Stockton- on- Tees based social enterprise Five Lamps, which helps 25,000 people a year get out of poverty and into work, wins the 2012 Impact Champion Award at the RBS SE100 Index Award ceremony on 5 December 2012 at RBS in London.

Set up in the ‘80s to help unemployed men back into work after steel works closed, Five Lamps is needed as much now as it ever was in the deprived areas of the north east of England to get people out of poverty and into work. Today, as a charity, social enterprise, and Community Development Finance Institution, it helps 25,000 people a year take control of their finances through advising on training and careers as well as providing disadvantaged people with affordable business and personal loans unavailable to them through mainstream lenders.

Five Lamps has a turnover of over £3 million a year and spreads its work over four business areas:

• Employment: Five Lamps helps people find training or volunteering, and offers expert careers advice.
• Enterprise: In 2011/12, Five Lamps’ Enterprise division supported 704 businesses with start-up or business loans, while providing invaluable business advice and planning.
• Youth: Five Lamps is one of the largest voluntary and community sector provider of youth services in the North East, and their Youth division runs four youth clubs and a Foundation Learning programme to help young people bridge the gap between leaving school and finding employment or further training or education.
• Finance: Five Lamps helps individuals get out of the grips of pay-day or door-step lenders or loan sharks and into managing their finances more sustainably through affordable loans and practical advice. In 2011/12 Five Lamps helped 15,800 people with personal loan and debt advice and will make over 20,000 loans in the current year.

Five Lamps is now creating and developing the Great North Loan Fund. In its capacity as the only Community Development Finance Institution in the north east of England, it has created this fund to be a recognised and trusted regional brand offering a full range of financial services for local people. Together with credit unions and advice agencies they will offer affordable credit, job and business advice, banking services, access to white goods, financial literacy training and debt advice to disadvantaged individuals across the breadth of the region.

The RBS SE100 Index, researched by the University of the West of England, tracked the business activity of 365 social enterprises, with a combined turnover of £778 million, during 2012. Unlike traditional business sectors, social enterprises are set up to solve social or environmental problems and profits are ploughed back into the enterprise.

The RBS SE100 Index provides market intelligence for the sector and found that the top 100 growing enterprises grew on average by a recession-busting 60% in the last year and also found that these organisations had an 85% higher turnover than last year’s top 100.

Tim West, Director and Founder of Matter&Co, which created the RBS SE100 in partnership with RBS said: “We were not only looking for an organisation which had clearly measured its social value, but one which in doing so had improved its business. The judges were impressed with the step changes Five Lamps have made from their first impact report to their second and how that has improved the effectiveness of its organisation. By measuring its value they have been able to win funding to refurbish badly needed housing.”

Graeme Oram, chief executive of Five Lamps said: “We’re delighted that our increased efforts in social reporting have resulted in new business, the way we organise our business and also in winning this award!”

Bright sparks will get a head start with their University and business careers after being awarded an Alan Robson Bursary.

Two students have been awarded £300 PC World vouchers through the bursary set up in memory of the founder of an organisation which provides support services to the community. Alan Robson, who established the social enterprise Five Lamps, died aged 61 in 2009.

The bursary aims to help teenagers from Thornaby and Ingleby Barwick who are about to embark on a University degree.

The successful students were Chanjeet Singh, 18 who is going to Teesside University to study Accounting and Finance and Sarah Easby, 19 who is going to Durham University to start a Gateway to Medicine programme.

The Alan Robson Bursary Panel also decided to support Beth Stansmore, 16 with a £200 Hobbycraft voucher to help her establish her own jewellery making business.

Beth first approached Five Lamps in 2011 and was supported by Chris Butler, Five Lamps’ Senior Business Development Officer. Due to Beth’s age, Chris struggled to help Beth access the funding that she required to grow her business idea and suggested that she applied to the Alan Robson Bursary. Whilst the Alan Robson Bursary was originally established to help students who were going to University, the Panel were so impressed with Beth’s business idea and determination that they agree to support her.

Pat Chambers, Vice Chair of Five Lamps’ Board of Directors said “Five Lamps is committed to making young people matter and supporting them with their educational attainment. Out of respect to Alan, we established the bursary in 2010. Since then we have supported 10 students and this year it’s great that we have been able to support another 3 talented young people”.

Alan set up Five Lamps over 25 years ago, under its former name Thornaby Impasse, to help the unemployed. Since then, the organisation has broadened its remit and now helps people to find work, start their own business, improve their finances and provide activities for young people.

Alan, a father of six from Thornaby had been chronically ill before he died suddenly of a heart attack. His wife Joan sat on the interview panel to decide on the awards.

Joan said “Now in its third year, Alan would be amazed to have seen a bursary set up in his name to help local students. He was enthusiastic about young people getting help like this. I really enjoyed being part of the Panel and meeting all of the young people”.

