Twelve years ago, Community Housing Cymru set up an Award scheme to recognise housing innovation in memory of a special person - Pat Chown. Pat gave a big part of her life to helping others and spent much of her working life in helping to meet people's housing needs in Wales.
Gwynedd-based horticulture, catering and joinery social enterprise tells us what makes the business a success, and about its plans to grow the organisation further.
A Glass Act: Profile of Ten Green Bottles
Date: 04.10.2011
This recycled glass social enterprise is doing wonders for Powys and is now receiving interest from national big name department stores.
Ten green bottles, in the heart of New Radnor, Powys, is a business the Welsh social enterprise sector can truly be proud of.
Through recycling used glass (and now textiles) in to all sorts of fantastic products, from flattened gin bottle clocks to artistic stained glass panels, the company is achieving impressive returns for the environment and local people.
The vast majority of the team, headed by manager Lorraine Powers, is made up of locals who have been excluded from work for a number of reasons. These include those with mental health issues, learning difficulties and the long term unemployed.
Stacie (pictured above) came to Ten Green Bottles via the Future Jobs Fund and is now studying at university. Tony, (pictured below) works as a full time trainer for the company after beginning as a volunteer when Ten Green Bottles first started.
How it all began
After a number of years training others as a personnel director in the public sector, Lorraine decided to take a break and do something she’d always wanted and took a fine arts degree. She enjoyed it so much that she did a Masters specialising in glass, inspired somewhat by her grandfather who had been a glassblower.
After her studies, Lorraine decided she wanted to do something with the community and glass design and proceeded to set up Ten Green Bottles in 2007.
“I started with funding for just two members of staff, one full time and one part time,” explains Lorraine. “But we have grown considerably and now have about 400 volunteers a year and five part time and two full time staff. Last year we made it onto the SE100 index of the fastest growing social enterprises in the UK,” she says, proudly.
Opportunities
Offering opportunities to the local community is paramount for Lorraine. Not only are there hundreds of volunteers (some of who just come in once-a-fortnight to get a flavour of working life), there are also workshops for local young people, older people, WI groups and more.
Six PhD students from local universities have also been given fantastic experience to work on real life projects at the social enterprise – funded by Powys Rural Development Plan. And, there are a plethora of locals with difficult backgrounds who have been given a new lease of life through working at Ten Green Bottles.
The social enterprise also provides OCN (open college network) accredited training for people of all ages and abilities in all sorts of areas, from basic work skills and marketing to stained glass craft.
And, eighteen months ago, Lorraine opened a real, physical shop in addition to the online one, which means staff now get invaluable experience of working with the public as well.
Big sales
There is good footfall at the shop, but Lorraine and the team always have their eye on new opportunities for selling.
“In September we did a buyers’ show called Top Draw at Earls Court in London, with funding from the Mid Wales Manufacturing Group, ” she explains. “We were one of five Welsh companies promoting our wares to staff to top department stores like Selfridges, and we received a lot of interest and got some great contacts. There are European shows like this out there that we’d like to be at too,” enthuses Lorraine.
Lorraine and the team is adept at brining in funds when needed and the company manages to have a healthy mix of earned and grant income, with 50% of turnover coming from trading. She has also picked up cash from the Leanardo Fund which supports and organises transnational business networking and mobility.
This is all on top of breaking new ground globally with cutting-edge research. The latest PhD student to work with the business, for example, is hoping to create a piece of glass that will act as a heat sink - a sort of solar panel to heat water.
As the year rolls on, and we find ourselves in October, all eyes are now on Christmas sales, with the company busy creating new products and bags for shoppers who want a gift with style and meaning (current stock, blue carafe and glasses set is pictured).
“It’s a really exciting time, with a number of new products and ideas on the horizon,” says Lorraine.
