Five Lamps is Most Enterprising

19th September, 2011

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.  

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