STRIDE
STRIDE (SHARP Training, Recycling, and Income Development Enterprise) is an award-winning social enterprise based in Leicester providing work experience and training in a real business environment.
In the face of increasing competition for a dwindling pot of local authority grants, the Leicestershire homelessness charity SHARP began to look for a longer-term, more entrepreneurial solution to raising finance. They founded STRIDE, a trading arm operating in the field of furniture renovation and retail.
STRIDE accepts donated furniture and purchase damaged and returned furniture from catalogue companies for socially disadvantaged trainees to collect, renovate and deliver to low-income families.
Trainees build up skills to return to the labour market, SHARP meets its social responsibility by providing furniture to beneficiaries of its charity, and an income is generated by selling the rest of the furniture to the general public. STRIDE has since opened three factory shops to meet the growing demand.
Offering work and training placements to a wide range of socially disadvantaged individuals is also not a task to be undertaken lightly. The diversity of trainees is huge. However, STRIDE reports that a key hurdle to overcome for all its trainees is a lack of motivation, ambition and self-belief.
In 2005 STRIDE won a countywide business award for its contribution to the community, generated a turnover of £400,000 and channelled £25,000 of profits back into the charity. STRIDE has so far provided training to more than 900 unemployed people and supplied more than 500 families with free furniture. It employs 38 staff, one third of whom are former trainees.
STRIDE is part-funded through the Equal programme.