Business Champions for the Community
The Business Champions win Community Contribution of the Year award
The Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Partnership scooped the award for Community Contribution of the Year at the News’ Business Excellence Awards.
Marion Dawson, who runs the Business Champions, said: “I am delighted that the Partnership has won the award for Community Contribution of the year on behalf of the Business Champions for the Community. It is an honour to work with local businesses who take time out of their busy schedules to give their expertise and resources to local community groups. The contribution they make is invaluable to these groups who otherwise would not have the funds to pay for the professional help they require to build their organisations.”
Champions for the Community
The Champions for the Community initiative works with skilled local professionals, business people and others who want to give something back to their local area. It carefully matches individuals with existing community and voluntary groups who are in need of expertise to help them to grow and to develop. The initiative is about bringing people together for the benefit of our whole community.
Portsmouth and its surrounding area is a thriving, dynamic and vibrant place. It is home to a huge range of large and small businesses across many sectors. These businesses contain a pool of talented people with a vast range of skills. The area also boasts a strong and committed number of community and voluntary groups, providing support services, often for the most vulnerable or excluded members of our society.
Matching the commitment of Champions to the needs of the community can be a catalyst for real change.
How does Champions for the Community work?
Champions for the Community is brokered by the Partnership Foundation (the charitable arm of the Portsmouth & South East Hampshire Partnership). Individuals who wish to become business champions are asked to give details of their skills, interests and the time they have available to give to the scheme. Community and voluntary groups are asked to specify their particular needs. The Partnership Foundation then matches the offer with the need and the real work can begin.
Below are just four of the many ways in which Champions can offer support;
1. Individual business advice – a Champion offers one-to-one professional advice, support or coaching to an MD of a local voluntary group.
2. Individual professional services – a Champion offers his/her professional services on a no fee basis – for example, an architect provides some plans for a small charity wishing to develop a community centre or an accountant looks over the accounts of a young people’s charity.
3. Professional training workshops – a Champion offers to run a workshop for local voluntary groups in a specific area, for example in financial planning, legal advice, human resources or many others.
4. Creation of a Challenge team – a group of Champions comes together to deliver a challenge – for example a group spends a weekend landscaping the garden of a local hospice or spends an evening problem-solving some management issues with a growing charity.
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