Read on Twitter
This thread is the experience of one of our tenants. We’re sharing it here for #socialenterpriseday to show the impact of social enterprises. It’s a long thread, but please read it all. It’s totally worth it. #whoknew #Somerset #community @SocialEnt_UK
1/12 "At the end of 2017, my wife and I were in temporary accommodation. It was costing us £100 more a month than we were bringing in. I was working part time, and our credit ratings were shot to pieces because of payments missed due to paying so much rent.
2/12 We were also paying extortionate amounts to store our belongings in storage, with the desperate hope that we weren't going to have to default on that as well and loose everything we owned. We had run out of options. We couldn't secure private rented property.
3/12 The council wouldn't step in until we were on the streets. Then we saw @Somerset_Land’s advert on Gumtree during our daily trawl of desperation. A small flat in central Taunton - affordable rent and landlords who accepted a low income! We had excellent personal references…
4/12 …which meant nothing to letting agents, but everything to @Somerset_Land. After filling in the form and having an interview, we were offered a home. A week later we started the first day of the rest of our lives! From this point on, things started happening!
5/12 We joined the board of directors, giving us a unique insight into the organisation. It has given us invaluable skills that will stay with us for a long time to come. Following on from this amazing opportunity, I was offered the chance to work for a community incubator hub.
6/12 I had no idea at the time how this chance would set my life in a positive direction permanently! Overjoyed at the opportunity to make a difference, I grabbed the baton and well and truly ran with it! By Christmas 2018, just nine months after moving into our flat, I had…
7/12 …a job that I was desperate to get up every morning for! I was finally making a difference! As a co-operative development worker, I've helped countless organisations and start-ups find their feet. I've learned the job from the bottom up.
8/12 A year into my job we were able to take on a full compliment of staff. Working as a new team, I've continued to thrive, and then at the end of last year we were financially stable enough to move into a privately rented flat, and freed up the flat for someone else in need.”
9/12 (But that isn’t the end of Caitlyn’s story) “Thanks to my experience working with co-ops and community enterprises, and a reference from SCCLT, I was able to apply to study on the groundbreaking new course at @leedsbeckett: Innovation and Skills for Social Change (BA Hons).
10/12 I was accepted unconditionally, and so, after twenty years of setbacks, I'm finally going to do my degree - in something that truly matters. This will enable me to follow my true passion and make a genuine difference in the lives of those less fortunate.
11/12 Although I've taken the decision to leave my job in order to give the degree the focus it deserves, I am still very active on the board of SCCLT. I will also stay very active within the #co-op community that has welcomed me so warmly!
12/12 Like a set of beautiful life dominoes, SCCLT helped set in motion a series of events that has led to, not only my wife and I being self sufficient, but my being qualified enough to gain entry to a degree course. This change around in only two and a half years is incredible.
