The Melting Pot E-Bulletin January 2010
Key Concept: To be effective you must begin with the end in mind
They say it’s a journey not a race; but the question is where are you trying to get to, and why? Winter is a time of hibernation and reflection, put into sharper focus by the turning of the year and this time, the new decade. Self Leadership – which first requires clear personal vision (or knowing where you’re going) - is one of Stephen Covey’s 7 habits of highly effective people. But what is our collective direction in this human race? Where are we headed during the century to come? Will the dramatic effects of peak oil, global economic recession, population growth, climate change, lost biodiversity and more be what this next decade is remembered for? As always, it’s over to you, and me, to demonstrate our personal leadership capacities and values which drive us.
Understanding Social Capital: Communities as Asset Owners?
As the country prepares itself for a General Election the powers-that-could-be set out their policies which they hope will shape the future of our country, economy and ecology - but with the number one priority of reducing the country’s deficit. There is significant interest from all parties in social enterprise as a form for community empowerment and regeneration, and for the transfer of State assets and activities. Social Capital is built when communities bond behind and deliver a shared vision, such as in community land buyouts and public campaigns. But what should be left to ‘the community’ to deliver in these next few years of public-sector cut-backs? Perhaps over time there'll be a return to holding assets in Common Good. Let's hope and ensure we don't just get the crumbs left on the table...
Claire Carpenter, Founding Director
TMP's Newsflash! 
Assisted Places Scheme - Deadline Extended to Monday 25th January
At The Melting Pot we’ve found that sometimes the people who could benefit the most from working in our shared space are the least able to afford it. For start-up social innovators, spending long hours working alone at their kitchen table can seem like the only financially viable option. So, with support from the Scottish Government’s Third Sector Enterprise Fund, we’ve set up an Assisted Places Programme for start-up social innovators. Two groups of five will benefit from free membership of The Melting Pot for six months, accessing our shared workspace and its community as well as mentoring, support and advice.
The deadline for applications for the first group of five assisted places is Monday 25 January 2010. Information and application packs available from www.themeltingpotedinburgh.org.uk or call 0131 243 2626.
Events Space Improvements
Thanks to our recent Scottish Government funding The Melting Pot's Events Workshop has been kitted out with a brand new data projector, fixed screen and built in speakers. More space improvements are due to take place, including an infra-red hearing assistance system. So next time you want to host a conference, training day or show a DVD, come on in and check out The 'Better Than Ever' Melting Pot facilities. For more information check out our website
Welcome To Our New Board of Directors
We're delighted that our search for new Board Members last year created so much interest. Claire, James and John would like to formally welcome the following new Directors who'll help take The Melting Pot forwards.
Alistair Thornley: Alistair is a business advisor who works with social enterprises to help them build capacity and develop their financial sustainability.
Chris Horne: Chris leads Pilotlight Scotland, a charity that uses the skills of senior business people to coach charities and social enterprises. Chris brings sales and narketing, organisational development and management skills to The Melting Pot.
Jenni Inglis: Jenni is an independent consultant, who is also a Director of the SROI Network. Jenni does SROI analysis with public and third sector organisations and market research into public service markets.
Lauren Scott: Lauren has over six years' experience working as a solicitor for Morton Fraser. She specialises in corporate law and also sits on the firm’s charities team. She has a broad range of experience advising charitable and other not-for-profit organisations.
Richard Thomas: Richard is a senior police officer with over twenty years' experience of business and management in charitable, private and public sector organisations. Richard brings expertise in leadership, performance management, and working as a team.
Dates for The Diary
Talk Action Facilitation Training Day: Thursday 21st January
This course is designed to build the confidence of anyone keen to be a good facilitator and give them a solid basis on which to develop their own skills in the longer term. The course will be led by Chris Church, who is a popular and effective facilitator and has over 20 years' experience of training and working with voluntary and community organisations on environmental and social issues.
This interactive course will look closely at the roles a facilitator may play and how and when a facilitator’s role may link in to work on longer term community development, as well as give you the tools and techniques to make your facilitation engaging and productive. For bookings and information please contact: Talk Action, or Tel: 0207 324 4774, Email: jelliott@talkaction.org. Prices vary according to size of organisation.
Climate Change: Effective Communication Course: Friday 22nd January
This course is for anyone who is keen to get people active on climate change. Whether you work for a local council, a business or a charity, are involved in a local organisation or are simply keen to make a difference this course will give you the skills and knowledge you need.
This is a day that will look at communication in different situations from political lobbying to talking in the street, from answering awkward questions to talking with your friends. Working in small groups will help build your confidence and ensure that the course meets your needs. This course will also be facilitated by Chris Church. For bookings and information please contact: Talk Action, or Tel: 0207 324 4774, Email: jelliott@talkaction.org. Prices vary according to size of organisation.
The Melting Pot Open Evening - Wednesday 17th February 5.30-7.30pm
Liven up your February by joining us for a relaxed and informal social event that will help you make new connections and strengthen old ones. Get to know more about The Melting Pot and meet our staff, members, friends, neighbours and suppliers. Our networking event will give you the opportunity to:
- Meet new business contacts, customers and suppliers from a diverse guest list from business, voluntary, retail and hospitality backgrounds
- Build relationships with your neighbours and colleagues
For further information please contact Kerr Brodie or call 0131 243 2623.
