In this episode, Heidi Fisher is joined by Johnathan Parsons, Managing Director and Consultant Clinical Scientist at Chime Social Enterprise. Chime is an NHS Audiology Service that utilised the Government Right to Request scheme to spin out as a not-for-profit Social Enterprise, having spun out 12 years ago under the "right to request" legislation.  Owned by its staff, the organisation has a direct contract with the ICB for audiology services in the region. Heidi and Johnathan discuss the...

In this episode, Heidi Fisher sits down with Rhonda Lovell, founder of Wellington Counselling, to explore Rhonda's journey from her early career in gender studies to becoming a therapist and establishing a community-focused counselling centre. Highlights from the discussion include: Organic growth of Wellington CounsellingCommunity support and collaborationPandemic Challenges and the surge in demand for counselling servicesOnline platforms for service delivery and adapting to the changing...

The Parenting Apart Programme is an early intervention that prevents long-term negative impacts on children’s emotional health and well-being when their parents separate or divorce. In this episode, Managing Director Claire Field and Parenting Apart Consultant Kam Kaur share their insights into their innovative approach with Heidi. From organisational development to logistics and challenges to positive outcomes, this conversation highlights the importance of bringing parents together to...

What's the sign of an organisation that wants to realise the best for patients? It's something Dr. Linda Harris, a GP and the founding CEO of Spectrum Community Health CIC sees in droves everyday. And if you want to magnify your impact, whether in health and wellbeing, in working with vulnerable communities or across the gamut of social enterprises' outcomes, this episode is a must-listen. Linda is candid about her biggest learnings since Spectrum launched over 12 years ago. Why is growth...

Catch22 supports over 160,000 people every year. A social business, it has over 1,700 staff and volunteers and delivers services addressing child exploitation, children's social care, criminal justice, education, employment and training, and health and wellbeing. Naomi Hulston had worked in the organisation for 21 years before taking on her 15th role as its chief executive.  She describes her passion for levering organisational strategy to achieve and boost outcomes and how 'building...

Paul Zelizer is a social entrepreneur coach and the co-host of the Awarepreneurs Podcast. He spent 15 years working in community mental health and tells Heidi about his journey from "burned-out, broke social worker" through a reinvention 16 years ago. Now he offers consultancy and coaching for impact-focused leaders. In this episode he covers: Using large organisations to lever impact.Securing work-life balance for a holistic life.The four questions every social entrepreneur needs to...

Here's a rollicking, rip-roaring marketing 101 with Ayo Abbas. Ayo specialises in B2B (business to business) marketing for the built environment.  And she believes marketing shouldn't be a weird, mystical art. We hear: why you should always remember you're marketing to peoplethe problem with customer avatars – "I hate them" says Ayo, and confusing funnelswhy Ayo finds marketing architecture, engineering and other built environment services so much more interesting (and more of a mental...

Here's a horrifying statistic: 80% of toys are thrown away within two weeks, and they're packed with plastics and chemicals which damage the environment. Handmade wooden toys, so loved by so many, had been disappearing because of rapid industrialisation and the spread of cheap plastics. Arshad Khalid is the founder and director of Ethiqana, a social enterprise which works with toy producers – 'artisan heroes' – to create employment in India and around the world. Ethiqana's mission is to...

Alessandra Alonso is the founder and managing director of Women in Travel CIC, a social enterprise which focuses on the economic empowerment of women through employability and entrepreneurship in travel, tourism and hospitality. It provides all women, but especially marginalised, vulnerable and under-represented women with visibility, confidence, access to training, mentoring and allyship programmes. Alessandra covers Women in Travel's history, how it continued to support people through the...

Remi Ray is a neurodivergent high-performance coach and the founder of The Diverse Creative CIC. She describes how she came to launch her social enterprise, which supports disabled entrepreneurs, and the multi-faceted approach she takes to coaching. After struggling through education because she had "shied away from discussing" her dyslexia until the age of 28, Remi realised she had not been honest about who she was (she received a diagnosis of dyslexia at the age of 19) – and felt a...

Doing good in the world? Then it is incumbent on you to build the foundations of a sustainable business, says Yinka Ewuola. Get those right and you can maximise your impact. This episode is about those foundations: cashflow and mindset. Plus Heidi is honest and open about common pricing mistakes and Yinka has ideas and solutions. And: Why "knowing your worth" can be the most damaging advice for an entrepreneur.How to maximise individual superpowers and create a "houseful of love."Why do we...

"Everyone has had a financial bump in the road at some point in their life, but I don't think they should be punished for that," say Tim Rooney, CEO of "Fintech for Good" Award-winner, Salad Money. Salad is a social enterprise and community development finance institution (CDFI) which focuses on lending and tailored financial education, support and signposting for NHS and Public Sector workers. Many people are punished by widespread use of credit scores to make decisions in the consumer...

