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Every year a bursary is made to a young person from Thornaby in memory of Alan Robson who passed away aged 61 in 2009.

Alan Robson set up Five Lamps over 28 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, delivering these services across the North East and Yorkshire.

Now in it’s fifth year, the bursary was presented to a young person as part of Five Lamps 30 year Celebration Event.

The ‘Alan Robson Outstanding Young Person Award’ went to Megan Duffy,

Megan has been attending Five Lamps’ Youthy for approximately two years, like many similar young people Megan was one to follow the crowd after being identified as part of a larger group, been involved or being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Megan was one of many names that were referred to The Youthy to attend an anti-social positive activity sessions, which is being delivered through Five Lamps, Youth Direction and The Thorn Project since March 2014. Megan was identified as needed support offered through our partnership work.

Megan was one of the young people for me that stood out from the rest, always wanting to get involved in any workshops or trips that were being delivered. The Youthy had an opportunity to be involved in creating a project that would be beneficial to others through Star Bucks. Saving Tees Valley met with Megan and two of her friends supported by a member of staff to come up with an idea that was worth £2000.00 involvement in the project. Megan’s quick thinking came up with a project working around supporting the homeless across the Borough. Megan and her friends had to deliver the project presentation to the Saving Tees Valley panel, in which they were very successful and secured the £2000.00 fund to deliver the project, collecting food and clothing to support homeless young people across the Borough.

Megan is very passionate about this project as she knows the impact it can have on young people after seeing a family member go through times of being homeless and now turning his life around.

Megan has proved that people can change and as a result of her leadership and maturity Megan has been considered as a youth mentor to offer support to other young people.

Alan, a father of six from Thornaby, had been chronically ill before he died suddenly of a heart attack. His wife Joan has been involved in the Alan Robson Bursary with Five Lamps since it was established in 2009

Joan said:

“Now in its fifth year, Alan would be amazed to have seen a bursary set up in his name to help local young people. He was always enthusiastic about young people getting help like this”

Five Lamps has been named as a leader in people management practice globally, having been shortlisted in the Excellence in the third sector award in the second annual Investors in People Awards

The Awards, which received over 400 entries internationally, celebrates the best people management practices amongst Investors in People accredited businesses. Winners are announced at a spectacular awards ceremony and dinner at Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress, the Tower of London, on 24th June 2015. Finalists represent the best of the best worldwide.

The 15 Awards categories recognise the accredited organisations that have achieved the highest standards. There are a range of Awards categories, focusing on the main elements of what it means to be an Investor in People, from Excellence in Leadership and Management to Excellence in Social Responsibility to Leader of the Year and Best Newcomer. The Awards provide the opportunity to benchmark against high performing organisations globally.

Graeme Oram, Five Lamps Chief Executive said:

“We are immensely proud to be named in the shortlist for the Investors in People Awards 2015, in the category of ‘Excellence in the Third Sector’. This is the second time that the awards ceremony has taken place and also the second time that Five Lamps have been shortlisted for an award. We feel that this demonstrates global recognition of how our people management practices support us in delivering Five Lamps strategic priorities”

Five Lamps provide a wide range of services to over 25,000 socially and financially excluded individuals across the North East and Yorkshire each year through its three integrated business divisions – Economic Development; Financial Inclusion & Housing and Youth Services.

The impact of our works spans supporting long-term unemployed people back into work; providing training, employment and qualifications to NEET young people; supporting customers on their enterprise journey from enterprise coaching, mentoring, business planning and accessing finance for start-ups; providing evening and weekend youth club activities; refurbishing and letting previously long term empty properties; systematically stripping away the barriers that face troubled families; delivering welfare assistance programmes in Stockton, County Durham and Northumberland; providing affordable personal loans to individuals and homeowners who are unable to access mainstream support and providing enterprise, financial inclusion and energy advice for young people and vulnerable groups.

Five Lamps has nearly 30 years of experience of engaging and supporting people through crises. Often we are told by our customers that the reason they continue to engage with us is that we are different to statutory services in our inclusive and flexible approach, attitude, service accessibility and the way in which we offer ongoing support by ˜staying close” to our customers. We recognise that our customers require an individualised service and we are in a position to provide this. It is rare for projects to be able to holistically address a range of social and economic issues within a single organisation, however we recognise that families often face multiple barriers and we are unique in providing such an integrated and impactful service delivery model.

