3Spirit is excited to share that we are finalists in the following awards. The awards recognise exceptional contributions to social care. Our strong track record in social care, and our impact in the sector in the last 10 years, is the result of our dedication to developing our service delivery, training, resources and ensuring that the learners implement and commit to the learning post-training.
The award categories we are finalists in are:
The Women Achieving Greatness in Social Care – The Outstanding Partner Award Category – Holly Hammond, Training and Engagement Manager at 3Spirit has been shortlisted as a finalist for this award.
The Social Care Premier Supplier Awards – Workforce Development Category – 3Spirit has been shortlisted as a finalist for this award.
The Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2022 National Dementia Awards – Caroline Bartle,CEO at 3Spirit has been shortlisted as a finalist for this award.
Women Achieving Greatness in Social Care – The Talent Development Award Category – Caroline Bartle,CEO at 3Spirit is a finalist for this award.
Southeast Region of the Great British Care Awards for The Outstanding Contribution to Social Care awards
London Region of the Great British Care Awards for The Workforce Development Awards.
East of England Region of the Great British Care Awards for The Workforce development Awards.
This has truly been an amazing year for us, and we are excited to share our achievements with you.
We look forward to the awards, and hope that you will be rooting for us. Fingers crossed!
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I started to write this blog at the start of the year. Normally this is a time most people take stock and ask how can we BE and DO better? However, within our social care sector, this reappraisal is not new, but rather ongoing, and insidious. We are constantly being asked, how we can DO better. For many services this has resulted in cutting back, and prioritising profitability.
However, what is the impact of this? Is there a hidden cost of dwindling social care funding, creating highly competitive, low cost, low value services? Has this disproportionate focus on the turning a profit taken us away from more ethical aspects of our work, as we forget to ask how can we BE better? Surely the test of how we can ‘BE’ better as a social care service lies within the ‘social impact’ that we have, not in the profit that we accrue.
About twenty years ago after a relatively short career in social work I became a proprietor of a social care business at the age of 27, and when I look back over the last two decades I see the factor which drove me to business was the freedom to BE the person that I wanted to be. Because of this, I get immense pleasure from my work, and my collaborations. I spend time working with the individuals that I chose, and I have the opportunities to learn about, and develop what I determine as critical, interesting and applicable. I am motivated, engaged and free to be innovative. My values are at the heart of my business, sometimes at the expense of profit. Over the years my values have evolved. As a young entrepreneur, I was always interested in creating and sharing, however now I am more concerned about how these collaborations impact on our communities, collectively and positively.
Despite being a ‘for profit’ organisation, we shared our resources, widely and openly (with no material gain), and attempted to reach out to individuals and organisations through our work. Whilst we have had many supporters, we have also been met with some alarming responses: individuals proactively unfollowed us, and actively excluded us. It was disappointing and deeply demotivating. There appears to be a lack of trust in our sector: driven possibly by competitive, anti-collective forces. Consider though what the possibilities might be for our sector where we are able to foster trust, and build alliances beyond the competitive limitations of market forces. What if we all shared common goals, the communities that we serve? What if there was a less of a ‘me’ mentality and more of an ‘us’?
The growth of a market was stimulated, in part with the introduction of the Community Care Act, and has relied on competitive forces, creating best value. However how effectively does this model work now, in this current climate? In 2012 the government introduced the Public Services Social Value Act in an attempt to get commissioners to consider the social impact of their buying power. However, this only applies to high value contracts. So what of all the other services, or individuals, purchasing services in their community? Whilst these services are regulated by ‘CQC’, many are driven by profit, and may not always be making their decisions in the interests of ALL of their stakeholders. If we are to really make a ‘shared society’ work, should we not ‘expect’ that ‘social enterprises’ are afforded preferential treatment at a local buyer level? In 2015 there was a review of the implementation of the Public Services Social Value Act suggesting that the Act be extended to contracts below the public spend threshold. It is my view this could be extended further than suggested.
In the health care market we have already seen many services become ‘social enterprises’. Health has long had an expectation that it should service all ‘stakeholders’, as since the introduction of the NHS it has been free at the point of delivery.