Photograph shows (left to right): Beth Stansmore, Pat Chambers and Chanjeet Singh

September 2012

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On Thursday 10 May 2012, Five Lamps held a Celebration Event at Tall Trees Hotel to mark another brilliant year for the organisation. The event was a great success with around 250 people in attendance, including staff, customers and organisations such as Stockton Council and an extensive range of partner organisations who work closely with Five Lamps.

Five Lamps started as Thornaby Impasse in 1985 as a response to increasing unemployment in the local areas. Since then, the organisation has grown from strength to strength and has expanded the range of services it provides beyond helping people to find work, to helping people to start their own business, services and activities for young people and helping people who are struggling financially. Five Lamps also now provides services across the whole of the North East.

Graeme Oram, Chief Executive said “We have had another great year, reaching increasing numbers of customers across all of our services. It’s also been a year where we have received recognition in a number of awards for the great work that our staff do. We have ambitious plans to continue our growth and impact, including refurbishment of empty homes and expanding our financial inclusion work”.

As part of the organisation’s commitment to ‘Making People Matter’, awards were presented to 9 people to recognise the significant achievement they have made in overcoming a wide range of barriers, while being supported by Five Lamps. The winners were:

• Young Learner of the Year - Chloe Riordan
• Youth Award - Luke Dixon
• Learner of the Year - Mark Retchless
• Group Award - Urban Blitz
• Group Award - Five Lamps Recovery Group
• Enterprise Award - Lisa Smith
• Employability Award - Wayne Middleton
• Financial Inclusion Award - Graeme Duffy
• Derrick Brown Award - Amy Baker

Click here to find out more about the 2012 People Matter Award winners, including photographs and videos.

One of the award winners was Urban Blitz, who received a ‘People Matter Award’ for the impact that the group has had on the local community. Len Junier, Five Lamps’ Divisional Manger Employability, who nominated the group for the award said “Urban Blitz is a group of wonderful guys have made a real difference in the community that they themselves live in. A number of them now have jobs elsewhere, some of them want to go onto further training and a couple are going to stay with us. The guys get a real buzz when people stop them on the street and say that they are doing a good job”.

Awards were also presented to other Five Lamps customers and staff who have overcome barriers, including Chloe Riordan and Luke Dixon who were commended as positive role models for other young people; Mark Retchless whose confidence has increased since he completed his NVQ; Five Lamps Recovery Group who are working together to overcome alcohol and drug addiction; Lisa Smith who started her child care business ‘Tummy Ticklers’ after being made redundant; Wayne Middleton and Amy Baker, who both have very strong work ethics and Graeme Duffy, who is working hard to turn his life around and start his own business.

Last year was a successful year for Five Lamps. They supported 341 people to start their own business, helped 619 people find work, supported over 11,742 people with personal and business loans and provided activities and services for over 500 young people.

For more information on the how Five Lamps can help you, visit www.fivelamps.org.uk

Photographs shows: Urban Blitz and Trevor Watson, Five Lamps’ Board of Director

May 2012

Five Lamps are celebrating after being placed in The Sunday Times 100 Best Not-for-Profit Organisations to Work For list for the second successive year.

This is a fantastic achievement for the organisation, who work hard to create possibilities and improve the lives of disadvantaged people by helping them to find work, start their own business, improve their finances and improve the aspirations of young people.

Five Lamps were placed high on the list because of their best employment practice, with staff strongly feeling that they can make a positive contribution to the charity’s success – a positive result bettered only by just three other organisations. Employees at Five Lamps, which ranks 11 for Leadership, are inspired by Graeme Oram, the Chief Executive, who scored fourth for leadership overall. Five Lamps ranked sixth overall for staff feeling excited about where the charity is going.

Graeme Oram, Chief Executive said “Everybody at Five Lamps is absolutely thrilled at our recognition as a great place to work. We have for some time understood just how important it is to invest in the professional and social development of our staff. This result shows what we have always believed, that a positive and motivated team of committed and talented people are best placed to create possibilities and change the lives of the thousands of people each year who use our services”.

Five Lamps started as Thornaby Impasse in 1985 as a response to increasing unemployment in the local areas. Since then, the organisation has grown from strength to strength and now provides services across the whole of the North East. Employing over 90 members of staff, Five Lamps was one of only a few North East companies to be feature in The Sunday Times' list.

“In addition to our pride in continuing to be a best company to work for, we were also proud to be shortlisted for Company of the Year in the Tees Valley section of the North East Business Awards last night. We have some extremely ambitious plans moving forward and would hope to be contenders again next year” said Graeme Oram, Chief Executive of Five Lamps

The Sunday Times Best Not-for-Profit Organisations to Work For 2012 List is published in The Sunday Times on 11 March 2012.