Paul Devoy, Head of Investors in People, said:

“Once again we have been overwhelmed by the number and calibre of entries received for the Investors in People Awards. It’s fantastic to see so many organisations nominated for outperforming in their sector, demonstrating great people management practice and a commitment to staff development”

Investors in People is the leading accreditation for business improvement through people management, and provides a wealth of resources for businesses to innovate, improve and grow, with a focus on good people making great business.

Five Lamps has been named as a top organisation for people management practice in the UK, having been shortlisted in the Excellence in Social Responsibility category, in the first Investors in People Awards

The Awards, which received over 500 entries from all over the UK and different sectors, will celebrate the best people management practices amongst Investors in People accredited businesses, with winners being announced at a ceremony held on 23 June.

The 15 categories will recognise Excellence in Leadership and Management, Reward and Recognition, Social Responsibility, and Most Improved organisation, amongst others.

The Excellence in Social Responsibility category recognises the organisation that includes Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a core part of its people strategy and can demonstrate the impact it has on its workforce. Candidates were asked to show how their CSR programme has had a positive impact on both society and business. Five Lamps is shortlisted alongside 4 other companies in the category.

Graeme Oram (Chief Executive, Five Lamps) said

“We are immensely proud to be named in the shortlist for the IIP Awards 2014 in the category of ‘Excellence in Social Responsibility’. This is the first time the awards ceremony will take place and demonstrates how our people management practices support us in delivering Five Lamps social responsibilities. Considering there were over 500 entries in the categories for the awards from all over the UK we feel that being one of five shortlisted organisation’s for the award of ‘Excellence in Social Responsibility’ is a testament to our commitment to social, economic and financial inclusion driven by our business strategy”

Five Lamps provide a wide range of services to over 25,000 socially and financially excluded individuals across the North East and Yorkshire each year through its three integrated business divisions – Economic Development; Financial Inclusion & Housing and Youth Services.

The impact of our works spans supporting long-term unemployed people back into work; providing training, employment and qualifications to NEET young people; supporting customers on their enterprise journey from enterprise coaching, mentoring, business planning and accessing finance for start-ups; providing evening and weekend youth club activities; refurbishing and letting previously long term empty properties; systematically stripping away the barriers that face troubled families; delivering welfare assistance programmes in Stockton, County Durham and Northumberland; providing affordable personal loans to individuals and homeowners who are unable to access mainstream support and providing enterprise, financial inclusion and energy advice for young people and vulnerable groups.

Five Lamps has nearly 30 years of experience of engaging and supporting people through crises. Often we are told by our customers that the reason they continue to engage with us is that we are different to statutory services in our inclusive and flexible approach, attitude, service accessibility and the way in which we offer ongoing support by ˜staying close” to our customers. We recognise that our customers require an individualised service and we are in a position to provide this. It is rare for projects to be able to holistically address a range of social and economic issues within a single organisation, however we recognise that families often face multiple barriers and we are unique in providing such an integrated and impactful service delivery model.

Paul Devoy, Head of Investors in People, said:

“We have been overwhelmed by the number and calibre of entries received for the inaugural Investors in People Awards. It’s fantastic to see so many organisations nominated, demonstrating great people management practice and a commitment to staff development. Five Lamps should be extremely proud”

Investors in People is the UK’s leading accreditation for business improvement through people management, and provides a wealth of resources for businesses to innovate, improve and grow, with a focus on good people making great business.

The Investors in People inaugural Awards will be held at the Investors in People accredited London’s Landmark Hotel on 23 June, hosted by Hugh Dennis.

For more information about Investors in People please visit www.investorsinpeople.co.uk.

• About Investors in People
  Investors in People makes people management excellence count. They exist to help businesses realise the potential of their people, improve standards and gain the accreditation to prove it
• Through the respected Standard, business insight and the IIP bank of tools and resources, organisations of all shapes and sizes can put their people first – and discover a brighter business future
• Over the last 20 years, IIP has helped more than 100,000 businesses around the world improve, using their Accreditation Framework to boost working culture, increase employee engagement and encourage game-changing leadership
• Investors in People is owned and managed by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Five Lamps is a ‘best’ company to work for yet again!

Five Lamps are celebrating after being placed in The Sunday Times 100 Best Not-for-Profit Organisations to Work For list for the third 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 at number 28 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. 82% of staff felt that what is expected of them is clear – only two other small organisations did better. The organisation was ranked high on the list for employee health and wellbeing – employees gave the top score for not being under too much pressure to concentrate at work.

