Introduction by Callum (Founder & Occupational Therapy Lead)
Hi, my name is Callum and I am the Founder, Executive Director and Occupational Therapy Lead at bOunceT! The last 12 months have been challenging to say the least, but my team and I have made the most of turning these challenges into positives! This short blog is intended to share our exciting news about the latest funding we have received from the Scottish Government.
To find out more about what we have done, and what we are continuing to do, in response to COVID-19 click here!
bOunceT awarded £63,401 grant from Scottish Government’s Adapt and Thrive Fund
In summary, since March 2020 when the first national lockdown commenced, we have been able to deliver multiple projects having won over £130,000 grant funding (from various funders at different points throughout the year). This was all to deliver COVID ‘response’ projects, including: Inclusive & Meaningful Play for Wellbeing and Weekend Wellbeing & Independence.
Now, as part of the move away from delivering ‘response’ projects to focusing on business ‘recovery’, we were recently awarded £63,401 from the Scottish Government’s Adapt & Thrive Fund. This fund was set up by Scottish Government to help businesses adapt to the challenges brought forth by COVID19 and build the organisation in order to thrive in the future.
This fantastic news came shortly after being awarded £25,000 from Scottish Government from their Communities Fund – I can honestly say I did not think we would get anywhere near half this amount of money. We are truly lucky to live in a country where the Government recognise, and value, the contributions of social enterprises.
This business development focused investment into bOunceT comes at perfect timing, as we are going to celebrate our 4th birthday in business! This funding is a testament to the continued hard work and dedication of my team and I. Thanks to us, bOunceT has remained open to our customers and beneficiaries throughout the last 12 months, despite various lockdowns and government restrictions (mainly because we have been able to invest in work from home equipment, and continue face to face services since many of our team are considered key-workers). In addition, we have been able to adapt our new office space to coincide with COVID-19 restrictions.
This award from Adapt & Thrive will enable bOunceT to adapt its business model by improving how our service is delivered (face-to-face in Stirling, and online) whilst launching new products and specialist OT services later this year.
This will be achieved by using the grant funding to extend contracts for staff who can assist the Leadership Team with business development duties, whilst recruiting a new Fundraising Manager (part-time, fixed-term) & consulting with experts in the field of Occupational Therapy. This includes extending our Marketing, Social Media & Communications Officer’s internship by an initial 10 months full-time. Shai will remain in this role as he has made an fantastic contribution to the team already since January 2021 (read about Shai here!).
Excitingly, I will move into more of a Leadership & Development role x4 days per week (being part of the Board of Directors, as the Founder & Executive Director) which will leave me with x1 day per week to act as Occupational Therapy Lead for the service. As we already have Francesca working at bOunceT, having been with the service for nearly 2 years, she will take on a promoted role to being the main Occupational Therapist within the service! We will continue to ‘re-jig’ staff around within the organisation to make sure we have a sustainable, yet impactful, business model.
“We have been overwhelmed with the amount of support we have received as a business, which has allowed us to continue to support our customers and beneficiaries. Now more than ever, we need to make our business model as sustainable as possible so we are always going to be here for them in the future – no matter what is thrown our way”
Callum MacKinnon, in Forth Valley Chamber of Commerce eNewsletter (March 2021)
I look forward to updating you all about our progress over the next year – new office, new blood into the staff team, new year – all with exciting, new opportunities! I can not wait. If you would like to get involved with us then please get in touch with me today! Callum 🙂
