.

For the team at Matter&Co, which took a stand in the exhibition hall in north London’s Business Design Centre, and who have been collecting video interviews around the convention for our online platform SocialEnterpriseLive.com, it felt like we were playing on home territory.

Our fantastic job, of course, is to do the bit that the accountants and business managers are not so good at – to irrigate the dry language and bring to life the stories that matter and help create engaging conversations around the idea of business that creates real value.

Our stories and videos from Responsible Business 2012 will be available at SocialEnterpriseLive.com

The Berti Green Accelerator programme, supported by James Caan’s Hamilton Bradshaw Impact Partners (HBIP), is searching for three successful low carbon businesses to award six months of first-class business support from HBIP and the opportunity to receive funding of up to £1million from Berti Investments.

The programme has been developed by Berti Investments and HBIP following a shared commitment to making a difference through impact investing. It recognises the amazing growth opportunity for low carbon businesses in the UK.

Whilst UK economic growth has substantially slowed since 2008, venture capital investment into the UK’s cleantech sector increased in 2011 for the sixth year in a row, to over £350million. With considerable work still to be done to reach 2020 carbon reduction targets, significant opportunities lie ahead for green entrepreneurs.

Matter&Co has been working closely with the Berti Investments team, advising on the communications strategy for the programme and delivering a media and social media campaign to support the launch of the programme.

Applications for the fund are now open with a closing date of 17 April 2012. Shortlisted candidates will pitch to a Dragons’ Den style panel of judges including James Caan, Jeremy Leggett (founder and chairman of Solarcentury), Michael Liebreich (founder and chief executive of Bloomberg New Energy Finance) and Jacques Tredoux (Berti Investments).

For more information or to enter, visit the Berti website: http://bertiinvestments.com/berti-green-accelerator
Twitter: @BertiUK

Are you the marrying type or do you prefer the idea of a bit on the side? Well for us, marrying communications and business is the only option, as our comms director Lisa Wimborne explains, following a recent workshop we ran for the social housing sector

Business is business, and marketing is marketing, and never the twain shall meet.

This, it seems, is the axiom by which many communications professionals are sometimes obliged to operate.
But it’s a saying that – thankfully – is increasingly being challenged by those who realise that communications is not an add-on or a cosmetic function but a crucial part of the business itself.

This debate came to life last month when Matter&Co ran a workshop at the National Housing Federation’s Communications and Marketing Conference about the importance of aligning your communications to your business plan.

Whilst it is clear that communications in social housing has moved on leaps and bounds over the last 10 years, there was a general consensus from those in the room – all either comms professionals or senior managers themselves – that getting the senior leadership team to buy into strategic communications continues to be a struggle.

In today’s times of austerity those working in housing communications need to ensure that every penny they spend counts. So, we believe that it’s time to wave a big goodbye to the ‘SOS’ culture of the past where you just ‘Send Out Stuff’ at the request of different managers and move towards a culture of Good Communication.

By good, we mean ‘strategic’ – a word that one delegate said was frowned upon in his organisation. And granted, we all get frustrated when there’s too much thinking without enough doing. But a communications strategy doesn’t need to be a static document that sits on a shelf collecting dust – it needs to be an action plan that focuses on business priorities and considers how communications can support these priorities.

The challenge of good communications often isn’t in the delivery but in the research and planning. With this not only will you increase your chance of producing effective communications but you will also have the evidence you need to take to your seniors to demonstrate why and how communications can and does add value to the business.

There were some great examples in the session from delegates that have successfully done just this to ensure communications works as an effective and essential part of the business.

It was a lively session which we thoroughly enjoyed facilitating, and I hope one that will give ideas, inspiration – and hope! – to the delegates who attended.

That is the question people in 150 areas around England will look to answer as they take part in Big Local – a £200m programme putting residents in the driving seat to transform their local area and make it ‘an even better place to live’.

Matter&Co has been working hard with Local Trust, a new organisation established to manage Big Local, to help bring to life the new Big Local brand, with a range of publications and tools aimed at inspiring and supporting residents through the Big Local programme.

The brief was right up Matter&Co’s street – using great communications to build success for an innovative, socially impactful initiative, and calling upon all our experience and skills in editorial, design and brand building.

It was important to ensure that the guides and marketing materials were accessible, informative and inspiring. They also had to be easy to use and engaging for residents, with clear and consistent messaging for Local Trust.