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 provide a wide range of services to over 25,000 socially and financially excluded individuals across the North East and Yorkshire each year through its three integrated business divisions – Economic Development; Financial Inclusion & Housing and Youth Services.

The impact of our works spans supporting long-term unemployed people back into work; providing training, employment and qualifications to NEET young people; supporting customers on their enterprise journey from enterprise coaching, mentoring, business planning and accessing finance for start-ups; providing evening and weekend youth club activities; refurbishing and letting previously long term empty properties; systematically stripping away the barriers that face troubled families; delivering welfare assistance programmes in Stockton, County Durham and Northumberland; providing affordable personal loans to individuals and homeowners who are unable to access mainstream support and providing enterprise, financial inclusion and energy advice for young people and vulnerable groups.

Five Lamps has nearly 30 years of experience of engaging and supporting people through crises. Often we are told by our customers that the reason they continue to engage with us is that we are different to statutory services in our inclusive and flexible approach, attitude, service accessibility and the way in which we offer ongoing support by ˜staying close” to our customers. We recognise that our customers require an individualised service and we are in a position to provide this. It is rare for projects to be able to holistically address a range of social and economic issues within a single organisation, however we recognise that families often face multiple barriers and we are unique in providing such an integrated and impactful service delivery model.

The Sunday Times 100 Best Not-for-Profit Organisations to Work For 2014 List is published in the appointments section of The Sunday Times on Sunday 16 March 2014.

Five Lamps are celebrating after winning a major national award

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ8lSsCot2o

The Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards, in partnership with the CDFA, celebrate excellence in community finance in supporting financial inclusion and economic growth.

Last night at the awards ceremony in Bristol, Five Lamps were named as the winner of the Impact Award and were

presented with £20,000 prize fund. This award recognises the achievement of Five Lamps in bringing positive change to people’s lives, to communities and enterprises and the way in which the organisation has increased the scale of its impact.

Ben Hughes, Chief Executive of the CDFA, an umbrella group for locally based community finance providers, said:

“Locally based community finance providers – CDFIs – are providing their customers with invaluable access to finance and to support – and we were thrilled to be able to recognise and reward some of this support through the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards. We were overwhelmed with outstanding applications to the Awards from CDFIs that are using innovative and creative ways to provide finance to their local communities”

Bob Annibale, Global Director, Citi Microfinance and Community Development, added:

“This is the first time we have brought the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards to the UK so to have such quality, diversity and wide geographic spread of entries is truly impressive. It’s a real testament to the commitment and growth of the UK’s CDFI sector in recent years. The awards are an exciting opportunity to showcase the individuals and organisations that are changing lives, boosting economies and energising neighbourhoods. Their achievements were celebrated at the final of the first UK Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards”

Five Lamps provide a wide range of services to over 25,000 socially and financially excluded individuals across the North East and Yorkshire each year through its three integrated business divisions – Economic Development; Financial Inclusion & Housing and Youth Services.

The impact of our works spans supporting long-term unemployed people back into work; providing training, employment and qualifications to NEET young people; supporting customers on their enterprise journey from enterprise coaching, mentoring, business planning and accessing finance for start-ups; providing evening and weekend youth club activities; refurbishing and letting previously long term empty properties; systematically stripping away the barriers that face troubled families; delivering welfare assistance programmes in Stockton, County Durham and Northumberland; providing affordable personal loans to individuals and homeowners who are unable to access mainstream support and providing enterprise, financial inclusion and energy advice for young people and vulnerable groups.

Five Lamps has nearly 30 years of experience of engaging and supporting people through crises. Often we are told by our customers that the reason they continue to engage with us is that we are different to statutory services in our inclusive and flexible approach, attitude, service accessibility and the way in which we offer ongoing support by ˜staying close” to our customers. We recognise that our customers require an individualised service and we are in a position to provide this. It is rare for projects to be able to holistically address a range of social and economic issues within a single organisation, however we recognise that families often face multiple barriers and we are unique, certainly within the CDFI arena, in providing such an integrated and impactful service delivery model.