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For more information on the how the Five Lamps can help you, contact us on (01642) 608316 or visit www.fivelamps.org.uk.

March 2012

Photograph (left to right): Julian Smith (Best Companies), Nichola Storr, Sue Westerman, Graeme Oram, Nicola Hall and Len Junier (Five Lamps)

Want to quit smoking and support Five Lamps at the same time?

Five Lamps is working in partnership with NHS Middlesbrough and NHS Redcar & Cleveland to support our customers to quit smoking.

Smoking remains the single biggest preventable cause of premature death in the UK today. Around half of all long-term smokers will eventually die as a result – about 15 people a day in the North East alone. We know if a young person takes up smoking they have an 82% chance of being an adult smoker. We also know that secondhand smoke is a killer.

Click here to visit the www.packinthefags.com website, which gives you a list of all the local stop smoking services across Middlesbrough and Redcar & Cleveland. You will also recieve text alerts to attend a service.  

For every confirmed 4 week quit signposted to the website, Five Lamps will receive £40 to be used to promote positive health. 

By choosing to quit smoking, you are also helping the community by choosing a school or organisation to benefit through the scheme.

Please note: this offer only applies to residents of Middlesbrough and Redcar & Cleveland

Teesside law firm, Endeavour Partnership, has been appointed by leading North East social enterprise Five Lamps as its preferred legal advisor.

Five Lamps, a registered charity which aims to transform the lives of individuals and their families by helping them to find work, start their own businesses, improve their finances and enhance their aspirations. For the last 25 years, all of its work has been underpinned by its commitment to 'Making People Matter'.

Graeme Oram, Chief Executive of Five Lamps said "As a charity, it is important that we have access to legal advice that provides real value for money. We had used Endeavour Partnership in the past for legal advice so we decided that it would make sense to appoint them as our official solicitors on contentious and non-contentious matters. We have ambitious plans for growth in our service provision and to secure substantial social investment during the next twelve months and access to expert legal support from Endeavour is of obvious importance to us’’

The Endeavour Partnership is a business law firm providing purely commercial legal services to SMEs, businesses and larger organisations across the North East. Located on Teesdale Business Park on Teesside, the firm is divided into five specialist departments offering commercial property, commercial litigation, corporate / commercial, corporate recovery and insolvency and employment law advice. Endeavour is widely regarded as the leading business law firm based exclusively in the Tees Valley region.

Paul Bennett, senior partner, Endeavour Partnership said "It is a privilege to work with such a well run charity. Five Lamps’ work is aimed at supporting everyone, young and old, with an emphasis on helping them with their finances, or to start their own business or improve their employability. With our history of advising a range of business clients on Teesside we believe that we are well placed to support Five Lamps in its work across the region”

Merry Christmas from Five Lamps

Five Lamps is celebrating after winning the Most Enterprising Third Sector Award at the Catalyst Annual Achievement Awards 2011 on Friday 16 September 2011.

Photograph (left to right: Cllr Jim Beall, Stockton Council and Graeme Oram, Five Lamps) 

Catalyst is the strategic infrastructure body of the Third Sector in Stockton. Their role is to help the different Third Sector groups to work together for the benefit of Stockton, by bringing together their different ideas and strengths to bear on a range of strategic issues and opportunities.

Stockton Council sponsored the Most Enterprising Third Sector Award.

Five Lamps won the award due to the organisations success in:

• Securing contracts to deliver public services totaling over £18million in the last 2 years.
• Geographic expansion into County Durham, Tyne & Wear, Northumberland and more recently, Yorkshire.
• Fastest-growing Community Development Finance Institution in the UK, delivering 11,000 personal loans in 2010/11.
• Recognised at No. 32 in the inaugural RBS SE100 Growth Index in 2011.
• Achieved growth across all 4 business divisions – Employability; Enterprise; Financial Inclusion and Youth Services.
• 350% increase in turnover since 2006.
• Achieved Investors in People Gold, featured at No. 13 in The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For in the Public and Charity Sector 2011.
• Published the organisations first set of Social Accounts in 2011.
• Featured in the NESTA publication ‘Twenty Catalytic Investments to Grow the Social Investment Market’; an exemplar portfolio of potential Big Society Bank investments.
• Working with a mainstream banking partner to develop a quoted Eurobond aimed at securing large scale social investment in the future delivery of the organisations programmes.

Graeme Oram, Five Lamps Chief Executive said “This is a deserved recognition for everyone at Five Lamps that has contributed to the growth of the organisation in the last few years. Our services now reach over 25,000 people a year across the whole of the North East and Yorkshire. We have a corporate value to help build a stronger and better Third Sector and we fully support Catalyst in their exceptionally strong work in shaping strategy and long term partnerships”.

