About

Introduction to the Project

The vision for Phoenix Village is to create a one-stop, full-service provision for care leavers and young adults who have missed out on traditional education, are not in employment, education, or training, or are struggling with homelessness or negative influences. Providing needs-led, bespoke accommodation with accreditation, apprenticeships and advanced mental health provision through a trauma-led approach, this is a once in a generation opportunity to reimagine the broken system of social and economic exclusion and its long-term consequences.

THE VISION

To build a new and desirable destination/home/quarter in the heart of the community. To create a thriving, lively, like-minded and enterprising collective of purposefully selected and carefully curated independent businesses. Teaching enterprising skills and building sound minds for practical, social and personal regeneration.

THE MISSION

To create a state-of-the-art community hub with carefully curated independent professional businesses that teach, train and mentor disenfranchised young adults, providing work opportunities and qualifications, as well as support and solutions for mental well-being and nutritional health.

It takes a village to raise a child.

“We’re not here to make a million.
We’re here to reach a million young people.”

The Phoenix Village Project Manifesto and Masterplan was written and published in 2019. This laid out the vision and mission to deliver a brand-new education and training village model for disenfranchised young adults, bringing back the treasured wisdom and principals of ancient village life; a community where you live, learn, create, and earn.

Masterplan

Logo social being

Core team

Social Being Limited is a not-for-profit company that is the driving force behind the creation of Phoenix Villages. The company’s activities include marketing, branding advocacy, influencing, fundraising, and social impact investment for Phoenix Village. Social Being has developed the Phoenix Village model within a national context in line with government objectives.

The Giving Share

A sustainable, social, economic model

The Phoenix Village Project is powered by The Giving Share – a Community Interest Company (CIC) focused on delivering the Phoenix Village Project and its services. This is a sustainable, economic, social model for funding community projects within the building where business partners participating in the project will contribute to the project’s local youth community work.

These businesses are key to the social community programme they will be involved in but equally the project offers them a mutually beneficial opportunity for their business. The Giving Share asks of them a time-based and financial contribution, the calculation is based on their profit and earnings, with a base contribution, but not exceeding average market rent and rates.

Rather than pay rent per square foot for the space they need, The Giving Share will allocate space to businesses per their need, for example, a bakery needs more space than a tech-start-up. Each business irrespective of size or sector will benefit from a rent-free environment, instead, paying a reduced sum into The Giving Share social fund. This will be supported by the local government who will make the space free to start with. This approach to giving a share rather than having to pay rent for square footage will enable the curation of a healthy, balanced mix of businesses in one location, sharing innovation and benefiting from each other, as well as being a hub for the benefit to the youth community.

The Giving Share fund the businesses pay into will provide workshops, training, education, food, equipment and mental health services for young adults locally, aged 16-21 who are disadvantaged, disenfranchised, in care, in recovery, might be ex-youth offenders or simply those who have fallen through the cracks of the education system. Each business will take in a young adult at regular intervals of 1-2 weeks, on a trial basis, giving them a variety of work experiences and opportunities with the possibility for future employment, within the project or further afield.

This model will help build and support thriving community activities and provide skills-based training for young people locally by building an innovative business ecosystem that delivers a holistic, creative, community hub with opportunity stemming from all forms of industry. Here, young people will be given the opportunity to learn and discover who they are, who they want to be and a develop a clear vision of their own future so they can ultimately put back into society rather than be a drain on it.

The philosophical objective is to ‘Make Honey’, as well and making money, with a strong emphasis on thriving, not just growing big at the cost of the project’s community objectives.

Team

Supporting Organisations

Contact

To see the full Masterplan presentation or to get involved in the Phoenix Village Project, please contact:

T. +44 (0)1242 574111
E.

Formal House
60 St. George’s Place
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire
GL50 3PN

If you’d like to be kept up to date with all the latest news on Phoenix Village, fill in your details using the form below.

ArthurSteenHorneAdamson Limited