Graeme Oram, Five Lamps Chief Executive, said

“We are thrilled that our work has been recognised in winning this award. We believe that our increasingly integrated range of services is unique within the community finance sector and as such our work has a greater impact on individuals, families and communities. Everything that we do is targeted at addressing need in the most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities and tackling the social, economic and financial exclusion which blights the lives of thousands of people”

Bob Annibale, Global Director, Citi Microfinance and Community Development, added

“This is the first time we have brought the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards to the UK so to have such quality, diversity and wide geographic spread of entries is truly impressive. It’s a real testament to the commitment and growth of the UK’s CDFI sector in recent years”

About the awards

The Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards celebrate the innovative and important work of community finance in supporting financial inclusion and economic growth. The awards will recognise excellence in community development finance institutions (CDFIs) that provide finance which changes lives and transforms neighbourhoods. The awards will also recognise the achievements of outstanding microentrepreneurs that are bringing wealth, services and jobs to communities across the UK. It is a collaboration between the Citi Foundation and Community Development Finance Association. Further details are available at www.cdfaawards.org.uk

About the Citi Foundation
The Citi Foundation is committed to the economic empowerment and financial inclusion of individuals and families, particularly those in need, in the communities where we work so that they can improve their standard of living. Globally, the Citi Foundation targets its strategic giving to priority focus areas: Microfinance, Enterprise Development, Youth Education and Livelihoods, and Financial Capability and Asset Building. The Citi Foundation works with its partners in Microfinance and Enterprise Development to support environmental programs and innovations. Additional information can be found at www.citifoundation.com.

About Citi
Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://blog.citigroup.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi

About Citi Microfinance
Working across Citi’s businesses, product groups and geographies, Citi Microfinance serves 150 microfinance institutions (MFIs), networks and investors as clients and partners in nearly 50 countries with products and services spanning the financial spectrum – from financing, access to capital markets, transaction services and hedging foreign exchange risk, to credit, savings, remittances and insurance products – to expand access to financial services for the underserved. www.citimicrofinance.com

About the Community Development Finance Association
The Community Development Finance Association (CDFA) is the voice for providers of fair and affordable finance. We represent and support a national network of community development finance institutions or CDFIs. CDFIs lend money to businesses and people who struggle to get finance from high street banks. They are social enterprises that invest in customers and communities.

CDFIs create jobs and help businesses to start and grow. They help people to pay bills, meet unexpected expenses or improve their home. They help people who may otherwise use high cost credit, such as payday lenders. Additional information can be found at www.cdfa.org.uk

Five Lamps is celebrating after successfully being reaccredited with the prestigious business improvement award – Investors in People’s Gold.

Following a rigorous assessment that included lengthy interviews with a large number of staff from right across the organisation, this standard is only given to organisations which can demonstrate a commitment to the learning and development of their employees and achieve best practice in people management.

Less than 2% of all Investors in People organisations in the UK achieve the Investors in People Gold Standard highlighting the achievement of Five Lamps who first secured the Investors in People Gold Accreditation in 2010. Five Lamps yet again 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, particularly reinforcing the value of our long-standing focus on service quality and continuous improvement.

Graeme Oram, Chief Executive of Five Lamps said

“Achieving the Investors in People Gold Accreditation is powerful recognition of the depth of our commitment to the personal and professional development of our staff, the quality of our policies and procedures in supporting our staff and customers and the way in which our corporate values drive our services and our strong sense of family”
“I am particularly proud that we can show people our medals, that we can stand up to the closest external scrutiny and be consistently at the leading edge of our sector nationally. To hold Investors in People Gold and Investors in People Champion status alongside being RBS SE100 Impact Champion, as well as Customer First and Matrix, following on from Best Companies in 2011 and 2012, is really special.”
“The Investors in People Assessor pointed out to me that our staff were very fortunate to have such a great employer and reminded us that we were very fortunate to have such great staff. Given that she met with over a quarter of our staff during her visit I think that she is well qualified to give us that perspective. We are a great business doing great things for our customers and partners and this reaccreditation certainly affirms that.”

Five Lamps operate from 5 business premises across Stockton, have a staff of 85 and expect to turnover c£3.5million this year.

Our integrated service portfolio now spans

• Empty Homes in County Durham and Darlington
• Financial Inclusion work from Berwick to Scarborough, with £5.2million of lending last year
• Business start-up support, including mentoring and access to finance, with loans up to £50000
• Employability support in Stockton, Middlesbrough and Redcar & Cleveland
• Youth services, including our VIBE special needs programme and MyBnK
• ‘Helping Hand’ the regional private housing financial assistance programme delivered for all twelve north-east local authorities
• The DWP New Enterprise Allowance Loan Service for the North East and Yorkshire which has enabled nearly 2500 people to leave benefits and start a business in the last two years, and
• Welfare Assistance delivery in Stockton-on-Tees, Co. Durham and Northumberland

This year over 25000 people will receive Five Lamps services.