Five Lamps were also celebrating after being shortlisted in 3 other Awards at the ceremony.
Maureen Iveson, previously a volunteer and now a paid member of staff was shortlisted for the Adult Volunteer Award. Maureen has supported 25 people into employment since she started volunteering with Five Lamps and she strives to be a champion to the role of volunteers.  

Five Lamps were nominated by Working Links and shortlisted in the Partnership Award. Five Lamps have created a centre of excellence at 32 Dovecot Street. Five Lamps have taken risks bringing together the Third Sector, Public and Private sectors to work collaboratively to ensure those in need of support get the highest level of opportunity open to them.

Five Lamps and Stockton Council were both nominated by The Association of North East Councils (ANEC) for the Biggest Health Impact Award for the regional ‘Helping Hand’ scheme, which provides affordable personal loans to financially excluded homeowners to help them pay for essential repairs and improvements.  

Download this Good News Story (PDF)

Bright sparks from Thornaby and Ingleby Barwick will get a head start with their University careers after being given a £500 PC World gift voucher.

Photograph (left to right: Jason Oliver, Joan Robson, Laura Appleby, Laura Walker, Graeme Oram and Sheril Ann Sanji)

Five students have been awarded the £500 voucher through a bursary set up in memory of the founder of an organisation which provides support services to the community. Alan Robson, who established the social enterprise Five Lamps, died aged 61 in 2009.

The bursary aims to help teenagers from Thornaby and Ingleby Barwick who are about to embark on a University degree.

The successful students were Laura Appleby, 18 who is going to Sheffield Hallam University to study Radiotherapy and Oncology, Emily Hook, who is one off to the Royal Academy of Dance to study Ballet Education, Laura Beth Walker, 18 who is going to York St Johns University to study Religious Studies and Theology, Jason Oliver, who is going to study Creative Digital Media at Teesside University and Sheril Ann Sanji, 19, who is going to Sunderland University to study Biopharmaceutical science.

Graeme Oram, Chief Executive of Five Lamps said “Five Lamps is committed to making young people matter and supporting them with their educational attainment. Out of respect to Alan, we established the bursary in 2010 to help young people from Thornaby and Ingleby Barwick who are starting their journey to go to University. We had an overwhelming number of applications and it’s great to meet such talented young people”.

Alan set up Five Lamps over 25 years ago, under its former name Thornaby Impasse, to help the unemployed. Since then, the organisation has broadened its remit and now helps people to find work, start their own business, improve their finances and provide activities for young people.

Alan, a father of six from Thornaby had been chronically ill before he died suddenly of a heart attack. His wife Joan presented the vouchers and also sat on the interview panel to decide on the awards.

Joan said “Now in its second year, Alan would be amazed to have seen a bursary set up in his name to help local students. He was enthusiastic about young people getting help like this. I really enjoyed meeting all of the young people”.

Photograph (left to right: Joan Robson, Laura Appleby)

Laura Appleby said "I wanted to thank the Alan Robson Bursary for my PC World vouchers. I used it to buy an ipad as I can use it to access all my student material. It will be ideal particularly when I am on placement in a hospital - much easier to take with me (especially as I am only 5 foot tall!). I have installed word on my ipad, meaning that whilst travelling on trains I can use the time to do assignments etc. The Radiotherapy books for my course are so big, however I have downloaded one of them onto my ipad - loads easier for me rather than carrying round a 600 page text book"

Laura Walker got back in touch with Five Lamps in 2012 and said "I ended up moving from York St John University to Teesside University as I didn't end up enjoying the course and as I was living at home anyway so Teesside was a much better option. I bought a laptop and all the lastest software to go with it so I can do all my assignments for uni. This was a great help as I got the equivalent grade overall of a First Degree for my fist year, which I was extremely pleased with. The bursary helped me out a great deal and I am still very greatful for it and it will also get me through my next two years when I need my assignments and research doing again. Thank you so much again for the bursary, I am so greatful for it and hope other students like myself will do well in uni with the help of the Alan Robson bursary"

Download this Good News Story (PDF)

Five Lamps are celebrating after being shortlisted by The Centre for Social Justice in their Awards 2011 and also in The Royal Bank of Scotland's SE100 Index 2011

Centre for Social Justice

Five Lamps were represented by Sue Westerman, Five Lamps' Head of Programmes and Mark Thompson, Five Lamps' Employability Team Leader at the Centre for Social Justice Awards on 6 July 2011.

The Centre for Social Justice Awards recognise some of the best examples of active British citizenship, social action and commitment to community and society.

The Rt. Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP, Founder and Patron said “Tonight we are honouring outstanding examples of local charities and voluntary groups that work with individuals and families that are blighted by extreme poverty and social isolation. These local groups are finding innovative ways to engage with people that other agencies have failed to help, and are leading their clients from a place of dependence and despair to a place of independence and resilience.”

