About the project
Origins of the project
The Enterprising Communities project was set up Voluntary Action Cumbria in 2002. VAC is the Rural Community Council for Cumbria first established in 1949. The project ran for four years from 2002 to 2006 and was delivered in two equal phases.
Read moreLogical framework
At the start of the Enterprising Communities project Viv Lewis, the programme manager, suggested to the team that they use a technique used extensively in overseas development called the logical framework or logframe.
Read moreProject management
At the start the team consisted of 9 people one of whom was half time. The team included people with a range of skills including: business support, agriculture and horticulture, cultural industries, marketing, tourism, working with people recovering from long term metal illness, environmental issues and poverty alleviation. All the original team members stayed with the project for Phase 1 (2002 - 2004).
Read moreProject approaches
The team took the approach that social enterprise business development was not a 'one off' phase, rather organisational development was characterised by a series of 'mini-development' stages with different needs at each. Each of these 'mini' stages was given support through tailored, one-to-one, hands-on services combining business coaching and counselling with technical advice.
Read moreHow much did it cost?
The project cost approximately £300,000 per year to run. Over the four years the total expenditure was just over £1.2m
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