Every year a bursary of up to £1,000 is made to a young person from Thornaby in memory of Alan Robson who passed away aged 61 in 2009

Alan Robson set up Five Lamps over 28 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, delivering these services across the North East and Yorkshire.

This year it was decided that the bursary would help towards funding an apprentice post at Five Lamps. The apprentice post is for one year and the successful person would be working towards a Level 2 in Business Administration.

The successful candidate who was interviewed for the apprentice post was a local woman Kirsty Nunn. Kirsty had been unemployed for six years and was working with the Five Lamps employability team under the Work Programme.

Karen O’Hara Five Lamps Intensive Support Worker informed Kirsty of the apprentice post and Kirsty felt this could be a good opportunity for her as she was always interested in the services Five Lamps had to offer. Also gaining a qualification in Business Administration would help her in any future employment.

Kirsty has just completed the first month of her apprenticeship and in that time she has gained skills and experience on a number of services which Five Lamps deliver.

Kirsty said

“I am very grateful to be given the opportunity to complete an apprenticeship at Five Lamps. I am gaining new skills and experience I never thought would be possible! I am really enjoying working at Five Lamps”

Alan, a father of six from Thornaby, had been chronically ill before he died suddenly of a heart attack. His wife Joan has been involved in the Alan Robson Bursary with Five Lamps since it was established in 2009

Joan said

“Now in its fourth year, Alan would be amazed to have seen a bursary set up in his name to help local young people. He was always enthusiastic about young people getting help like this.”

Five Lamps operate from 5 business premises across Stockton, have a staff of 85 and expect to turnover c£3.5million this year. Our integrated service portfolio now spans

• Empty Homes in County Durham and Darlington
• Financial Inclusion work from Berwick to Scarborough, with £5.2million of lending last year
• Business start-up support, including mentoring and access to finance, with loans up to £50000
• Employability support in Stockton, Middlesbrough and Redcar & Cleveland
• Youth services, including our VIBE special needs programme and MyBnK
• Helping Hand’ the regional private housing financial assistance programme delivered for all twelve north-east local authorities
• The DWP New Enterprise Allowance Loan Service for the North East and Yorkshire which has enabled nearly 2500 people to leave benefits and start a business in the last two years, and
• Welfare Assistance delivery in Stockton-on-Tees, Co. Durham and Northumberland.

This year over 25000 people will receive Five Lamps services.

Five Lamps is celebrating today after their Chief Executive Graeme Oram was named as the winner of the social enterprise category in the Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 North awards

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award is considered one of the world’s most prestigious business awards and is held in more than 140 cities and in more than 50 countries world wide. The programme starts locally where Graeme undertook a selection process to become shortlisted as a regional finalist.

The North awards dinner was held at the Hilton Deansgate Hotel in Manchester last night and honoured 12 business leaders in total, in 11 categories, which were judged and selected from 48 entrepreneurs from across the north west, Yorkshire and north east.

Margaret Elliott OBE, Director of Care Services at Sunderland Home Care Associates (2020) who sat on the judging panel said

“Graeme attributes his business success to his ability to create a clear vision for the business, innovative, reinvent, build ‘win win’ partnerships and demonstrate social impact”

Graeme said

“I am delighted to win such a prestigious regional award. The judges had a difficult task as there were 4 strong candidates in the social enterprise category for the north region. The north east has a vibrant entrepreneurial culture. Five Lamps has a clear vision for the future and I would like to thank the Board of Directors, staff and volunteers at Five Lamps who do a fantastic job to create possibilities and improve lives”

Sir Nigel Rudd, Chair of the UK Judging Panel said

“I have been involved in creating and leading businesses over many years and believe strongly we should celebrate great entrepreneurs and encourage others to follow in their footsteps. I am delighted to be judging this year’s awards particularly at a time when the vision of the UK’s entrepreneurs in innovating and exporting throughout the downturn is more important than ever.”

All northern winners will go on to represent the region at the UK finals in October and have a chance to compete at Ernst & Young’s World Entrepreneur of the Year award, in Monaco next year.

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!”

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

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.