There are six million dads in the UK and when Dan Flanagan's  own father passed away he re-evaluated his own life. "It can be lonely to be a dad but men don't like to talk about that." The consequences are profound and tragic. Isolation, loneliness, mental ill-health. For some men, suicide – horrifyingly, 96 men under 45 are lost to suicide each week in the UK. And the emotional availability of fathers has both an immediate and long-lasting impact on children. A few years ago Dan started...

Finance and credit play a big part in our lives. Removing or preventing access to them is hugely disruptive, as today's guest explains. Without fit-for-purpose finance on fair terms, businesses and social enterprises can't grow, create jobs or deliver vital frontline services, and millions of households are prey for loan sharks. Community development finance institutions (CDFIs) address the damaging lack of appropriate finance faced by many people, businesses and social enterprises....

We have never faced such scrutiny of our bodies, or been under as much pressure to conform to a narrow definition of 'beauty.' Ldn Dares Drama Company supports people with low confidence, self-esteem and body image issues through performing arts. The social enterprise works with commissioners in mental health. It helps people develop and understand their self worth, build confidence and more, and has been nominated for the Innovation in Healthcare Lammy Award. Founder and CEO Ursula...

When serial technology entrepreneur Bashir Khairy had a lightening bolt realisation of the cumulative effects of our shopping habits, he overhauled his lifestyle. But there was a problem.  Bashir and his family couldn't find enough sustainable products in one place. "There were fundamental questions about how we vote with our money," he says, and directed his focus to creating a marketplace featuring ethical products from conscious merchants. The Green Wallet app is now in use UK-Europe...

Karis Gill was already a serial entrepreneur when she discovered social enterprise. She figured gifts are a wonderful way to introduce people to what she, like Heidi, believes is the future of business. Social Stories Club, a social enterprise Karis co-founded, offers gifts (wonderful products which make a difference) accompanied by engaging, powerful stories. Karis describes how it maps and manages its impacts; how it uses stories; and how she and her team decide what products to...

Does your work create social change and are you an extraordinary business leader? If so, you could apply for the Cambridge Social Innovation Prize, which offers a £10,000 cash award to up to four winners for their personal and professional development alongside expert mentoring support. It's an exciting opportunity to accelerate your impact and today's guest Nicole Helwig explains more about the Prize, its purpose and impact, how to apply, and gives a vital piece of advice if you're thinking...

Tippa Naphtali doesn't only use enterprise for business, but also to address political and social issues and make society better. He's been a community activist for over four decades, working in Birmingham, London and internationally.  Entrepreneurial since the playground he's supported, developed and led a huge range of community development and social justice projects and organisations. Tippa is well known for his campaigning work, calling for penal, police and mental health reforms to...

Dave  Linton is the first ever guest to be invited onto the Make an Impact podcast for a follow-up interview. He launched Madlug in 2015 as he was heartbroken to learn that most children in care transport their worldly belongings in bin bags. Madlug’s 'Buy one, give one' approach addresses this. But what’s happened since Dave was last on the show? Masses, it turns out, and Dave describes Madlug’s resilience in the face of a social media hack, the decisions it made to deal with Covid, the...

"This is a model that can be taken anywhere in the world." Chris Roberts is the co-founder of North Wales Dragons, a social enterprise and community football team which raises money  for charities all over the UK and beyond.  The idea was kicked off with a football match with a ten-nil defeat, but lots of money raised – and it snowballed from there, as Chris explains. He also describes: how the sponsorship and fundraising model works,ensuring the games are inclusive and collaborative,the...

There are three key things ethical businesses must do when it comes to their marketing, according to Jane Shaw. Listen on to find out. Conscious customers can be incredibly vocal, so if an ethical business can build a community which loves and believes in their product or service it can be a huge asset. Jane describes the practical steps ethical businesses can take; how she helps entrepreneurs to bottle their "why" and her own routemap to make marketing affordable and effective for small,...

Marianne Moore launched Justice Studio in 2011 after becoming jaded with the values deficit in traditional management consulting. She  wanted to run a business  she'd like to work in: a consultancy where  people's purpose and interests are inflamed rather than dampened down. Justice Studio has worked on projects addressing social, gender, child, criminal and climate justice, plus safeguarding, homelessness,  racism, domestic violence and  international aid. She  "The broader discriminations...

Imagine not having to explain to people your mission to balance impact and profit. It's powerful and energising to work with people who get what you're doing and why . Sara Osterholzer co-founded the Good Business Club, an alternative business network fostering "collaboration connection and confidence for small, good business owners and freelancers who want to make a difference, as well as a living. " She's on a mission to reach 2021 budding impact entrepreneurs this year so they can start...