Natalie

40 Years: The Rank Foundation Leadership Award

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On Friday 23rd November, The Rank Foundation celebrated 40 Years of the School Leadership Award, as well as the 15th Anniversary of The Rank Fellowship.

A celebratory dinner was organised by our Director of Education, Tim Young, and the Chair of the Fellowship, Lindsey Clay, to be held at Inner Temple Hall in London, and all beneficiaries of the School Leadership Award (dating back to 1978) were invited to attend.

Over 190 guests attended, including current beneficiaries of the School Leadership Award, Fellows, Headteachers, Trustees and both current and past staff who administered the award.

Tim Young had created a ‘rotating’ place setting arrangement, to ensure that current Leadership Award Holders were able to network with members of the fellowship, which meant that much career advice was given, stories of Community Action Placements were exchanged and old acquaintances and friendships were rekindled.  The room was filled with sixth formers, University Students, service men and women, doctors, actors and actresses, economists, scientists, lawyers and photographers, just to name a few.

The Rank Foundation would like to thank everyone who attended, and hopes that old connections have been revitalised and that new friendships and associations will be successful!

The Rank Foundation reaches Plymouth

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The Rank Foundation is embarking on a £1.5m investment in the city of Plymouth.

Known as Britain’s Ocean City, Plymouth is home to 260,000 residents in addition to the 22,000 students at the university.  It has a rich history and a vibrant marine and maritime economy, however its unemployment rate is higher than the national average and the NHS records indicate high levels of poverty and deprivation. More than a quarter of Plymothians are amongst the poorest 20% in the UK.

With our previous and ongoing work in Hull and Dundee, the Foundation is enthusiastic about working with the latest addition to our Place-Based programmes. The Foundation has identified a collaborative energy in Plymouth which, with investment in the city and the people, has much potential to produce and nurture similar relationships and successes to Hull and Dundee.

We will be working with two strategic partners, the Real Ideas Organisation (RIO) and the School of Social Entrepreneurs (SSE), who will help to drive the RISE (Rank Inclusive growth Social Enterprise) programme in Plymouth. We have also appointed Phil Davies (who was previously Principal at City College Plymouth) as our local associate and Rank representative.

Visit our latest Place-Based webpage here to read more about our investment in Plymouth, and get to know the participating projects.

Community Action Placements 2018

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We are now mid-way through our annual period of Community Action Placements, hosted by organisations known to, and funded by, The Rank Foundation.

Our School Leadership Award Holders are required to do two Community Action Placements (CAP), learning how charities work, volunteering their time to get stuck in and hands-on with their programmes. Every year, The Rank Foundation organise between 30 and 40 placements with charities and organisations who are members of RankNet. Some placements are residential and some are commutable, and for two weeks the Leadership Award Holders gain experience in the Third Sector.

Max

Ykids

“I have had non-stop fun throughout the entire time I’ve been in Bootle and the whole experience has been truly unforgettable. I’m honoured to have been able to act as part of such an amazing team of youth workers who have allowed me to develop my leadership qualities and contribute towards making a difference to the lives of a group of amazing young people. The variety of opportunities I was able to help out with was incredible. I experienced bee-keeping for the first time, helped decorate the community garden ready for a competition and even ended up putting my carpentry skills to the test by building props for a jungle themed holiday club for which I was part of the team that ran the programme. I truly couldn’t have wisher for a better time on my community action placement.”

Tasia

Khulisa

“I went into this placement with an open mind and no specific expectations, as I had not heard of Khulisa before and was excited to see what they entailed. Regardless of my limited knowledge on the charity I wanted to utilise this placement opportunity to nurture my leadership skills.


My time at Khulisa was amazing, there was always something to do; a way for me to contribute, meaning I never found myself bored. Every member of the charity’s team was welcoming and it was clear that they believed in the work they were doing in order to help overlooked groups in society. I found myself participating in taster sessions, writing articles for their newsletter and watching spontaneous live TV interviews of the charity’s CEO. I am appreciative of this experience and will certainly keep in contact with Khulisa as it is an exceptional charity, with equally integral people behind it.”

Bharath


PEEK (Possibilities for Each and Every Kid)

“My two week placement at PEEK has been an extremely enjoyable one. The children at each school for my placement are very kind, enthusiastic and brilliant and I am very grateful to PEEK for the opportunity they have given me to work with so many incredible people from a wide spectrum and to learn about different cultures and backgrounds. The staff have been amazing; they are welcoming, friendly and very passionate about their work. Each day has been wonderful, there is always something new and the children are so eager to get involved. A highlight for me would be the day that I went on a trip with a primary school to Glasgow Green as every single individual was just having a blast, every parent and child were having the time of their life. Even people that were not with PEEK were getting involved with all the activities. It was the most energetic and vibrant day for me.”