Sue and Mark thoroughly enjoyed representing Five Lamps at this event and Mark enjoyed spotting the stars! See picture below with Zoe Wanamaker.

Sue and Mark also met David Blunkett and Ian Duncan Smith who both professed their awareness of Five Lamps and our great work.

Congratulations must also go to our colleagues at Hope North East, based in Middlesbrough who were also shortlisted for their outstanding work with customers overcoming their drug and alcohol addictions.

Five Lamps were recognised as a Shortlisted Prize Winner and received £1,000 donation from a sponsor, QuestAgency. Our thanks must go to A4e who sponsored our accommodation costs in London.

We are currently consulting with staff for ideas on what we should do with the £1,000 award.

The Royal Bank of Scotland's SE100 Index 2011

Five Lamps were shortlisted for the Impact Champion Award at The Royal Bank of Scotland's awards presentation on 11 July 2011.

The RBS SE100 Index is it's second year and aims to track the success of social businesses across the UK by examining both their growth and the impact that they have made.

Five Lamps were one of only 11 social enterprises out of the 409 listed to score 5/5 for impact.We are currently awaiting our position in RBS' Growth index when the full listing is published.

The Impact Champion Award went to our good friends at The Wise Group.
 

Download The RBS SE100 Data Report 2011 here (PDF)

Voluntary sector bosses supported Middlesbrough's city bid when they helped to clean up the iconic Transporter Bridge.

Tees Valley Community Foundation (TVCF) called upon those who usually sit behind a desk to come down to give the Transporter Bridge some TLC. The idea behind the clean-up was to celebrate the Transporter’s centenary year as well as support the city campaign.

Hugh McGouran, chief executive of TVCF, said: “The Transporter celebrated her 100th birthday earlier this year and she is undoubtedly the image of Teesside - so we decided, since what we do is about giving, we’d ask our colleagues from the business and voluntary sector to give some time to come and help spruce it up”

Around 10 people dedicated a morning to the clean-up, painting the railings and tidying the place from top to bottom.

One of the volunteers, Graeme Oram, Chief Executive of Five Lamps, said: “The Transporter Bridge is so visible from almost every part of Middlesbrough and it has been a great opportunity to come down here. It would be such a boost for Middlesbrough if we were awarded city status.”

Congratulations to Graeme Oram and Jodie Hind, winners of the North East VCS Awards 2011.

Jodie Hind won Volunteer of the Year.

Jodie is a volunteer Mentor at Five Lamps with referral links with Police, Prisons and Probation services. Jodie has achieved qualifications in Counselling and completed training in Drugs and Alcohol awareness and safeguarding.

Jodie is a former prolific offender and chaotic drug and alcohol user spending 70% of his life between 15 and 31 in institutions and Prisons. He decided to change his life prior to his last release in May 2009, enrolling on learning courses and volunteering with Five Lamps.

Jodie regularly attends sessions with offenders, helping them to challenge their former behaviour. He will track them on release to continue to mentor them in maintaining drug and offending free lifestyles. Feedback includes "It made me think about life out there. If Jodie can do it, so can I". "It was good as it shows that the bad apple can change".

Jodie is an inspiration to those he mentors and to the rest of the team around him. It is humbling to see the change in those who engage with Jodie, coupled with "it's just me doing a job" approach.

Mark Thompson, Five Lamps' Employability Team Leader deserves recognition for the support and mentoring that he has provided Jodie since he joined Five Lamps. Like Jodie, Mark is an inspiration in helping people to turn their lives around.

View Jodie's video:

Graeme Oram won Outstanding Leadership.

Graeme is described by his nominee as a 'world class leader' and lists a catalogue of successes at the helm of Five Lamps which underline his outstanding leadership. These include success in securing contracts to deliver public services, totaling over £8million in the last 15 months. Five Lamps is the fastest-growing Community Development Finance Institution in the UK, delivering 10,000 personal loans in 2010/11.

As Chief Executive he has doubled the number of staff in the last year. He has helped scope the feasibility of the 'Great North Loan Fund', now seeking to create a £10million loan fund to address financial exclusion in the North East and Cumbria and issue a prospectus for social investment later this year. Graeme recognises that debt blights the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in Stockton and is providing an effective alternative to doorstep lenders and loan sharks, along with employability support, youth services and enterprise, helping people to get out and stay out of debt.

View Graeme's video:

Congratulations also go to our partner organisations in Stockton:

• Thrive, winners of Most Inspiring Campaign
• Stockton Council, winners of NEEP Empowering Communities Award
• George Glass, Blind Voice UK, winner of Special Award for 'Inspiring Individual'

Discussion about the progress and many achievements of Five Lamps has become a regular feature of our Board meetings.