Effective websites and social media: Thursday 25th February, Thursday 25th March
and Thursday 22nd April 2010, 9.30am to 1.00pm
Effective websites and social media: three workshops to make your online presence really work. Workshops 1 and 2 focus on your website, providing a complete process for planning, structuring, search visibility and monitoring results, while workshop 3 is all about social media tools (Facebook, blogs, YouTube etc.) and how to plan and execute an effective strategy for using them.
- Learn simple techniques for effectiveness
- Save time and money
- Make better choices of tools and services
Numbers limited. To book a place, please visit White Cherry Consulting. Special price for TMP members.
Up-Coming Open Days at The Melting Pot: 28th January and 9th February
Interested in a trial run? Try us out FREE at one of our open days which are held on the second Tuesday and last Thursday of each month.
Enquiries and show-arounds are welcome any day, so to arrange an appointment or for further information please e-mail or call 0131 243 2626
Social Enterprise Fair 2010: Wednesday 21st April Edinburgh Corn Exchange
The Melting Pot will be attending the 5th annual fair that offers the biggest platform for social enterprises in Scotland to trade, participate in workshops, network and make new business connections.
For more information see www.s2sfair.com and hope to see you there!
Welcome to our Latest New Members
For more details on all of our Members please visit our website
This Month's Members' Spotlight Story
MDC Eco Clean provides an efficient and reliable cleaning service for commercial and domestic sites in and 
around Edinburgh. With a very friendly approach and only using products that are kind to our planet with minimal impact on your health, their happy clients include Offices, Letting Agents, Bars, Nightclubs, Hostels and Residential.
Check out MDC's website for more information.
“The Melting Pot has been an excellent office space for MDC Eco Clean, in particular the dedicated staff providing help any time and also the opportunity to meet a variety of people with whom we can discuss and share business ideas and issues. We have recently acquired new business through the Melting Pot website and whenever we tell new clients about where our office is based they are always keen to learn more about it, proving to be a good selling point.” Lucy Petrie
The Melting Pot's Members' News!
Footprint Consulting Lead the Way with Natural Change Facilitators Course
TMP members Footprint Consulting have had an amazing response to the Natural Change Project that they 
designed and led for WWF-Scotland. One of the issues with running future Natural Change programmes is having the capacity to lead them, and Footprint are very keen to build this capacity and to find new potential facilitators. Footprint have therefore set up the first Natural Change Facilitators' training course which will be run at Knoydart on the north west coast of Scotland in April 2010. This is the first course of its kind in the UK, and is being run to create a community of professionals able to lead future programmes using the Natural Change approach. For course details see website
Ethics Girls New Co-op is Launched and gets a Social Enterprise Grant for Christmas
Congratulations to TMP member Ethics Girls on their recent award from the Scottish Goverment's Third Sector Enterprise Fund. Ethics Girls has also just launched its new co-operative structure. They are inviting anyone interested in shopping, ethical fashion, Fairtrade, green living, blogging or campaigning to join the co-op via their shop website at http://www.ethicsgirls.co.uk/cooperative
The idea of the co-op is to give something back to all those who make the website a success; shoppers, producers, reviewers and bloggers. Ethics Girls believe that with shared responsibility and active engagement, we can shop without the drop!
Job Vacancies
Venture Scotland, Temporary Director - Job Application Deadline: Mon 25th January 2010
Maternity leave cover - 9 to 12 months, Salary - £28,679-£30,007 per annum plus 3% non-contributory pension
Edinburgh based. Exciting opportunity for leadership role in a dynamic charity helping disadvantaged young people. As Temporary Director you will lead the Venture Scotland staff and volunteer team to deliver its inspiring programmes and will ensure that the organisation has the funds and profile it needs to be successful. Please submit your CV and a detailed covering letter explaining how you are suited to the role to: Kate Dix, Chairperson of Venture Scotland Management Committee at admin@venturecotland.org.uk
See www.venturescotland.org.uk for further information or call Jane Bruce the current Director on 0131 475 2395 to discuss in more detail.
RSA: Fellowship Network Manager - Closing date for receipt of applications is 5pm 18th January 2010
£22,000-£24,000 per annum + benefits. Based North East/Scotland/Ireland with substantial funded regional travel. A vacancy has now arisen within the Fellowship Networks team. This is a key role, within a busy and dedicated team, which is focused on brokerage and facilitation of connections within the Fellowship, to generate projects, productive networks and associations. In addition, the Networks team works with Fellows and other key partners to design, incubate and evaluate innovative approaches to network development. The team works ‘in the field’ and online, with staff based throughout the UK, and with the RSA’s international representations. For more details about this post, including a full job description and person specification, and further information about the RSA, please go to www.thersa.org/jobs
Resources and Support
Innovative new way to get volunteers 'Flocking' to your one-off event
Do you ever need a bunch of volunteers to turn up and help out on a one-off task, whether for a few hours or 
a day or two? Flocklocal is a free-to-use web tool for organisations and campaigns, enabling you to advertise your event and connect to people who want to volunteer on a casual basis. Flocklocal is a new social enterprise which won an honourable mention at the Social Innovation Camp Scotland last year. James Baster, one of the developers, will shortly be joining TMP. James is looking for interested groups to demonstrate the site on their testing server and get feedback for its development in return for a chance to shape future plans and have the features you want added. Interested? Contact James.