Jesse

Maundy Relief

“Observing people and giving advice to clients about benefits has helped to open my eyes as to how difficult it is for those who need to claim benefits to be able to figure out which ones are best for them and then how to apply for those benefits. I also attended training on Universal Credit which showed me how complex the system actually is. The second piece of training that I undertook was some first aid training which was very useful as it is transferable to any workplace. In addition to shadowing people and giving advice I also did some volunteering in the drop in which included preparing food parcels for those in need, preparing and serving a hot meal to people who wouldn’t be able to access it, as well as working behind the desk which included taking phone calls and assessing clients for food parcels and taking details for future appointments.”

Rank Accelerator Event 2018

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The Rank Foundation has now launched the annual Rank Accelerator Event in preparation for the annual conference, held in October.

Open to organisations that are members of RankNet, the Rank Accelerator Event  has a prize fund of £10,000 in support of enterprise.

Generating income and sustaining services has always been a key challenge for the sector and this has undoubtedly been harder in recent years. The Foundation wants to actively encourage all projects within RankNet to consider enterprise and to explore opportunities for generating both social impact and a financial return.

The Event is hosted at our conference, and shortlisted organisations are given the opportunity to pitch to the audience (approximately 220 attendees), and a panel of judges.

Past Winners

The Rank Accelerator Event has been running for a number of years. In 2016, the winner was chosen solely by the judges, but in 2017 (and with the birth of RankNet), an interactive voting system was put in place for the conference attendees to submit their choice of winner. This meant that in 2017, there was a judges winner, and an audience winner. Hover to view details of each event winner.

PEEK (Winners 2016)
Winning Idea: Pop Up Community Cinema

PEEK had been testing out free cinema experiences to disadvantaged families in the East-End of Glasgow. Families were known to not be able to afford going to the cinema together, as it has become far too expensive. PEEK identified that cinema brings a whole host of benefits to families, both educationally and socially. PEEK asked themselves: How could we make the programme sustainable, as PEEK pride themselves on free opportunities for families and young people?
The Accelerator Event was the perfect opportunity to ensure sustainability. After winning, PEEK employed an intern to get the business model prepared and marketed. They marketed to the private sector, creating four different cinema packages of varying costs. From this, 100% of profit goes back into the community pop up cinema programme. Ever since, the community cinema has continued, with young people taking ownership in planning and provision.

Anima Muslim Women Resource Centre – Judges Winner 2017
Winning Idea: Culinary Enterprise Initiative

Amina explained that to many Muslim women that used their services, ‘cooking and cleaning’ were their main skills. They recognised an opportunity to tap into the women’s talents, and pilot a culinary enterprise initiative. Complementing their innovative practical ‘business block’ model, funded by RBS Skills and Opportunities Fund, where women are supported to embark on an entrepreneurial journey experiencing brainstorming, product design and production, budgets and costings, marketing and selling, Amina proposed to run a pilot programme of six ‘Taste of . . . ‘ events, bringing home cooked, authentic dishes from across the globe to the people of Dundee.
The proposed programme intended to provide free training and offer work experience opportunities in administration, customer service and hospitality, equipping local Muslim and ME women with sought after UK experience in growing sectors, enhancing their employability prospects, boosting their confidence and challenging the negative stereotypes propagated by the media.
So far, Amina have run a “Taste of…” lunch (which was very successful), provided food hygiene training opportunities for 11 of their service users, hired a kitchen team leader, and gained lots of interest in the local community.

Centre 63 – Audience Winner 2017
Winning Idea: Remake Yourself Project

Centre 63 is based in the borough of Knowsley, which stands as the 5th most deprived Borough in England. Many residents face disproportionate repercussions from statutory funding cuts and benefit sanctions, so much of the community struggle to buy food, let alone buy furniture. The Remake Yourself Project aimed to create a hub that could divert waste from landfill, whilst supporting the skill development of young people and building their aspirations. The project would then offer sustainability to Centre 63 through the sale of upcycled furniture.
After co-winning the Rank Accelerator Event, Centre 63 has offered meaningful, skilled work to people in the local community via the following avenues: Upholstery courses engaging 12 volunteers with a passion for crafts, recycling and working for the good of the community; Design, Craft and Carpentry Workshops; Day care for the children of parents who are engaging with the sessions, so they can engage in social contact with others who are in similar positions; and an Earn Furniture Scheme. The scheme allowed beneficiaries to not only make use of their new skills, but also work towards claiming a piece of their own work to take home for their own use. This is really important to volunteers who are financially very stretched.

If your organisation is a member of RankNet and would like to apply, log onto RankNet and complete the application form under ‘Opportunities’. You can also read more about criteria and expectations on Kai Wooder (Director of Enterprise) Blog on RankNet.

If you have any technical issues or have any queries about RankNet signup, please email ranknet@rankfoundation.com.

