The Purpose Made Podcast

In this episode we chat to David Smith and Alex Laing from Oasis Community Housing. Oasis is a charity that exists to reignite a hope and provide a future for everyone facing homelessness and like ourselves they believe that anyone’s life can be transformed for the better. That’s why, every year,  Oasis offer hope and futures to people facing homelessness. David is the Chief Executive of Oasis whilst Alex is the Project Team Lead for Resettlement. We wanted to speak to Oasis specifically around the fantastic work they are doing within the community and also about the wider impacts the Covid pandemic has had on homelessness and on the charitable sector as a whole.It was reported in June 2020, by the Guardian and as part of a Pro Bono Economic study conducted that 1 in 10 UK charities were facing bankruptcy as they struggle to cope with a £10bn shortfall caused by soaring demand for their services and lost fundraising income due to the coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, homelessness is a notoriously difficult thing to quantify. As elements such as sofa surfing, means people often don’t consider themselves to be homeless. Furthermore, there is no national figure for how many people are homeless across the UK. Crazy isn’t it. But that's because homelessness is recorded differently in each of our nations, and because of this, many homeless don’t even show up in official statistics. What we do know is for the last 5 years’ core homelessness has been rising year on year in England, reaching 219,000 before the pandemic with current estimates believed to be in the region of  280,000. Homelessness isn’t inevitable. Finland for example are showing the rest of Europe homelessness can decline. But homelessness must be beyond buildings. It’s about people and nurturing supportive relationships that offer hope and futures and not simply a temporary “Everyone in” accommodation . Chatting to David and Alex was an absolute pleasure and we really hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did.Thank you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we chat to the wonderful Peter Neal and Andrew Marsh of the Experience Bank GroupThe Experience Bank Group was founded on May 31st 2020 and primarily focuses on supporting SME’s and charities to build effective boards and optimise performance. Some of our listeners may have had the pleasure of speaking with either Andrew or Peter via the Experience Bank or through the numerous peer support groups they also chair. Andrew for example chairs peer support groups for Vistage, helping executives drive better results whilst Peter also chairs peer groups with Andrew and for non-executives helping to optimise performance.Chatting to Peter and Andrew was a pleasure and in today’s episode we discuss their career journey’s, combating Covid and the challenges faced, the growth and development of the Experience Bank Group and what they envisage for the future once the pandemic abates. So sit back, relax and we do hope you enjoy.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we chat to the incredible Juliet Davenport OBE, and creator of Good Energy – the UK’s first 100% renewable energy company.  Juliet founded Good Energy in 1999, for the purpose of creating a way for people and businesses to be part of the solution to climate change. Having grown up in a high carbon world (her father is the legendary rallying co-driver John Davenport), Juliet spent most of her time as a child either on the side of a race track or watching fast cars in a forest. Juliet went on to study physics at Oxford, before focusing on atmospheric physics and namely the physics of climate change.  So whilst the journey of Good Energy may have originated in Oxford, today Good Energy supplies renewable energy to more than 73k households & businesses in the UK, dedications which earned her an OBE in 2013 for services to renewables. Chatting to Juliet was a pleasure and in today’s episode we discuss her journey, her dogs, Good Energy’s Youth Board, combating the Covid pandemic and the challenges faced and what she envisages for the future once the pandemic abates. So sit back, relax and we do hope you enjoy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we chat to the incredible Phil Douglas, Executive Producer of Curious Arts – a Newcastle based not-for-profit organisation developing LGBTQIA+ arts, artists, audiences and participants across the North East. Curious Arts celebrates and explores Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual + Culture through the arts sector. Their projects champion and develop the LGBTQIA+ cultural offer of the region by increasing opportunities for the LGBTQIA+ community as artists, audiences and participants. Through their advocacy and consultancy with partner organisations Curious Arts are developing projects, touring productions and bespoke initiatives to celebrate and increase visibility of the North East’s LGBTQIA+ Culture. In this episode we chat to Phil about Covid through the lens of his own and Curious Arts experiences before exploring some of the excellent work Curious Arts are doing surrounding the LGBTQIA+ community and what he envisages for the future once the pandemic abates. So sit back, relax and we do hope you enjoy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we chat to Ed Pomfret and Amina Hersi from Oxfam International.  