#socialconscience

Taking care of one’s mental hygiene is a social courtesy. For the energies of negative thoughts decay one’s joy and spoil the energies of everyone around us. The mind is riddled with social pores. So whichever energy has built up in our minds will seep out into whatever social space we enter.People are like a forest, we breathe the same energy as those adjacent to us. When we enter the same space…

We were approached by a representative of a company of car parts suppliers in Manchester and asked if we would be willing to play football against them.

They told us the story about Bob, he was a colleague, at the end of every week there was nothing more to look forward to than a bacon or sausage butty, it was affectionately known as Fat Friday.

Unfortunately, Bob developed pulmonary fibrosis, a rare genetic condition meant that he was diagnosed in his forties, where this would be more of a common condition in those seventy plus.

The condition advanced so much that Bob required a lung transplant that never came, and the inevitable happened. So, his colleagues wanted to do something in his name, and also to help raise funds for the British Lung Foundation so they could do further research into Pulmonary Fibrosis.

The venue was booked and the match played, all in aid of the ‘Fat Friday Cup’. It was a fantastic day, attended by Bob’s wife, the rest of his family and friends and of course non playing colleagues too.

If ever there was a business who triggered their social responsibility policy, it was this one, their employees displayed a high degree of human social consciousness and brought their hearts to remember their colleague in a way that they all loved.

Not only that, the physical activity, mental wellness and the feel good factor knowing they were making a difference.

Chris Roberts is co-founder of the North Wales Dragons Community men’s and women’s Football Teams, helping to raise funds and awareness for good causes using recreational activity.

See the Dragons in action. – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBoU3UjNSag

See how your business can use recreational activity to make a difference. – https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/change-chris-roberts-/

Whenever we travel across the UK, we know that we will stop for a drink along the way, or to get food, so we will always have a look to see what social enterprises are around that we can go to.

Liverpool for example, they have a cafe called The Brink which is a revolutionary venue that’s so much more than your usual café bar. They’ve taken alcohol out of the mix to provide a truly welcoming, creative and intelligent space where people from all backgrounds and walks of life can dine, hang out, socialise and relax.

Best of all, The Brink is a recovery social enterprise, which means that all their profits go directly back into the community to fund support for those who have suffered through alcoholism and addiction.

Another place in Liverpool is Homebaked, a community land trust and co-operative bakery situated on the boundary between the neighbourhoods of Everton and Anfield, just opposite Liverpool Football Club.

The project is co-owned and co-produced by people who live and work in the area. Starting from having saved an iconic neighbourhood bakery from demolition and developed it into a thriving community-run business, they are proposing to regenerate the high street ‘brick by brick and loaf by loaf’, using money that is spent in the neighbourhood to benefit their communities.

You see, I would much rather give my money to a social enterprise rather than to big corporate food or coffee chains, where all the profits go to senior staff or shareholders.

We should be supporting more of these enterprises and helping them to grow, I want to buy a coffee at a railway station from an enterprise that supports vulnerable people back into employment.

I want to stop in a layby with a sandwich from a shop that uses locally sourced ingredients and re-invests its profits in reducing food waste.

This is not pie in the sky thinking, it’s a pie in Homebaked thinking, it’s a butty in The Brink thinking, it’s the ‘We’re in this together’ thinking.

Next time you’re heading somewhere, check if there are any social enterprises you can call into on the way, you will help make a difference.

Chris Roberts is co-founder of the North Wales Dragons Community men’s and women’s Football Teams, helping to raise funds and awareness for good causes using recreational activity.

*See the Dragons in action. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBoU3UjNSag

*See how your business can use recreational activity to make a difference. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/change-chris-roberts-/