E.On Sustainable Energy Fund - Application Deadline 2nd April
The E.On Sustainable Energy Fund offers grants of up to £20,000 to community groups and not for profit organisations who wish to consider and implement sustainable energy projects in their buildings. Projects that can be considered include: the purchase and installation of one or more renewable energy technologies (e.g. wind, solar thermal, PV, wood etc), the renovation of existing facilities to incorporate micro-generation technology (e.g. the reinstatement of a watermill and the purchase of a turbine to produce hydro-electricity), an energy efficiency makeover for your building that could demonstrate significant energy savings and also behavioural change amongst users, the use of new or innovative technology to deliver either energy savings or micro-generation capacity. To be eligible for support from the Sustainable Energy Fund, organisations must benefit specific groups namely: Education, vulnerable people; and people in fuel poverty. To find out more see the E.On website.
Wrap Scotland has announced the launch of INCREASE III (ReUse), a new £800,000 grants scheme.
This 
programme is part of the Scottish Government's Zero Waste Strategy, aimed at not-for-profit community sector organisations to improve the re-use infrastructure and capability across Scotland.
The aim of INCREASE ReUse is to: help re-use projects recover household items for re-use from civic amenity sites (household waste and recycling centres) in partnership with local authorities; seed-fund re-use projects in geographic areas where there is a significant gap in re-use service provision; support re-use projects to develop additional material types.
For more information see the Increase website.
UNLTD Sport Relief Funding – Deadline 19th January
The UnLtd Sport Relief Awards are funded by Comic Relief and provide opportunities for young people to bring communities together, to help promote understanding and solve problems through sport, arts and recreational activities. For more details see the Networks 1st Website
Firstport Business Development Workshops
The range of courses run by Firstport is aimed at new and emerging social entrepreneurs though topics covered are important for all businesses. The workshops are interactive – you will be involved and will work on questions relevant to your enterprise throughout. For information and booking information see website
SBC Present A Debate with Professor Tim Jackson : Monday 25th January at 5.30pm
Sustainable Economic Growth v Prosperity without Growth. Join in the debate with a Burns Reception and a toast to The Bard, while Professor Tim Jackson and special guests examine the challenges that lie ahead if current economic systems are to support the development of the emerging economy and a low carbon future. This event is free but has limited spaces. Please call 0131 451 1122 or see the SBC website
RSE Lecture - Energy: Tuesday 16th February 2010 at 6pm, Professor Jim McDonald
The lecture will consider and quantify the opportunity to realise Scotland’s renewable energy potential that represents approximately 40% of the European total. Reference will be made to the key outcomes from the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and their impact on the Scottish opportunity. The role of cities and citizens will be considered in terms of the sustainability agenda, participation and investment in cities of the future. Free to attend but registration is required For more information see website
TMP's Top Tips and Favourite Links
What changes can you make in 2010?
Monday saw the The UN launch the International Year of Biodiversity, warning that the ongoing loss of species affects human well-being around the world. The UN says that as natural systems such as forests and wetlands disappear, humanity loses the services they currently provide for free, such as the purification of air and water, protection from extreme weather events and the provision of materials for shelter and fire.
Biodiversity is life – pass it on is a social media campaign asking everyone to pledge to do one small thing for biodiversity during 2010, the International Year for Biodiversity. With your help and your pledges, we can all make a difference together. Make 2010 the year you do your bit for biodiversity and keep up your New Year’s resolution all through the year. Please click here for some Pledge Ideas (
Although we are unsure about Seek out a rare British food crop or animal, like Scottish Beremeal or Manx Loaghtan Sheep, and support biodiversity by eating it)
Recycling Tips for January
1. Hold on to your favourite Xmas cards for next Xmas and re-use the front of them by cutting them into Gift Tags - make sure you recycle the rest.
2.Keep all your delicate ornaments safe for another year by placing them in egg boxes for storage next year.
3. Tidy away your Xmas lights and save the de-tangling nightmare by wrapping them around a cardboard tube (kitchen /toilet roll) by pushing the plug in one end, wrap them round and fix the end with some tape.
4. Turn your old newspapers into frost protectors by wrapping it around fragile or small plants during winter.
5. Clearing up from your New Year's Party - put candles into empty wine bottles and let the wax drip down to make authentic table decorations.
Real Climate Solutions - The Cap & Trade Story : - http://storyofstuff.com/capandtrade/
Top Ten Tips on Time Keeping : - http://www.getmoredone.com/tips.html
All the Best For the New Year
From The Melting Pot Staff
Take a virtual tour of our low carbon space, or give us a call on 0131 243 2626 for more information.
Our aim is to inspire and support people to realise their ideas for a better world
The Melting Pot: E-bulletin © January 2010