Esmee Fairbairn Foundation

LEEDS 2023 is for everyone. Creative events are going to take place all over the city, in every district, for everybody. Culture is everywhere in this city and it can actually change people’s lives so we want to celebrate it, in all its forms, in all our communities. And you’re all invited to be a part of it.

Fair for You is a not for profit lender, providing small loans to lower income households to purchase essential items for their home. We are challenging the highest impact high cost credit that creates a large part of the poverty premium, and sees millions leaving our communities every week, extracted through the poorer households to high cost lenders often based overseas. We have arrangements with manufacturers to sell items to our customers at market price.

Five Lamps aims to ?transform lives, raise aspirations, remove barriers and offer choice to families, business and communities?. They are a charity that supports the community by re-investing any profit back into the business. They are also known as a social enterprise, registered charity and community development finance institution.

HCT Group is a social enterprise in the transport industry. Their story starts in 1982 with the formation of Hackney Community Transport, providing low cost minibuses for local community groups – a service they provide to this day. In 1993, with traditional grants under threat, they came to the realisation that the best way to become a sustainable social enterprise was to become an effective enterprise. They began to compete for commercial contracts in the marketplace to ensure they could continue to provide community transport. HCT Group service users This approach has seen HCT Group grow from a handful of volunteers and a couple of minibuses, with a turnover of £202k in 1993 – to a large scale social enterprise with 800 employees, ten depots spread across London, Yorkshire, Humberside, the Southwest and the Channel Islands, a fleet of 500 vehicles and a 2013/14 turnover of £43.7m. Their commercial track record spans a wide range of services – from London red buses to social services transport, from school transport to Park and Ride, from community transport to education and training. They now deliver well over 20 million passenger trips on their buses every year. You can find a full breakdown of the services they provide across the group here.

Framework is a specialist charity providing housing, support, training, care, resettlement and employment for thousands of homeless and vulnerable people each year in the East Midlands and parts of South Yorkshire. For a homeless person, getting a secure roof over their head is a crucial first step –finding somewhere that is safe, dry and warm. However, to tackle homelessness effectively it is not sufficient simply to put a roof over someone’s head, and our work does not stop there. The underlying economic, social, medical and emotional circumstances which contributed to an individual’s situation must also be addressed: we passionately believe that having someone who cares and can offer appropriate support is equally important in helping people on the journey from homelessness to independent living.

HCT Group is a social enterprise in the transport industry. Their story starts in 1982 with the formation of Hackney Community Transport, providing low cost minibuses for local community groups – a service they provide to this day. In 1993, with traditional grants under threat, they came to the realisation that the best way to become a sustainable social enterprise was to become an effective enterprise. They began to compete for commercial contracts in the marketplace to ensure they could continue to provide community transport. HCT Group service users This approach has seen HCT Group grow from a handful of volunteers and a couple of minibuses, with a turnover of £202k in 1993 – to a large scale social enterprise with 800 employees, ten depots spread across London, Yorkshire, Humberside, the Southwest and the Channel Islands, a fleet of 500 vehicles and a 2013/14 turnover of £43.7m. Their commercial track record spans a wide range of services – from London red buses to social services transport, from school transport to Park and Ride, from community transport to education and training. They now deliver well over 20 million passenger trips on their buses every year. You can find a full breakdown of the services they provide across the group here.