Tackling climate change sometimes still involves spreadsheets!
Our Specialist Volunteer Network (SVN) is home to a whole range of expertise and changemakers who stand ready to help Scotland’s charities. Our team are no stranger to quickly matching a charity with the right professional to get a problem solved.
So recently, when Earth in Common, an organisation aiming to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss at a hyper-local level in Leith, got in touch looking for help with creating an official process to properly track streams of cash flow, our team knew exactly who could help.
We sat down with CEO Evie Murray to find out more.
Earth in Common’s work currently spans many areas – an urban croft with two acres of land, including a collective of 120 crofters who grow their own food, a young person programme called Minecroft, a cafe and farm shop, and running a food and environmental college.
With this growth, there was a need to diversify income streams and move from a strictly charity and grants system to more of a social enterprise model to develop and evolve some of the activities to meet the needs of the local community.
Evie said, “The plan was to get some high-level support around our cash flow process and how to communicate that clearly between everyone to implement a real system.
“Our charitable work is still really important to us because we’re still very much about transforming the food system and looking at food and the environment, so it’s still an important element of what we do. But we wanted the freedom to prioritise what matters and be able to respond more fluidly to what is needed on the ground. By generating our own income, we can better address these needs.”
The team also wanted to include the whole community in this transformation. Evie explains, “Leith is very much a divided place economically, with streets full of huge wealth next to some of the poorest areas in the whole of Scotland. The need to address this inequality was a major driver behind our mission. We believe that the food system itself is critical in redressing the balance and bringing wealth back into the community.”
“The reason we decided to become a social enterprise was so that we could work on long-term measures to foster community, employ people in our community garden, teach new skills and offer everyone the space to come and hang out, build friendships and get involved in various projects.”
Having been referred to our Specialist Volunteer Network, Evie met with our team to discuss their needs and was matched with Neil Blake, an Inspiring Scotland alumnus and now an independent consultant, who still takes the time to give back.
Neil said, “The work that Earth in Common do as an urban croft sounded really interesting and community-focused, and its location in Leith is not far from me so it was an ideal opportunity.”
The pair met a few times, and Neil designed a process to simplify the admin side of cash flow and made it clear for anyone who may need to know the cash details, whether it be the different teams from across the organisation or an external party.
He continued, “Earth in Common’s financial planning was previously dependent on some very complicated spreadsheets, I was reminded that keeping it simple is often the best way forward.
“I have received an immense sense of satisfaction from being able to support EiC in becoming better able to present themselves to future funders.”
Creating a better cash flow system ultimately made it easier for Earth in Common to keep working towards their mission, being able to diversify income streams with a clearer picture ultimately means better serving the community and creating opportunities for people to have healthier, more connected lives.
Evie said, “We have always seen our mission as a long-term project. First and foremost, Neil just gave us the confidence that it could be done. When I was wavering and nervous about what direction to take, he came in with a sort of relaxed manner and really understood the challenges of running an enterprise and knew exactly what needed to be done. And he really believed in the project too. It just couldn’t have been a better fit.”
Often, what happens with our SVN connections is that something which starts as a simple solution to a practical problem runs much deeper. In this instance, a spreadsheet became a process, which then became empowering for them to do more.
The collaboration between Earth in Common and Neil Blake shows how well-made volunteer matches can drive meaningful change. By improving their financial processes, Earth in Common can better focus on their mission and Neil has the satisfaction of contributing his business expertise to a good cause, and making the change happen.
Find out more about how the Specialist Volunteer Network could help your charity here.
Tackling climate change sometimes still involves spreadsheets! Our Specialist Volunteer Network (SVN) is home to a whole range of expertise and changemakers who stand ready to help Scotland’s charities. Our team are no stranger to quickly matching a charity with the right professional to get a problem solved. So recently, when Earth in Common, an
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