Patient involvement; requires patience

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All I seem to have done recently is report on SSE Fellows and their successes/appearances in the media (indeed Dave "Intelligent Giving" Pitchford is on BBC London Breakfast this Saturday, I believe)….but it’s great to see so many of them really pushing their projects (and themselves) forward.

The latest article is about SSE Fellow David Gilbert in today’s Guardian. Entitled "It’s curtains for the NHS if it won’t act on patients’ views", the feature tells the story very much of David’s personal journey from his own experience of mental health/NHS through to his establishment of the NHS Centre for Involvement. A true tale of a social entrepreneur understanding the problem best through personal experience, working up a solution and then implementing it in such a way as it solves it for many people.

And also an example of how social entrepreneurs (and intrapreneurs) can help change the way the NHS and healthcare system works from within and without.

Mondragon and other stories…

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The back(b)log has built up again, so a Friday round-up is in order:

– The Fellowship Ceremony last Wednesday which went really well; congrats to all involved; photos and video to follow soon

– whilst on the subject of Fellows, two more have e-mailed with news:
    – Michelle Baharier writes with news about her organisation’s (Cooltan Arts) new website, afunnyfarm.org.uk which was recently reviewed in 3rd sector magazine: check it out….
    – Nathalie McDermott writes about her organisation, On Road Media:

"On Road Media – is the UK’s first citizen media company set up to provide
training and access for marginalised and underrepresented groups in mainstream
and citizen media, or podcasting.  Our first radio documentary ‘Sareena’s
Justice‘ will be aired next Monday 18th December on BBC Asian Network.  Sareena,
the citizen journalist, is 21 and applying to become a magistrate as part of a
scheme to encourage more ethnic minorities into the judicial system."

So check that out as well! More soon on more Fellows….interestingly, both Michelle and Nathalie were SSE Fellows before going on to get UnLtd Awards and then, recently, go to India on a learning journey. Good to see the way the social entrepreneurship support organisations can dovetail and interact for individuals as they progress.

– SSE was privileged to be visited today by the Mondragon Innovation and Knowledge team; we have so much to learn in the UK from their experience as the biggest group of worker co-ops in the world (currently 82,000 employees) and everything they’ve learned along the way…will blog more in depth at a future date

– Check out the Hippo Water Roller via Springwise!

– Plenty of stuff on Muhammad Yunus receiving the Nobel Peace Prize

– News of a ‘bio-entrepreneur’ school, whatever that may be…

– the ICT Hub National Awards scheme (where is the blog award? ;0)

– a bit tangential, but a very interesting interview with Richard Florida..

More soon…..

Fellows and guardians

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As we pore over the various action plans and reviews (third sector pre-budget, social enterprise, public service delivery), we prepare for our Fellowship event tomorrow, in which a further 20 will be welcomed to the growing network who’ve completed SSE programmes. The event will be at Rich Mix all day tomorrow, featuring writer and broadcaster Simon Fanshawe and Minister for the Cabinet Office and Social Exclusion Hilary Armstrong, and some amazing and inspirational people (the real stars) driving tangible change in their communities.

As a trailer for the celebration event, there is a long article about SSE in the Education Guardian today, entitled ‘Passion in action‘. Aside from getting the day wrong (they graduate tomorrow, not last week), the article is just about spot on, and really captures what we’re all about: pretty rare and welcome for a newspaper piece….plus its important that we’re recognised for the learning/educational/people development side of what we do, not just the social impact/societal change part. The two go together, and this article communicates that well.

And we’re not the only ones in the media: another SSE Fellow, Simon Fenton-Jones, featured on the Politics Show on BBC 1 on Sunday (so I’m told; I confess to missing it), as chief exec of StreetShine. This was in connection with Iain Duncan Smith’s Centre for Social Justice report….which you can read much more about (and comment on) here.

Last but by no means least, news from another Fellow, Paul Hodgkin, whose Patient Opinion site has started a new feature. Paul writes: "the Patient Opinion blog has just started a new Stories from the Cutting
Edge service where we post up the day’s
(or perhaps the week’s if we’re busy!) most interesting opinion from the front
line of the NHS. Plus whatever comment and erudition we can muster."

Great stuff….

Campaigning success: a new tube station!

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Chrissie Townsend is a social entrepreneur of amazing persistence and ability. Since completing the SSE programme a few years ago, Chrissie, and the Teviot Action Group she founded and runs, have gone from strength to strength.

Whilst we may bask in the achievements of a new website or a well-received report, TAG has been warmly welcoming the start of work on something they had long campaigned for: a new tube station. According to the Tower Hamlets Recorder’s latest article, the campaign has been going on for 19 years. The new Langdon Park stop on the DLR will plug a big gap in the network, and serve people on nearby estates and schools.

And such transport links can massively affect regeneration of an area. As Chrissie puts it herself: "[The station] will help bring along the new homes and
businesses that we need so much in this area."

Social Entrepreneur Awards: global round-up

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A week today, the next group of SSE students graduate from the London programme, and it is certainly important to celebrate and recognise achievements in the field. So, on that note, here are a few recent award-winners of note:

– Vikram Akula, Indian microfinance guru, won Schwab Social Entrepreneur of the Year in India

– Kyle Zimmer, of First Book, won the same award for the US: hear a podcast interview with him

– Sylvia Hudson won a social entrepreneur award in the North East here for her work with South Tyneside Credit Union

– Acumen Fund calls for 2008 Fellows (that’s the year not the number they want…)

– Australia’s Social Entrepreneur of the Year is named: Tania de Jong for her work introducing disadvantaged children to music and the arts

– The US seem to be mirroring our Enterprise Week initiative…except they call it entrepreneurship week… and there are some good stories/award-winners here too.