We firmly believe that the organisation succeeds in its mission and purpose at an exceptional level and the multiple awards and national recognition Five Lamps has received is much deserved. So it is with pleasure that I write onbehalf of the Board, to thank and congratulate every member of staff and volunteer in Five Lamps, in your richly deserved success.

The Board believes the magnificent and outstanding achievements and successes of Five Lamps are a powerful public testimony to the exceptional commitment and dedication of the staff and volunteers.

I should also like to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate the Board members for their generous contribution of personal time and commitment to help guide and assist Five Lamps in its successful journey.

It is fitting that in the year that Five Lamps celebrated its 25 anniversary, we have produced our first set of Social Accounts, which link our mission, vision, values and objectives to our achievements and to the views and perspectives of our many stakeholders.

As an enterprising charity, Five Lamps has wanted for a number of years to provide a series of social accounts that supports and underpins some of the feedback that we receive from our customers, who often tell us how we have helped to transform their lives. This year we will work with over 20,000 people living in the most disadvantaged communities of the North East. We now understand better than ever the impact of our work on these individuals, their families and the wider community.

Looking ahead, Five Lamps is confident in its role at the heart of new models of public service delivery, building on the strength of established partnerships with public bodies and commissioners. We are committed to securing large-scale social investment into our integrated service offer and to developing innovative financing options which may include substantial asset transfer from public bodies. Social impact reporting is integral to our future.

In a year where we have taken high rank in the Sunday Times 'Best Places to Work in the Public & Third Sector', achieved Investors in People Gold status and secured recognition in the RBS SE100 Index for Growth for a second successive year, we are extremely pleased to have established a baseline and a range of process, for impact reporting.

Download our Social Accounts 2010 - Measuring our Impact (PDF)

Five Lamps is featured in The Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) Spring 2011 ‘Untold Banking’ magazine.

The magazine includes a feature ‘Face to Face’ which focuses on Five Lamps’ Chief Executive, Graeme Oram and RBS’ Commercial Banking Senior Relationship Manager, David Lander. The article looks at the working relationship between Five Lamps and RBS to tackle financial exclusion in the North East.

Click here to view the article on page 7.

Five Lamps is featured in a report ‘Twenty catalytic investments to grow the social investment market’.

The Big Society Finance Fund has supported the development of 20 pilot capital-raisings by social investment intermediaries.

The report illustrates the demand for different types of capital in the social investment market and the ways in which this demand can be presented to attract investment. 

Click here to view the report.  

Five Lamps are featured on page 26, which identifies how we want to secure investment in a £3 million community bond issue.

Tim Hutton had been looking to find work and was starting to feel discouraged and depressed, that was until he approached Five Lamps in October 2010.

Tim has a clear goal to secure an apprenticeship and permanent post as a Painter and Decorator. Tim said “I felt like I was being passed from pillar to post, nothing good seemed to happen till I heard of Five Lamps”

Jane Simpson, Five Lamps’ Intensive Support Worker worked with Tim and gave him one to one intensive support, Information, Advice & Guidance. Tim has been working hard to achieve his goal and completed a Painting and Decorating Course in July 2010, along with Communication Skills and Mathematics Level 1. This is no small achievement, as Tim has faced many barriers into further education, training and employment. 

Tim has a strong work ethic and is very ambitious. To support Tim’s progress, Jane arranged a short-term placement for Tim at Community Campus, to refresh his professional skills. Tim continues to be supported by Five Lamps and regularly attends our ‘Work Club’, where he receives support to complete his CV, intensive job search, create letters of application and also how to develop interview techniques. Tim also currently attends a Five Lamps computer course and CSCS training to improve his employability further. 

Jane has also supported Tim by sending a letter of referral to a Property development organisation in Middlesbrough requesting they consider Tim for an apprenticeship. Due to Tim’s training and experience he has secured an interview with the company and is awaiting the outcome. 

Tim said “I had my first interview and feel great. I was nervous but thanks to the help I received I knew what to expect and was well prepared. Jane showed me how to cope with tricky question so had a few good answers up by sleeve” 

Whether Tim secures the position or not, he was informed by the employer he had a great interview which made Tim feel more confident. Tim is an ambitious and intelligent young man who is an amazing role model to his peers.

Download this Good News Story (PDF)

Philip Tucker has been elected to be Chair of Five Lamps. The Thornaby-based social enterprise has enjoyed a period of sustained growth in the last few years.

Mr Tucker said “I am delighted to have the opportunity to make a considerable contribution to the ongoing success of Five Lamps. Along with my Trustee colleagues I am thrilled by our recent recognition in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work list, which builds on the Investors in People Gold award achieved in the autumn. We have a first class team of great staff who are committed to delivering high quality services which change lives throughout the North East”. 

He added, “We are looking forward to growing our sector-leading financial inclusion activities and have a range of other exciting service developments in the pipeline”. 

