The preparation work needed for the 8 week Organisation Workshop begins 2 months prior to start of the workshop and consists of the following activities:
1. Finalise with Job Centre Plus or Training Network Group arrangements for a smooth transition from benefits to work, with adjustment to benefit levels according to income, for all participants
2. Conduct an upfront sales and marketing campaign to recruit 1000 members of Marsh Farm Community Buyers Co-operative. This will provide participants with customers and supporters prior to the workshop beginning, providing the surest possible foundations for sustainability of the new enterprise and increasing the confidence and belief of participants. The information collected during the campaign will be used to inform a full business plan to be adopted and further developed by the participants during the workshop
3. Reproduction of a CD containing the Lectures on Theory of Organisation, as well as an accompanying booklet containing the Power point presentations together with the Speaker’s Notes
4. Preparation of the CERC building to accommodate 100 participants and 50 members of the Facilitators Enterprise. Participants will need space to run their businesses as well as communal spaces for General Assembly meetings, lectures and capacitation courses, to eat meals together and to take part in cultural activities and entertainment.
5. Engagement of Technical Mentors: There are technical mentors for each area of enterprise taking place within the workshop. All mentors will be selected for their experience in the relevant field, coupled with a provable background of success in their respective area of business (a minimum of 10 years trading experience). In most cases they will be directly employed by Marsh Farm Outreach on a temporary contract, although in a few cases they may be partners’ staff seconded to the project according to the Service Level Agreements (SLA’s)
6. Integra Terra Staff run an induction course for Technical Mentors on the specifics of the OW mentoring technique, including compilation of ‘Technical Plans’ (TP) for each enterprise to be developed. Technical Plans are ‘time and motion’ breakdowns of all of the work activities each enterprise will be contracted to deliver.
7. Technical mentors undergo stage 1 NVQ assessor training with Barnfield College
8. Technical Mentors prepare course programmes based on each the areas of business activity, in line with the methodological requirements of the Organisation Workshop and the practical requirements of the NVQ portfolio assessment process
9. Using the Technical Plans, the OW Facilitators (Outreach) sign off the scope of works to be undertaken in each area of activity of the OW listing all of the purchases, skills and labour force required for each enterprise area
10. Integra Terra sign off the Course Programmes
11. All of the capital items needed to run the OW are purchased and stored so they can be made available to participants at the start of the OW. Inventory lists are prepared in readiness to transfer equipment and raw materials to the participants as soon as they organise themselves into a (Participants’) Enterprise (PE)
12. All participants take part in organisation and management of the OW community festival on Lea Manor field
13. All participants sign a Temporary Contract of Employment with Marsh Farm Outreach CIC for the 8 weeks OW
