Acumen is based in North East England and promotes social and economic regeneration through learning, enterprise and employment.
Impetus support package
Investment period: 2008 - 2009 (Planning phase
investment*)
Planning phase grant funding: £25,000
Pro bono services donated: £41,000
Background to the investment
Acumen had grown rapidly in the last three years, having developed
an integrated model of supporting adults who are long-term
unemployed on a journey back to employment. Our goal is to support
Acumen to further develop its model so they can become a leading
player in the area of employability.
Key Objectives
The key objective was to help prepare Acumen for its scale-up to
become a leading national player in the area of employability. This
involved:
- defining the organisational structure and addressing gaps in the
senior management team
- implementing more robust financial systems and reporting
- refining the delivery model
* Planning phase investment is an initial investment
period to develop the plan for growth. It is usually followed by
further investment over a longer period.
After review, both parties felt that Acumen could continue its
development without further support from Impetus.
Acumen is part of the Impetus Economic Disadvantage
Portfolio.
I wanted to give money to charities not because of their brand name but because of the impact they have.
Nat Sloane
Impetus co-founder and donor