TBE Awards – Meet the sponsors | Rural Hubs
With the inaugural TBE Awards just around the corner, we’re putting the spotlight on some of the category sponsors.
Lucy Paine wears a number of hats for businesses in the South West region, from being part of the Rural Hubs Programme team, to working in roles for the University of Bath and techSPARK.
Sponsor of the Charity/Not-For-Profit of the year award, the Rural Hubs Programme supports existing and aspiring businesses in the smaller rural areas of Wiltshire. It is funded by Wiltshire Council and the UK Government and is being delivered by The Future Smiths, University of Bath and techSPARK.
Lucy tells us more about her motivation for sponsoring a category and explains why being clear about mission and impact is so important for charities looking to secure more support from local businesses…
Tell us about Rural Hubs and why you decided to sponsor the ‘Charity/Not-For-Profit of the year’ category
The Rural Hubs Programme is a Wiltshire Council and UK Government-shared prosperity fund project and it’s all about supporting the people making a difference in villages across Wiltshire. They could be running a local shop, a community pub, a farm shop – any kind of organisation that’s committed to doing something for where they live. So, it’s a very location-based programme and it involves going round to various villages you’ve probably never heard of in Wiltshire and finding people who are doing amazing things. We wanted to sponsor this category because a lot of these companies are charities and not-for-profits, so they are looking at the world a little bit differently. It seemed like a really good fit for us.
How did your role in the Rural Hubs Programme come about?
I work for two of the three members of the consortium who are delivering the overall Rural Hubs Programme. techSPARK is a Swindon and Wiltshire-based tech community and I also work for the University of Bath as an Entrepreneur in Residence at their hub in the middle of Bath. My involvement with these two organisations is how I came to lead this programme and help more businesses in Wiltshire.
What is the most crucial lesson you have learned along the way?
For anyone who has got a start-up or growing business (and we are calling the rural hubs businesses even though a lot of them are not-for-profit charities) I would say one of the crucial lessons is always ask for help and spend some time working on the business, not in the business. And always keep learning!
What advice would you give to someone operating a charity and looking to gain sponsorship and support from businesses?
Really clarify your ‘why’ and also try to measure and define your impact. People need to very quickly understand what you do – why you do it and how you do it, and then you’ll find you can gain sponsorship and support because you can connect into that business, their own agenda and their own narrative. If you haven’t got a good message, then no-one is going to understand why they should support you. A lot of charities struggle because they do a lot of different things and we are quite impatient as consumers – we need to understand that ‘hook.’
What do the TBE Awards mean to businesses?
These awards are an amazing platform. They are a great way to educate the community that you as a charity or not-for-profit exist. To help people understand what you do, how you do it and the impact you are having. It’s also a great celebration. Award ceremonies are a great excuse to get together and celebrate everyone who is running a business in the region. We never get the chance to do this normally because everyone is always too busy!
What element of the TBE Awards are you most looking forward to?
The party! Also, I’m looking forward to seeing the shortlist and seeing the organisations who have put themselves forward so that I can go and find out more about them. I find it really educational because I’m going to hear about lots of companies that I’ve probably not heard of before.
If you are a charity or not-for-profit then please get in touch with Rural Hubs which has grants and free business support available.
To find out more about the TBE Awards visit: www.tbeawards.co.uk
