Scaling for success: Yellow Brick Road Projects wins support from the School for Social Entrepreneurs and Postcode Innovation Trust
Siobhan Down the CEO of Yellow Brick Road Projects in Hampshire, based at Basepoint Andover, has been awarded a place on a competitive leadership development programme, to help scale the success of their social enterprise.
The Scale+Accelerate programme supports the leaders of established organisations working in the following sectors: employability and training; health and wellbeing; environment and conservation.
Yellow Brick Road Projects has been identified as a well-established organisation impacting the lives of people in need or tackling a major environmental challenge, with the potential to scale impact even further.
Yellow Brick Road Projects mission is to Engage and Educate young people so that their lives Evolve for the better. The vision for the organisation is to see an end to youth homelessness.
The programme is being run by the School for Social Entrepreneurs, a charity that supports 1,000 people a year to develop the skills, strengths and networks they need to tackle society’s biggest problems. It is funded by the Postcode Innovation Trust, a grant-giving body funded entirely by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.
Alastair Wilson, CEO of the School for Social Entrepreneurs, said: “Being awarded the place on the Scale+Accelerate Programme marks out Siobhan as a leader with the potential to take this organisation’s impact to the next level. We are delighted to be supporting her on the journey to tackling one of the biggest problems in society.”
Participants are learning in small cohorts made up of peers from their sector. The Scale+Accelerate programme brings these leaders together to share experiences and overcome challenges, and they receive learning from expert practitioners on how to develop their organisations. They hear from expert speakers and other leaders with deep experience of the challenges they face.
Ian Baker, head of learning at the School for Social Entrepreneurs, says: “It’s so important to hear from inspiring social entrepreneurs and charity leaders who speak frankly about growing an organisation. We’re introducing Siobhan to experts to help her develop new skills and build a network of peer-support. We believe leaders need space to reflect and develop, as well as learning about the technical aspects of scaling – such as developing sustainable business models, impact and evaluation, and leadership and management.”