Parklife Community Interest Company

A - DESCRIPTION OF THE GOOD PRACTICE

A1 - Title in original language
Parklife Community Interest Company

A2 - Title in English
Parklife Community Interest Company

A3 - Location of GP (national)
UK

A4 - Location of GP (regional)
Hampshire

A5 - Economic field of activity
I Accommodation and food service activities

A6 - Ultimate purpose of GP
To improve social cohesion/inclusion
To provide amenities for local people

A7 - Spatial scale
Local

A8a - Start date
July 2011. Set up as trading arm of Friends of St James Park, a charity which has regenerated St James Park (FoSJP) in Southampton.

A8b - Anticipated end date (if applicable)
Ongoing

A9 - Short description of the GP
Organisation runs a community café and community room in St James Park in Southampton. A variety of activities take place in the community room and hard to reach individuals are encouraged to get involved. The café supplies a variety of products, to cater for all 'pockets', and uses local suppliers and Fairtrade products.

A10 - Key words relating to the GP
Profit/no profit partnership / cooperation
Training / mentoring
Work inclusion / employment
Communication
Social inclusion

A11 - Objectives of the GP
To provide a café in the park for all members of the community, providing reasonably priced goods, using local and fairly traded produce. Tor provide a room for the community to use for health, education and social purposes. To make a profit to plough back into the social enterprise (not yet achieved!).

A12 - Activities that have taken place
Activities in the community room include: yoga, job club, room hire (at 4 different rates), parenting courses, supper club for local businesses, use by Filipino Association, special events, eg. Sausage week, Bastille Day, Diwali event.

A13 - Achievements of the GP
Encouraged people from all different backgrounds to use St James Park. Provided point of contact for vulnerable members of society. Achieved valuable health education and social impact through use of community room. Provided employment for 15 people, one apprenticeship and also voluntary work. 2 former employees have set up own business. Provided local businesses with trade.

B - IMPACT ON SOCIETY AND ECONOMY

B1 - How has the GP impacted on the following?

B1a - Legal/financial exclusion (people who legally or finacially excluded)
Very positive impacts
Any other comments?
Eg through Job Club which runs weekly. Numbers attending varies, but averages around 6 people.

B1b - Creation or conservation of local employment
Very positive impacts
Any other comments?
Enabled creation of 2 local businesses.

B1c - Adaptation to new realities (enabling people to adapt to their changing circumtances)
Very positive impacts
Any other comments?
Job Club has had very positive impact on lives of those attending.

B1d - Cross sectoral working
Very positive impacts
Any other comments?
Involvement of Southampton City Council with Job Club. Enagement with local youth project. Provide trade for local businesses through café work.

B1e - Enablement of social enterpreneurship
Neutral impacts
Any other comments?

B1f - Amenities for local people
Very positive impacts
Any other comments?
Providing amenties for local people is at the heart of what Parklife does.

B1g - Educational opportunities
Very positive impacts
Any other comments?
Through provision of yoga classes, Job Club, 'Learn to Love Learning' sessions (informal skills sharing sesssions). Some informal social skills training, eg confidence building.

B1h - Crisis response
Neutral impacts
Any other comments?
Occasional signposting to other organisations.

B1i - Local financial environment for social enterpreneurs
Any other comments?
Not applicable

B1j - Local policy environment for social enterpreneurs
Any other comments?
Not applicable

B1k - National financial environment for social enterpreneurs
Any other comments?
Not applicable

B1l - National policy environment for social enterpreneurs
Any other comments?
Not applicable

C - PARTNERSHIPS & GOVERNANCE

C1 - Is the governance of this GP fully inclusive?
Beneficiaries are somewhat involved in governance
Comments and learning points
Parklife is governed by 3 voluntary directors. Parklife also has a sub-committee formed of members of Friends of St James Park (FoSJP), who are consulted on any significant changes. FoSJP members come from all walks of life within the local community.

C2 - How influential has this GP been on local or national decision makers? (Have you had and influence on decision makers locally?)
Reasonable degree of influence achieved
Comments and learning points
Parklife has influenced local councillors over issues such as litter in St James Park. Parklife also has a direct link to the local police station and Parklife board member chairs community partnership meetings, which discuss issues such as anti-social behaviour.

C3 - How much partnership work has been involved?
A great deal of cross sectoral partnership working
Comments and learning points
Through local businesses, council and community partnership meetings, as well as with local voluntary groups.

D - PR & TRANSFERABILITY

D1 - Please describe how the GP communicated its experience and success to the public (how you disseminate your impact)
Through its website and through FoSJP annual meeting. Also, there have been articles in local newspapers and there are noticeboards both outside and inside the café.

D2 - Please describe how the GP communicated with local or national decision makers?
Not applicable.

D3 - Are there any elements of this project that you think would transfer particularly well to other contexts?
Yes, the model would be easily replicable to other parks in the UK and potentially Europe wide.

E - RESOURCES AND SUSTAINABILITY

E1a - Total annual income of GP 2011/12
As started trading in July 11, provisional accounts for 2012/13 show annual income of £124,250

E1b - How is this made up?
Sales - £92,365, VAT refund - £7,214, Grants - £24,645, Bank interest - £26

E1c - Details of human resources
15 paid employees over last year (not all at the same time) - including one manager, one supervisor, café assistants on rota basis. Several volunteers. 3 voluntary directors, plus 2 advisors who sit on the Board, who advise on publicity/marketing and administration.

E1d - Details of technology
£6k grant to fit out kitchen from DP World. £3k invested in IT equipment.

E1e - Details of financial investment for start-up/early stage
All start up costs were grant funded, the vast majority form the Heritage Lottery Fund, which FoSJP received for original park improvement project (£1.5m for total project).

E1f - Details of external support

E2 - If public funding were withdrawn, could the GP continue to exist?
Not currently, but funding is due to be withdrawn in April 2014. Parklife has a target to increase sales by 30% by Sept 2014.

F - EXECUTIVE BODY AND CONTACT INFORMATION

F1 - Who set up the GP?
Not-for-profit organisation

F2 - Who runs the GP?
Individual or group of individuals

F3 - Short description/comments
Parklife is a company limited by guarantee. Set up as trading arm of Friends of St James Park, a charity which has regenerated St James Park (FoSJP) in Southampton.

F4 - Contact 
Barrie Worth
Parklife Community Interest Company
St James Park, St James Road, Southampton
UK
Telephone 07710 070580
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.park-life.org.uk

G - SUPPORTING INFORMATION

G1 - Photos (between 1 & 3)

G2 - E documents

G3 - Any other useful information