To find out more information about the Local Trust and Big Local click here.

To download ‘What’s Big Local all about?’ – one of the publications we have edited and designed click here.

The Ben & Jerry’s and Ashoka social entrepreneur film series, produced by Matter&Co, introduces a quest for five brilliant people with great business ideas that share the ice cream company’s passion for creating positive social change through entrepreneurship.

Ben & Jerry’s ‘Join Our Core’ competition, launched today, will unearth 15 amazing social entrepreneurs from five countries around Europe. Over the summer they will be sent to Uganda, where Ben & Jerry’s sources its fair trade vanilla, and there the 15 will be whittled down to the five best social business ideas.

These five will not only win a cash prize and support from the Ashoka network but – in a groundbreaking move – they will also have their name marketed alongside a new Ben & Jerry’s product in their country.

The films feature Ashoka social entrepreneurs from across Europe who are already achieving remarkable success around the world. They aim to inspire and encourage budding social entrepreneurs out there to get involved in this incredible opportunity.

To find out more about the Join Our Core competition click here.

To view the film series click here.

The Place2Be is a school-based counseling service dedicated to improving the wellbeing and prospects of children and their families by providing access to therapeutic and emotional support in schools.

Sarah will become part of this support chain – a small link in a very impressive organisation – for one day each week.

She says, “Over the course of a year I will be using my creativity as a tool to help young people explore new possibilities, tie-up unfinished business and build self esteem.

“On the eve of this task I was feeling the magnitude of what I was about to do and wondered if my creativity could handle the challenge. The more I thought about this question the more anxious I became. I will no doubt say the wrong thing from time to time. I might not recognise a drawing correctly or miss an important part of a story. But I will be there week after week; ready to offer support.

“I’m sure the children I work with will tell me when I am wrong, show me when I’m right and most importantly guide me through this process as I help guide them through any difficulties they may have.

“As first days go, yesterday was both terrifying and amazing in equal measure. I have a lot to learn and can’t wait to get back next week.”

Sarah is currently studying for a diploma in the Therapeutic and Educational Application of the Arts at the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education. This placement has been borne out of her studies.

So we were delighted when Deloitte invited us to help them recruit 50 of the most innovative social businesses to take part in the Deloitte Social Innovation Pioneers programme.

The Pioneers programme will showcase the top social businesses in the UK and provide them with a package of support to help them become investment ready, grow to scale and compete with private businesses.

Corporate responsibility is often perceived as an after-thought of big business, an activity to divert attention from the mucky business of making money. It has been very refreshing to work with Deloitte, whose ambition is to factor in the social and environmental implication of their every business decision and to tackle some of society’s biggest problems.

Bob Thust, head of corporate responsibility at Deloitte, has even gone so far as to challenge the social enterprise community to put him out of a job: Can social enterprise please put me out of a job

He foresees a world where all businesses are social businesses in which there is no need for corporate responsibility departments. We look forward to the day he receives his P45!

If you’re a social business with serious growth aspirations then you can apply for the Social Innovation Pioneers programme here

The deadline for applications is 29 January 2012.

We looked into a variety of exciting options on how to party whilst living up to our values as a social business – including lessons in circus skills. But in the end, the Matter&Co team voted to try out a new social enterprise supporting training and employment opportunities for people at risk of homelessness, the Brigade Bar & Bistro.

The Brigade is part of an innovative new project, by PwC, to develop the historic Fire Station on Tooley Street, London, into a thriving social enterprise hub. The bistro and bar offers people who have been at risk of or experienced homelessness the opportunity to study towards an NVQ Level 2 in Professional Cookery, with the aim that following the programme apprentices can seek full time employment.

Big Issue Invest, a client of Matter&Co, recently provided a £200,000 lending facility for the fit-out and working capital for The Brigade restaurant – so we thought it only fitting to make a visit.

The evening consisted of wine tasting, delivered by the lovely Stefano, followed by a sumptuous dinner. The tasting included two champagnes, eight wines and two cognacs. Luckily, we knew that every sip was helping the Beyond Food Foundation deliver its social mission – and we were also supplied with a few platters of bread and olives to balance out the alcohol content!

We then went on to a three-course meal of octopus, pork belly and finished with a cheese platter. All very delicious. The service was excellent and the wine tasting comes highly recommended by the team.