Terry Murphy, Five Lamps previous Chair, has now left the Board. Mr Tucker said “The Board thanks him for his contribution to the considerable progress made during his association with Five Lamps since 2004”.

Sharon Joyce, 40 from Thornaby had spent the past 8 years of her life suffering from anxiety, panic attacks and depression, which impacted on her confidence and made it difficult for her to interact with people on a daily basis. During this time, Sharon felt that she was unable to focus and move on in her life.

Reaching 40 was a turning point in Sharon’s life and she decided that she was going to change her situation, but like many was confused how to change. She contacted Five Lamps at the beginning of 2011 and was seen by Darren Stephens, Five Lamps’ Intensive Support Worker at their Stockton building at 32 Dovecot Street.  

During her initial appointment, Sharon told Darren that she wanted to work with other local people who were encountering problems, in particular, those with addictive behaviour issues. Sharon felt she was able to relate to the anxiety and depression many feel who struggle with addictions. 

It was suggested by Darren that Sharon should start to think about learning new skills if she wanted to progress into employment. Sharon felt her CV highlighted how little she had done over the past 8 years and was anxious about the employment and skills gap.  

Darren felt that volunteering would really benefit Sharon to build her confidence and develop skills that would help her in the future. After several one to one appointments, Darren referred Sharon to Lifeline in Stockton, who provide support for people with alcohol related issues and that is where she is today.  

Sharon is very happy volunteering and is undertaking training to improve her employability and loves working closely with customers.  

Sharon can’t believe the change in her life in such a short period of time. She says:“I couldn’t even get dressed on a morning and coming to see Darren at Dovecot Street cheered me up and made me smile. Darren has put me forward to volunteer as an Alcohol Support Worker and I feel I’m on the right track to come off benefit and secure employment.” 

“The thought of volunteering was really daunting at first but it has helped me overcome my anxiety and panic attacks. I have made new friends and for the first time in a long time I can see light at the end of a very long tunnel”

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Aalia Ali, 30, had been unemployed for over 3 years. Although Ali had an NVQ Level 2 in Business Administration, she had found it difficult to find work.

Ali first heard about Five Lamps in March 2010 through Cultures, who signed her up to Five Lamps' Communities Fund programme in Stockton. 

Cultures work with people from disadvantaged black and minority ethnic (BME) and refugee communities to help them find work and access training. Aalia attended a course ran by Cultures called RAWE (Raising Awareness of British Work Ethics), which gave her an insight into what is expected when applying for jobs in this country. 

Aalia said “The course helped to improve my confidence and motivation to find work”. After Aalia attended the course, she was further supported by Cultures on a regular basis to do job searches, write her CV and improve her language skills. 

Aalia became so interested in the work of Cultures that when a job came up with them, she applied. Since June 2010, she has been working for them as an Employability Support Worker and has just completed her 26 week job retention. Aalia said “I feel very fortunate that I have found work with Cultures as I receive a lot of in-work support”. 

Five Lamps supports organisations like Cultures by referring customers who need specialist support and by provding funding direct to Cultures to enable them to run the RAWE course.

If you would like help to find work, contact us NOW on (01642) 673828.

The organisation grows from strength to strength

On Friday 12 November 2010, Five Lamps held a Celebration Event at Tall Trees Hotel to mark the organisation’s 25 year anniversary. The event was a great success with around 250 people in attendance, including current and ex-staff, customers and organisations such as Stockton Council who work closely with Five Lamps.

Jules Preston MBE, Chairman of Assessment North East presented Five Lamps with their Investors in People Gold certificate, along with a certificate in recognition of Five Lamps as an Investors in People Champion. Five Lamps is 1 of only 91 companies that are part of the Investors in People Champion programme, a prestigious group of role model organisations.

Graeme Oram, Chief Executive said “Who would have thought 25 years ago that Five Lamps would be receiving client referrals from high street banks to provide business Loans; providing mainstream employability services; making personal loans to financially excluded people unable to access affordable credit or financial services; delivering youth services from a purpose-built youth centre, competing for and winning contracts often against national or multinational companies; delivering services from Berwick to Scarborough, with offices in Morpeth and Newcastle on top of 4 in Stockton & Thornaby, and be number 32 in the RBS SE100 Index for Growth. Who also would have thought that the need for our services would be as great or greater, today than it was back then”.

As part of the organisation’s commitment to ‘Making People Matter’, awards were presented to nineteen people, to recognise the significant achievement they have made in overcoming a wide range of barriers, while being supported by Five Lamps.

One of the award winners was Callum Miller, who received a ‘People Matter Award’ for his determination to make his business Turbo Connect grow and succeed. Callum said “I was speechless at receiving an award and it now takes pride of place in my living room. Five Lamps put people at the forefront in all that they do. Without the support of Five Lamps, my business would not have been able to grow to the level is has”.