Ed is a deputy advocacy, campaigns & engagement director based in Johannesburg, South Africa whilst Amina is the Head of Gender Rights and Justice based in Nairobi, Kenya. In today’s episode we chat to Ed and Amina about their individual Covid experiences before looking into Covid through the lens of Oxfam International. During which we pay specific attention on the global impacts of the Covid pandemic and the “meta crisis” before looking into items such as the roll out of the Covid vaccines, vaccine nationalism and what the future looks like when the pandemic abates. We really enjoyed our conversation with Ed and Amina and we hope you do too. So sit back, relax and we do hope you enjoy.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we chat to Julia Skupchenko, an award-winning entrepreneur and innovator. A bit of background about Julia. In 2019 she co-founded AlterContacts, a Think Tank for Sustainable Development, with two core missions: To Eradicate Ignorance and Empower Entrepreneurship. During the pandemic she had to find new ways to support entrepreneurs. This led Julia to launch the Lockdown Economy, a non-profit grassroots initiative aimed at helping small businesses overcome their challenges to the COVID-19 pandemic. In just a few short months, the Lockdown Economy reached thousands of entrepreneurs in more than 30 countries. This earned her the Gold Award “Hero of the Year 2020: Helping others during COVID” as part of the Women’s World Awards. Julia has also gained international recognition from the United Nations for Acceleration Action towards Sustainable Development Goals. In today’s episode we chat to Julia about her journey, the lockdown economy and also what she envisages for the future. So sit back, relax and we do hope you enjoy. lockdowneconomy.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we chat to Nicolas Eypert, founder of the award winning games studio Watcha Games. Nicolas began his career in the games industry back in the late 1980’s working on strategic simulators such as advanced Dungeons and Dragons for the Amiga. He has also spent over 13 years working for Ubisoft on titles such as Far Cry, Assassins Creed and Red Steel. More recently, Nicolas founded Watcha Games in 2019. Watcha are based in Montreal and create collaborative games for online communities and platforms such as Twitch. Titles such as Sea Raiders, a pirate-themed collaborative game exclusively on Twitch.  During the episode we chat to Nicolas about his distinguished career, the impacts the Covid pandemic has had on the games industry and also what the future might look like once the pandemic abates. So sit back, relax and we do hope you enjoy.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Purpose Made’s co-founders, Neil and Peter talk about their personal experiences and journeys with mental health to support Mental Health Awareness Week. They share their knowledge and insight aimed at helping listeners to break the perpetual loops often experienced with mental health.  They explore methods of support that have helped them during their own journeys, whilst also attempting to remove the stigma faced by men for opening up. In Peter’s words, “It’s time to unmute, by sharing our journeys, we hope this may encourage you to open up and share yours too.” So sit back, relax and we do hope you enjoy.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we meet global trend forecaster, founder and CEO of Trend Bible, Jo Feeley. Trend Bible is a global trend forecasting agency based in the north east of England, who forecast future trends for global brands, using a unique set of methodologies to overlay a geographic lens. This ensures each story has maximum impact and responds to the specific social and cultural requirements of each market.Jo founded Trend Bible in 2011, after identifying that the market for predicting the future of life at home was undeserved and set to grow dramatically. Underpinned with over 20 years of experience as a trend forecaster, Jo sets the vision for Trend Bible and strategically directs the senior management team, driving the company’s growth with global brands in over 35 countries.During this episode we discuss the challenges of the pandemic and how Jo has slowed down, taken stock and been thoughtful about the future, and the effect the pandemic has had – and is having – on her business and personal life. We explore the approach to implementing an outcomes-based model, rather than focusing on time at desk or in the office. So, sit back, relax and we do hope you enjoy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Within this episode, the guys meet with Tom Kay, the founder of Finisterre. Finisterre is a clothing brand who designs functional and sustainable product for those that share Tom’s love of the sea.Finisterre started in 2003 in a flat above a surf shop; born from the need to make innovative product for hardy British surfers and the life they lead. Since those early days Finisterre’s brand and product has widened beyond their original beginnings. Yet from their cliff top workshop in St. Agnes, Finisterre have stayed true to their original design ethos of functionality and sustainability whilst always remaining committed to product, environment and people.During this episode we discuss the challenges of the pandemic, how Finisterre countered the hell and high water of Covid and also their commitment to making informed decisions about their impact on the environment and society via their b-corp certification. B-corp certification is a community of companies and leaders who are legally committed to prioritising the environment and society in all that they do by using business as a force for good. So sit back, relax and we do hope you enjoy.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.