Three challenges for Ecclesiastical does Good for Nothing Birmingham

1. Outline challenges for Ecclesiastical does Good for Nothing
Birmingham
Brief 1: Stirchley Food Co-op
Providing good quality local and affordable food for local communities is a
massive task.
The Stirchley Food Co-op has been growing over the last year, operating a
monthly ordering system to about 40 households in Stirchley, providing them
with fresh, good quality food products.
However to really gain traction with the community the Food Co-operative
needs shop space – the local high street has been hit hard with over 40% of
shops closed and unoccupied.
However with an offer of physical shop space in the soon to be launched Loaf
bakery on the high Street the Food Co-Op finds itself in a new and exciting
position with the opening of ‘Stirchley Stores’.
The challenge for Food Co-Op is two-fold – firstly they need urgent help with
financial and business planning. Running a commercial enterprise balanced
with the needs of a co-operative is a big task.
Secondly they need to grow the co-operative locally, reaching out to new
people, bringing more local diversity into the group, signing them up to
membership and participation in the running of the enterprise.
How can the Food Co-op reach out to more people who might not understand
the benefits of a Co-operative, how might it cater to those with lower incomes
or habitually stuck in supermarket food?
Specifically:
1. Business and financial planning
Help the Food Co-Op create a solid business plan and model and financial
forecasting to help it grow sustainably.
2. Recruitment strategy and communication tactics
Create a recruitment strategy and communication tactics to drive up
membership of the Food Co-Op in the local area.
Things to consider:
By getting out into the local community and interviewing and filming residents,
we can understand the barriers and opportunities for the Food Co-op and

2. create communications messages, tactics content and materials to help drive
engagement and recruitment.
The Food Co-op is currently having a new identity and website developed so
these assets will be available to build on.
Brief 2: Jericho Foundation
http://www.jcp.org.uk/
Jericho Foundation is a Charity foundation, which has developed a group of
social enterprises that work with disadvantaged individuals and help them,
overcome barriers and become fulfilled, skilled and employed.
It started out as an advice centre via local churches taking in those most
vulnerable in society.
The Jericho Foundation finds itself in a challenging situation. The 8
enterprises it has developed within the group employ significant numbers of
vulnerable people trying to rebuild their lives through work and development.
However as an enterprise it is also competing to provide commercial
contractual services alongside pure commercial players.
The Challenge
Within the group there is a Green Business portfolio which consists of
Community Recycling, Wood Recycling and Re-Use which are part of the
growing environmental services and sit alongside the more established Office
Recycling Business, which we would like to focus on as part of the challenge.
Specifically
1. Sales
Overview the sales strategies for the Environmental enterprises and provide
an update to help optimise sales approaches and tactics and ultimately boost
sales.
What/Who are they competing against – what are buyers of these services
looking for?
How can we make their offer more compelling?
2. Communications
Specifically:
1. Explore how Jericho Foundation might better articulate and re-
communicate its charity mission to deliver market leading commercial service

3. offerings while at the same time landing it’s unique and differentiating deeper
purpose (helping the disadvantaged get back into employment) in an
engaging and simple way.
Bring this to life through copy, film, and sketches
2. Jericho Re-use is the newest enterprise in the group and is developing a
very new and emerging market – that of re-use of materials and products
which are often seen as junk or beyond repair.
Explore creating a more engaging Re-use brand, including name, identity and
suite of communications assets which also communicates in smart and
interesting ways the Jericho Foundations Mission.
3. Wood Recycling has two specific product offerings: Woodshack – which
takes timber that is destined for Landfill and turns them into numerous timber
products and Wood briquettes which are produced to be used in wood
burners.
Develop more articulate sub brands for these products and communications,
which tell the Jericho Foundation mission in smart and interesting ways.
Develop messaging and sales strategy tactics and channels.
Things to consider
Go to a local refuse point and interview/film people dropping off stuff – explore
their perceptions of re-use and repair.
Mash up a web film to land the Re-use brand.
Brief 3. Continental Star
http://www.continentalstarfc.co.uk/
Continental Star is a unique Sport and Community Club located in the West
Midlands. The club has its roots in central Birmingham and has branched out
in recent years from its original focus on football.
Today, Continental Star is a Social Enterprise and a registered charity that
seeks to help those within the community that are often marginalised and
considered by others as hard to reach. The Club now offers a range of
community services in addition to a growing portfolio of sports activities. As
well as running football teams for the under 7’s right up to the over 35’s, and a
ladies’ team, Continental Star also delivers a successful after-school
Homework Club which targets disadvantaged young people; it also has a
women’s help group providing valuable support and advice to the unemployed
and lone parents. In addition, the club also acts as Grassroots B.A.M.E (Black
& Asian Minority Ethnic) advisors to the FA and the Kick It Out campaign

4. The Challenge
1. Corporate Funding and Financial Sustainability
Continental Star like many organisations have been hit by cuts in grant
funding.
Can we develop new approaches to raising finance to support the
organisation and its amazing work? E.g Product and service ideas beyond
traditional fundraising approaches
Corporates and business are a key audience, we would like to develop a
corporate funding pitch, which could help secure funding from local, regional
and national business.
Specifics
Create corporate funding pitch material which tells the story of Continental
Star in an engaging way – consider the role of images and film in bringing this
to life.
Can we productise different corporate offerings to create different donor
packages and investment levels?
What will we offer corporates in return and how do we package this up to
make it engaging?
2. Web communications
The existing site has been developed by volunteers, can we help it evolve and
develop without a complete new build?
Specifically:
How can we improve on the existing web site? What could we do to make it
easier to navigate, to make content more shareable
How can we use the social internet to help Continental Star (CS)
communicate more effectively and widely?
How could the social internet help with fundraising for example?
How can we encourage more of a community element to CS on the web?
How can we make the site easier to update, administer and evolve for the
team at CS?