Memorial Award Winners 2017: Update

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Last Wednesday The Rank Foundation launched applications for the Rank Memorial Award 2018. This is open to all members of the network and opens up an opportunity to embark on an adventure exploring an area of personal interest relating to our ethos. You can read more about the award and how to apply here: RankNet Blog – Memorial Award 2018.

This presents a great opportunity to take a look at the progress and travels of the 2017 Memorial Award winners: Sian, Michaela and Jenny. The prize grant was split between three of the applicants, and each have been planning and embarking on their trips over the past 6 months.

Jenny Geddis

At the time of appling, Jenny was a Time to Shine Intern at Giving Northern Ireland.

Jenny applied to travel to Kolkata, India to visit and learn from a Freedom Business called Freeset, as a social issue she is interested in is human trafficking, why it happens and how it can be prevented in Northern Ireland and globally.

Freeset produces and exports clothing and fabric globally while using an “upside down” model that turns the normal principles of running a business on their head. At Freeset, women are employed on the basis of their need for freedom, rather than their qualifications – many have had little or no schooling. They are trained and then paid well above the going market rate. The women actively engage in running the business. All profits from Freeset in Kolkata benefit the women (salary, health insurance and retirement plan) and are used to grow the business. Meaning more women can be employed and experience freedom.

For the first three weeks of Jenny’s stay in Kolkata, she took part in a programme called “Freedom Encounter” which involved learning more about Kolkata’s culture, how to set up a business with the purpose of freedom and also with an ethical supply chain along with finding out more about all things fabric, bags and t-shirts including the processes behind cutting, weaving, sewing and printing.

Read More

Sian Howarth

Sian is employed by Blackpool Carers as a Fundraising Executive and travelled to South Africa this Spring.

Sian flew to Johannesburg to an organisation called Spark International, who also operate in Australia, Bangladesh and Kenya. Spark International recruits and supports local leaders with solutions to local problems in some of the world’s toughest communities. Spark runs 3 accelerator courses per year where entrepreneurs apply with their start-up business ideas.

Sian had initially planned to spend her time with the entrepreneurs, however it soon became evident that Spark South Africa were in desperate need of advice and help with their social media, and also with their funding proposals. Using her skills from Blackpool Carers, Sian decided to divert her attention to their needs.

By week 3, Sian was able to get more involved in the accelerator course and meet the delegates. This proved to be an eye opening experience.

Despite saying goodbye and returning home, Sian has agreed to continue supporting Spark with her grant writing skills.

In her time off, Sian told us some highlights for her was visiting a game reserve and seeing ‘the big 5’, and visiting Cape Town and seeing Table Mountain.

Read More

Michaela Collins

In a world where imagination and creativity is becoming more stagnated and with technology taking over every part of our lives – Michaela believes that we all need more Play!

Michaela will be going to visit Kaboom! an amazing charity based in Washington DC, U.S.A, who support communities all over America to design and build their own playgrounds and make their communities more playful. You can read more about Kaboom! here.

The Rank Memorial Award 2018

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The Rank Memorial Award was established in 2010 to commemorate our former Chairman, Mr. Fred Packard. The aim of the Memorial Award is to create an opportunity to travel and explore a specific area of personal interest, relating to our work that will serve to inspire, educate or promote the interests, values or ethos of the Foundation. Here is a brief summary of two of the 2017 winners and their plans:

The 2018 programme is now open and available to anybody associated with the Rank Foundation and RankNet, through our range of initiatives and programmes. There will be one award of £8,000 – we might share this depending on circumstances. Applicants must be 18+ to apply with no upper age limit.

We are looking support an individual who has designed their own programme of learning around one of the Foundation’s key areas of interest: leadership or enterprise.

The successful programme is likely to include an element of working in an outside agency, preferably abroad. The initiative must be entirely of the applicant’s own choosing and design: this might include someone wishing to take a sabbatical in order to explore an initiative around ‘leadership or enterprise’, perhaps working in a community abroad, with an experience that could help develop the applicant’s current or future professional role and expertise.

All submissions must be made via the application form on RankNet. You can find this application form under ‘Opportunities’   Please direct any queries or questions direct to Helen at helen.stockdale@rankfoundation.com.

You will need to cover:

  • Where you want to go, for how long and why
  • A brief description on who you are, your current role and organisation
  • Who or what you intend to visit
  • What you hope to achieve
  • Provisional budget including any flight, travel, accommodation and associated costs (you do not need to commit the £8,000 in full)
  • Full contact details
  • The trip must be complete by the end of August 2019

The winner must be prepared to produce a short video diary, to produce a blog (during the trip for publication on
RankNet) and to make a formal presentation to the Rank team on their return.

The deadline for submissions is 5pm on the 15th June 2018 . You will be contacted by email, on the email address you have provided on this form, if you have been shortlisted by the  27th of June. We expect interviews to take place on the 12th July at the Rank Foundation office in London.

Good Luck!