I am just in the final stages of getting a £4,000 grant that I have been given to help develop some support materials for parents. The working title is “Parent circles – support material ” and the grant will go towards the writing, designing and developing of materials, audio, video for groups of parents who want to talk about parenting together and run their own groups in their community.
The grant was awarded by the Scottish School for Social Entrepreneurs, funded by the Bank of Scotland and as well as the money, the grant includes mentoring, and 12 business training days in Edinburgh.
It all kicked off in Edinburgh just last week. I went down for the introduction days and met with the 18 other grant winners – all doing amazing work, fabulous projects and it feels like a really wonderful group of people to be connected all over Scotland with the heart of social enterpreneurship.
Being a social entrepreneur for me is about saying Yes to my ethos, my values and my goals. To see that I can serve the parents and families who want to benefit from increasing their connection and better their relationship to their children AND at the same time run a viable business. It doesn’t have to fall on the NHS or Social Work departments to offer support to parents. Besides, my belief is ALL parents can benefit, not just those struggling.
Being a social entrepreneur means I am set up in a way that I am not solely reliant on grants and funding, not goverment controlled but have autonomy and a sustainable business model.
I am excited to be part of this growing movement, and that my next Joyful Parents project is going to benefit from all the input through financial, educational and networking opportunities. I am enormously grateful to the School for Social Entrepreneurs and the Bank of Scotland for supporting me, my business ideas and giving me this grant!
