Moreton Green – grant recipient - Barnwood Trust

Moreton Green – grant recipient

Vision and ambition for disadvantaged people

Moreton Green founder Stuart Boreham was the first physically disabled person to row solo across the Atlantic; he carried the Olympic flame for the UK in the Athens 2004 Olympic torch relay – and he has built a successful career in business. So when he turned to us for help setting-up a social enterprise, we were keen to see where his ambition and energy might lead us.

A vibrant dynamic alternative

Stuart’s plan was to develop a business combining ‘wholesome food’ and ‘wholesome values’.

Moreton Green would offer a range of products, such as cereals and fruit and nut snacks, whilst also providing training and work experience to people facing disadvantage in the workplace – either through disability or mental health issues, or because of social deprivation.

Stuart’s vision is to help people build up their skills and confidence, and to break the cycle of dependency by making a successful transition into paid jobs in the community, ideally within six months.

This is the antithesis of a traditional ‘sheltered workshop’ ethos, in which people work indefinitely for very little recompense.

Backing innovation and creativity

Barnwood Trust provided Moreton Green with £20,000 of start-up funding, which along with funding from other Trusts and charities allowed Stuart to find and set up an accessible production unit, complete with a well-equipped training room that brings in a steady income.

‘Funding from Barnwood Trust was instrumental in helping us to do a lot of key things’ explains Stuart; ‘Without the right premises we couldn’t have traded... It also enabled us to get the furniture we needed; all built by another social firm with 20 staff, 17 of whom have a disability or learning difficulty – it was very important for us to actually spend the Trust’s money by benefiting another social enterprise.

Start-up funding also gave Stuart time to work through a wide range of challenges, such as:

‘How do we set up a work experience course that someone with a disability, or someone with learning difficulty or a mental health problem, or an ex-offender or whatever disadvantage they may have… can all get something out of it?’ explains Stuart.

But naturally he found a way.

An encouraging start

Stuart has already developed, trialled and branded the Moreton Green products, and secured a contract with a major supermarket.

In addition, Stuart and his colleague Alison Campbell have started to offer consultancy in setting-up, running and sustaining social enterprise endeavours – providing another form of return on investment. Plus Moreton Green’s business plan projects that the company will be self-funding within 24 months of starting to trade.

Through all of this, Stuart has been full of appreciation for Barnwood Trust:

‘The fact that the Barnwood Trust had the wisdom and the practical approach to overcome the hurdles, and to give us the initial funding which has been fundamental in making a difference to our work; it’s phenomenal.’

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