Communities in Business
News
1st July 2010
Celebrating five years of Communities in Business
This month, Communities in Business Ltd celebrates its 5th birthday. The not-for-profit organisation was established on 21st July 2005, by co-founders Jean Mulligan, Dr Tracey Marr and Sarah Steel, to provide business education and mentoring to people from challenged backgrounds. Over the years the organisation has been managed by a highly motivated team of individuals mostly providing their time on a voluntary basis. The latest addition to the team is Tracey Jefferies.
A number of successful projects have been carried out over the last five years including the Consortium for Enterprise Outreach (CEO) providing business mentoring to disabled entrepreneurs and carers in the UK, Italy and Latvia. The project ran until March 2007 and provided help to over 70 entrepreneurs in the partner countries. CiB worked with a number of organisations to deliver the project including Apeirons in Latvia, Conform in Italy and the UK’s AbilityNet and the Association of Disabled Professionals (ADP).
In 2006, the Tycoon Idol event was held in Oxford to support carers of young children or those who are long-term sick or disabled, to start a business from home. The event, hosted by Jane Owen (TV presenter and Chelsea Flower Show 2010 award winner) provided inspirational stories and speeches as well as access to advice from business mentors on the day. There was also a presentation of prizes to the winners of the Tycoon Idol competition run by media partner Take a Break magazine.
In 2005, the Hamilton Project (www.hamiltonproject.org.uk) began as a tribute to the late Richard Hamilton, a family friend of Business Boffin’s Prof Russell Smith. The project was piloted with 15 enterprising Royal Marines and has now been extended out to medical discharges from the Royal Navy and RAF as well as veterans from Oxfordshire. In 2009, together with the JobCentre Plus and the Royal British Legion, CiB established the Civvylisation event to provide financial, welfare, employment and self-employment advice to veterans across Oxfordshire.
Browse images taken at various events over CiB’s history by clicking here.