So thank you and Happy Christmas to the Brigade and to all our partners and clients!

You can read the full story about The Brigade on the SocialEnterpriselive.com website

Matter&Co has been supporting the work of CICs from the beginning. We have enjoyed a particularly good relationship with the CIC Regulator over recent years – and this month, we have just finished working on a set of 20 new case studies telling some of the great stories of how these companies are working to build value in their communities.

Matter&Co was brought on board to conduct interviews, write copy and design each case study, with the aim of providing inspiration and information to other organisations that could benefit from adopting the CIC model.

In fact, we’ve been so inspired that we are launching a CIC of our own – more news on that in the new year!…

The CIC Regulator encourages the development of the CIC brand and provides guidance and assistance on matters relating to CICs.

To find out more about the Regulator, click here.

To download one of the case studies click here.

This is very exciting for us as we were asked by MaRS Centre for Impact Investing, which delivers the forum, to partner with them and bring the creativity and energy of our Good Deals pitch doctor clinics to Canada. (Big thanks to Charmian Love, once a Good Deals volunteer and now CEO at Volans, for making the introduction!)

So off Tim went to be a pitch doctor himself, ready to help pitchers identify the right type of investment, select the right investor, fine-tune their pitch and prepare their business for the next stage.

Armed with our infamous “pigs and rockets” cards, Tim then hosted a keynote session in which the best pitchers presented and the 400-strong audience used the cards to vote on whether the ideas would rocket ahead – or if pigs might fly before they got off the ground.

Here’s what he had to say:

“It’s been a fantastic experience here in Canada – I’ve not only had a great welcome but there’s a real sense of optimism and energy around the potential for doing good business and building new systems in investment and legislation to make it happen.

“It’s been just one year since the Canadian Task Force on Social Finance released its report, Mobilizing Private Capital for Public Good, and the momentum that has built up around this agenda in Canada is impressive. The new MaRS Centre for Impact Investing launched this week and I’m sure that increasingly, we will be working with them and with other international partners to share knowledge and inspiration and build success in this world where business edge and social mission are coming together to change lives and change the way society operates.”

You can read the blog from the forum at http://socialfinance.ca/ and coverage will also be posted up on www.socialenterpriselive.com

Wavelength USA gives individuals a unique opportunity to get inside some of America’s most pioneering, creative, successful and disruptive businesses. This year delegates will be visiting DisneyToon Studios, eBay, Electronic Arts (EA), Google, and Ritz-Carlton.

To find out more or book a place click here.

To download the brochure click here.

We had a ball. We hope delegates had a good time too.

We might well have been going slowly crazy in preparation, particularly as the last two weeks kicked in, but the team worked their socks off and thrived off the buzz.

Thank you to all of you who joined us. For those of you that did not, we are pulling together video content of a number of sessions including the Granddaddy of microfinance, Muhammad Yunus, and a very inspiring speech by Julie Hanna, Chair of Kiva. Watch this space.

Tim West, Matter&Co Director has played a major role in all four conferences. He said: “We are extremely proud that Good Deals has developed into the UK’s leading social investment gathering.

“Our aim has always been to bring social entrepreneurs and investors together to get good deals done. In 2011, this aim seemed more prescient than ever. And yet, from the gloom, we see bright sparks of opportunity – new business models, entrepreneurs with the commitment and energy to drive them, supportive (if cash-strapped) governments, and innovative investment vehicles that create shared wealth from shared commitment.

“We hope we managed a conference that provided debate, exploration and shared learning about all these things, and that the knowledge and contacts you gained gave the inspiration to proceed and create positive change.”

Nick Hurd, Minister for Civil Society, said: “Social investment has the potential to transform how the social sector is funded, becoming a significant third pillar of finance alongside traditional philanthropy and government grant funding. Government is supporting the development of the social investment market to enable innovative social sector organisations to access the finance they need to grow and increase their social impact. We are doing this primarily through establishing Big Society Capital, which will be capitalised with up to £600m. The social sector must now prepare to take full advantage of the opportunity Big Society Capital presents.”

Big thanks to our partners, in particular Deloitte, RBS NatWest and the SROI network.

Planning for next year’s conference will start immediately and we will share further news with you about taking Good Deals to the next level very soon.