icecream
architecture
community cic
visit US www.beyondthefinishline.org.uk
CONTACT US contact@beyondthefinishline.org.uk
Send an email to Alison with your idea before 21st February, give us a call or post your thoughts on facebook.com/beyondthefinishline
Alison Bell Beyond the Finish Line Challenge Co-ordinator
0141 2379788
We challenge you to be a social entrepreneur “Once upon a time, being an entrepreneur was all about the money. But, then a small group of visionary mavericks emerged to create jobs and bring healthcare and education to deprived communities. They pragmatically applied business principles to solve social problems, but weren’t motivated by profit. They were the Robin Hood of entrepreneurs. Nowadays, we recognise this breed of tycoon as social entrepreneurs. And they’ve moved from the margin to the mainstream.” Stuart Anderson, Shell Livewire Director
what's this all about? Beyond the Finish Line (BTFL) is a dynamic project that will use the momentum of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and young people’s imagination to regenerate local areas. Through this ambitious programme, budding social entrepreneurs will set up 10 social businesses in response to challenges identified by local residents, giving new life to empty spaces around Glasgow. We are calling to action all creatives and innovators between 16-30 to find solutions that have a positive impact within the community, and to take a journey with us to develop this idea into a social enterprise. The best
emerging ideas will be given one to one business support, mentoring from an industry expert, free workspace within Glasgow City centre, funding of up to £2014 and your own space to test your idea. We are looking for the most passionate, determined and creative people with a social conscience to turn their ideas into reality. These ideas might become new services, products, environments or something else entirely, but all will create a lasting impact beyond 2014. Challengers will be supported by an exciting, high profile and multi channel PR campaign and will develop practical skills in marketing and media management as they launch their enterprise.
YOUR JOURNEY MAP
A changing face for our high streets and centres It is easy to see the decline in local high streets with 105 outlets closing and only 47 opening in Glasgow in 2012. Despite this visible decline, empty retail spaces inspire and motivate young people. 65.9% of 2000 young people asked would like the opportunity to take over empty spaces on their high street, with particular interest in pop-up ventures, art, fashion and catering. The decline in town centres is due to a range of factors including online shopping and the economic climate. However, Scotland has many examples of public, private and community sectors working together to harness creativity and a sense of community for both social and economic benefit.
We want to connect young people with drive, ideas and motivation with people who can help them realise their potential and positively impact their community, regardless of their level of qualification or their background. This will contribute to making Glasgow and Scotland a better place to live, work and do business.
We need a new approach to old problems We are inspired by innovative use of town centres by social entrepreneurs and temporary or pop-up retailers, artists and community groups. There are new ways to approach old problems and stalled, temporary or mobile spaces offer a vital opportunity for young people to test ideas whilst learning how to make social enterprises work. This is not just about unused shops; it’s also about using existing outlets for a different purpose outside their normal hours or their normal function mobile stalls, temporary structures and enabling young entrepreneurs to pursue enterprise opportunities across all of the different functions that make up a local area (retail, social, cultural, health and wellbeing.) There are over 500 social enterprises based in Glasgow with 42% of these based in deprived areas. This supports Glasgow City council’s view of Glasgow as a place where everyone, especially young people, can realise their potential in culture, creative activity, work, education, sport or wherever the response to our high streets’ problems may lie.
Five measures of success Our research and experience suggests using these five measures of success for any intervention in local regeneration, recognising the many ways in which people use their local areas across Glasgow.
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We have created five themes to get you started, but we remain completely open about the end result - as long as you think it could make a real difference. Are
you
up for the challenge?
Future Glasgow : City Vision participant
Your Place Physical Environment
We challenge you to make better use of that empty or underused space on your street. Could your idea help people be creative in the spaces and places they have?
Take the challenge to help people feel happier and safer in their area. Your business idea could focus on finding ways of conserving, regenerating and creating new spaces for communities. We would like you to think of innovative ways of nurturing the elements that make up “your place� to create a healthy and vibrant community for future generations. This could be about making your local park a better place to be, using the river that runs by your area as somewhere to learn, or simply to clean up the abandoned piece of land on your street.
How can you connect people to their community through your business, thinking about regeneration, conservation and creating environments where everyone feels safe and happy?
Getting Noticed
Joe Hall - Creative Stirling
We challenge you to help people see how fantastic their local area is. Can you help people understand that there is lots to do in your local area? Could you help showcase the people that make your area great?
Take the challenge to make your town centre or local high street buzz with activity. Many people want the chance to get involved with activities in their local area but find it hard to find timetables, schedules and information on events and activities. Inaccessibility has created isolation amongst communities leaving towns fragmented. We would like you to focus on finding exciting news ways of connecting community activity, showcasing new business, and making services easier to find. Connecting community activity could involve an increased number of festivals or community events, encouraging people to take responsibility for the ongoing activity within their local area and stimulating community vibrancy, spirit and pride, providing crucial support to communities.
move around the city
Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council
How can your idea bring new life to Glasgow’s built heritage?