Awards were also presented to other Five Lamps customers who have overcome barriers, including Ishmeal Adams and Jonathan Caldwell who despite these barriers have both now found work; Aaron Simonette who has recently joined the army and Lauren Riddle, two young people who have changed their behaviour and are both now positive role models for other young people; Sharon Rodham and Karen Hunter who have successfully set up their own catering business ‘Fillers’; Irene Jessop who’s funeral service business ‘Irene Jessop Funeral Service’ is growing from strength to strength; Louise Moore who has set up ‘Moreish Food’ a successful quality cupcake business; Letricia Heighley who has shown enormous determination to succeed; Jodie Hind, a former prolific offender who had spent 70% of his adult life behind bars and Bob Warriner, two volunteers whose voluntary work with Five Lamps has helped transform the lives of a number of customers; John Lowther and Richard Spruce who were both recognised for their contribution to the support they have given Five Lamps. The success stories of all the People Matter Award winners can be viewed by clicking here.

This year also saw the very first Five Lamps Family award being presented to the Iveson family – Dad Darren, Mum Maureen and son Darren (Junior). All three members of the family have been actively involved in Five Lamps, both as customers and volunteers.

Last year was a successful year for Five Lamps. They supported 171 people to start their own business, helped 315 people find work, supported over 4,500 people with personal and business loans and provided activities and services for over 500 young people.

As part of the 25 anniversary celebrations, a DVD was made which gives more detail on how the organisation has changed and grown in 25 years. The DVD and video footage from the Celebration Event will be available on this website shortly.

Putting the Customer First WOW Awards!

The WOW awards is the awarding body for “Putting the Customer First” the national standard for customer service. 

 The WOW Awards recognise people who go above and beyond their normal jobs to give excellent customer service.  

This is a unique and exciting award programme that helps organisations to give even better service.  

So, if you have had a brilliant experience with Five Lamps because one of our staff has done something that’s really made you go ‘WOW’, please make a difference by making a nomination! Please click here to make your nomination.

Help for Thornaby students in memory of Alan Robson

Talented young people from Thornaby were given a head start with their university careers after they were kitted out with personal computers.

Six students have been awarded laptops through a bursary set up in memory of Alan Robson, who helped to established Five Lamps and who sadly passed away aged 61 last year. 

The bursary aims to help teenagers from Thornaby who were about to embark on a university degree. The successful students were Abby Smith, 19, who is going to Sheffield Hallam to study physical education and youth sport, Dannielle Robinson, who is off to Leeds Metropolitan to read criminology, Laura Manser, 18, who is going to Northumbria to study fashion marketing, Sophie Ashton, 18 who will read maths and French at Newcastle University, Lukas Jaskowiec, who is studying electronic engineering and nanotechnology, and Andrew Robson, who is going to York St John University to read English literature and creative writing. 

Terry Murphy, chairman of Five Lamps, said: “The Five Lamps is committed to educational attainment as a path to life long skills and learning and out of respect to Alan we decided to establish a bursary to help some of Thornaby’s kids who are starting their journey to go to university.” 

Alan set up Five Lamps 25 years ago; under its former name Impasse, working with churches in Thornaby, to help the unemployed. Five Lamps has since broadened its remit so it now works to help people overcome social exclusion and help them achieve their best. 

Alan, a father of six from Thornaby, had been chronically ill for two years before he died suddenly of a heart attack. 

His wife Joan presented the laptops and sat on the interview panel to decide on the awards. She said he would have been amazed to have seen the bursary set up in his name to help the students. 

She added: “It’s just mind blowing and I was so moved when I heard. He was enthusiastic about youngsters getting help like this.”

Five Lamps have been successful in achieving the Investors in People’s Gold Standard.

The standard is awarded to organisations that demonstrate a commitment to the learning and development of their employees and achieve best practice in people management.   Less than 1% of all Investors in People organisations in the UK achieve the Investors in people Gold Standard, placing Five Lamps in a minority, alongside only 30 companies within the North East that have also achieved the standard.

This is a real achievement for Five Lamps and it means that we have achieved world-wide best practice. Five Lamps achieved the Gold Standard after being assessed in its engagement with employees, investment in and staff take-up of training, quality of appraisals and one-to-one sessions.

The gold standard award highlights the good practices that operate throughout the organisation and the excellent staff that we having working at Five Lamps.

Graeme Oram, Chief Executive of Five Lamps said

“Five Lamps has always recognised our staff are our greatest asset and we have committed a significant investment towards their personal and professional development.The success of Five Lamps is predicated on high quality service delivery and providing great customer experiences. We are delighted to have secured the Investors in People gold standard as a positive endorsement of our aim to be a brilliant employer”.