However, that is not the case for social care: the expectation remains many providers maintain a ‘for profit’ status. Many business minded individuals identify opportunities in a growth market, particularly in the community, where the there is a growing need to support individuals with more complex levels of care. The question is, how sustainable is this in the current market? Does the ‘social enterprise’ model work better in this climate, and if so – should commissioners consider this as part of their market shaping strategy as part of a long term goal for smaller, as well as large organisations? Could this be applied across all types of services, particularly training services like us, whom should be embodying an example, as advocates of ‘best practice’.
So, as a proprietor what are your driving values? To make a profit or make a difference? Whilst on the face of it, it may be a little more complex than that, determining the overriding priorities will help to properly focus priorities on outcomes. As an education provider in social care we aim to buck the trend, and embody this change.
‘Social Enterprise’ is a more comfortable fit for us: synergy with stakeholder expectations and our activities. Through raising awareness, we aim to provide better insights into the experience and needs of the individuals we support in the social care sector. From a business perspective, it seems to make sense as it is through trading, we may have a bigger impact in society.Follow Us
3 Spirit UK accredited for creating genuine social impact
Hertfordshire based 3 Spirit UK has been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark, which proves they are in business to benefit society, community and the environment.
The Social Enterprise Mark is only internationally available social enterprise accreditation, enabling credible social enterprises to prove that they are making a difference. Only organisations which can prove they operate as a social enterprise, with the central aim of using income and profits to maximise their positive social and/or environmental impact taking precedent over a requirement to maximise personal profits for owners and shareholders are awarded a licence to display the Social Enterprise Mark.
Applicants must meet robust qualification criteria in order to be awarded the Social Enterprise Mark, and are re-assessed each year to ensure they continue to meet the criteria. Subjected to an assessment process which is overseen by an independent Certification Panel, 3 Spirit UK’s governance documents and accounts were scrutinised. As a result, 3 Spirit UK has earned the Social Enterprise Mark guarantee that profits [or surpluses] are used to
to improve the quality of care for vulnerable people through education;
to support the rights of vulnerable groups through access to education;
to prevent and delay further deterioration in the health and wellbeing of a person living with dementia through access to education and/or tools.
3 Spirit UK joins other social enterprises that have been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark, such as the Age UK Enterprises, Eden Project, Big Issue, and the Phone Coop.
Government data estimates that there are 70,000 social enterprises across the UK, contributing over £24 billion to the economy and employing around 1 million people.
Social enterprises plough the majority of their profits back into activities that benefit people and planet, rather than just lining shareholders pockets. However, some businesses are taking advantage as there is no legal definition for them. The Social Enterprise Mark CIC is the guardian of genuine social enterprise principles, and it safeguards these through the independent accreditation process.
The 3 Spirit UK aim is to foster a collective responsibility in the social care sector to champion human rights, and to improve the wellbeing of the most vulnerable in our communities. Through education and collaboration, they aim to empower both front line services, and corporate strategists to maintain an ethical and moral ideology in every facet of their work. This is achieved in two different strands of their work:
by providing education to the health and social care workforce, and directly to vulnerable groups.
by providing services tools and/or consultancy to improve the impact of their work, to create efficiencies that improve wellbeing.
Over the last four years 3 Spirit UK has been dedicated to researching and developing innovative learning opportunities. This has involved engaging with a wide variety of stakeholders by utilising social media and other platforms to share ideas. In this process the aim has been to develop resources that engage the workforce, and work well in overstretched and underfunded services. In a very challenging social care market 3 Spirit UK has aimed to identify strategies and resources to help services balance competing priorities, focusing on what good care and support, and to determine how to meet individual outcomes for wellbeing.
Caroline Bartle said, “We’re really proud to have been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark. 3 Spirit UK is absolutely committed to supporting sustainable businesses and consequently helping local communities to thrive and prosper”. “Over the last two years 3 Spirit has been engaging with research that identifies factors that impact on the wellbeing of individuals living with dementia. This research shows that there are several lifestyle factors which may delay the onset and progression of dementia. A broader amount of research indicates that many people living with dementia in our communities are amongst the most loneliness, which is harmful to health. To improve outcomes, we have been reviewing the evidence base, and attempting to come up with a tool that provides solutions in practice; the Home Spirit Tool. We are hoping that the mark will demonstrate our commitment to meeting wider social goals through the application of this tool”
Lucy Findlay, Managing Director, Social Enterprise Mark CIC, advised:
“As the only way to independently assess and accredit genuine social enterprises, the Social Enterprise Mark guarantees businesses use profits for purpose not for the pockets of shareholders.”