Take the challenge to create new ways to help people discover and explore their local area. Every community has a different tale to tell, each holding a different story and hidden routes worth exploring that have not yet been discovered. Each area in and around Glasgow has a unique diversity. Connecting these routes and stimulating curiosity could help create a strong connection between people and place, creating an environment which is good for body and soul. People in Glasgow feel there is a need for transport and connectivity within the city, for these connections to be more reliable, more affordable and better connected to hospitals, leisure facilities and between neighbourhoods. A new approach is needed to design ways for people to be able to explore, navigate, and discover hidden routes within their city, whether on foot, by bike or public transport There is a strong demand from the people of Glasgow for investment into cycling infrastructure. With cycle trips into and out of the City Centre in excess of 5,000 per day (an increase of over 50% in three years), and with Glasgow looking to increase commuter cycle journeys from 2% to 9%, we need to think of new ways to accommodate a growing community of cyclists and encourage more to join in. Rethinking how people move around the city could make for a more vibrant, healthy environment.
Social Interaction
A fifty year vision for the future – future Glasgow 2011 – 2061
Could you put a local space to a different use that would help people to get out of the house, active and involved in their local community?
Take the challenge to fill empty spaces with activity that will bring people together. As our high streets and town centres decline we see gaps where life and activity once was. Our city spaces are being underutilised, or are often neglected for many hours of the day. When we finish work or school, what is there to do and where? Your idea could take the form of a multi-functional space using what the local area has to offer. For example, using a community centre’s kitchen facilities at night to teach young people cooking skills, or running a beginners chef course, nurturing local young talent and establishing a 24 hour City that is safe and alive with activity. Sports activity could use more underused parts of Glasgow to bring people together. Kayak tours along the Clyde could be a way of using a once buzzing feature of Glasgow and bringing it to life once more. Local community centres, empty shops and using the Clyde are all powerful ways of building an active community, but what about the derelict pieces of land that surround us? Developing ideas around cultivating these pieces of empty land for growing food or using local parks to teach people how to grow their own food, nurturing the land and the health of a community are just some other ways to get people involved in your local area.
your generation
Understanding Glasgow The Glasgow Indicators Project
What skills do you have to help teach locals in the community?
Take the challenge to demonstrate how your generation can think differently about our City. You are an expert in things you know about. Every generation provide us with a rich culture of diverse and unique peer groups. Solutions using a cross generational community would make for a stronger group of people who can learn from each other and build new ways of thinking. Sharing skills is a way of connecting all generations and a way for everyone to learn a skill regardless of where they live or their age. In your generation there are specific trends and understanding that are unique to you.
How can you bring your skills into a community and help better people’s lives in your area? An example idea could be for a young person or group of young people with the know how to develop technology that helps older people get out of the house, or helps people who are housebound have more interesting things to do. Your knowledge could help connect a network of older people who do not feel like members of the community and re-integrate them by connecting them to existing activities. Young people have lots to offer their local web design, film production, or App design, showcasing their talent. How can you build use of a knowledgeable and technical minded where you live?
area - whether it is being good at but currently have no platforms for an innovative platform that makes generation to improve the place
If you are up for the challenge and you want to get hands on, we will give you all the help you need:
Send an email to Alison with your idea before 21st February, give us a call or post your thoughts on facebook.com/beyondthefinishline
Alison Bell Beyond the Finish Line Challenge Co-ordinator
0141 2379788 contact@beyondthefinishline.org.uk
THE PARTNERSHIP Firstport and Icecream architecture believe that the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014 create a unique opportunity to harness the creativity and energy of young social entrepreneurs to come up with new ways to regenerate local areas. Firstport and Icecream Architecture are working in partnership to inspire and involve young entrepreneurs (16-30) in making practical long term improvements to local areas within the City and the surrounding East End of Glasgow during 2014. Beyond the Finish is a Big Lottery funded project with Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Legacy status. Firstport is the development agency for start up social enterprises in Scotland and will support the young challengers to develop their ideas into sustainable businesses, through one to one business support, training and mentoring. Firstport supports hundreds of individuals each year who want to use their passion, skills and determination to bring about social change to their communities. Our iCAN programme is specifically designed to encourage young people to consider social enterprise as an alternative career choice, by providing intensive business support, real work experience and a full programme of workshops to develop creative thinking, business skills and build confidence. Icecream architecture works between community and public agencies/councils to create a level working platform for the delivery of creative, enterprising and regeneration projects. They initiated Stirling CityLab; a business incubator helping start ups aiming to regenerate Stirling City centre and delivered the project in partnership with Stirling Council and Architecture + Design Scotland. Icecream architecture have experience of what is needed to support young people into enterprise, developing partnerships, building supportive networks and fostering business permanence for start-up and early traders.
icecream
architecture
community cic