Our Awards and Recognition in 2016 – Thank You

The last few months have been really exciting for Dot Dot Dot as the hardwork and determination of our team, our guardians and our property owners have been recognized at a number of prestigious annual awards ceremonies. And we’d like to extend a very big thank you to each and every one of you, as we know that without you, this wouldn’t be possible.

We are thrilled to have won the coveted Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative of the Year at the Security and Fire Excellence Awards 2016. For the third year in a row!  A fantastic achievement and one that reflects and celebrates our commitment to put social value at the heart of all that we do.

In addition, we are proud to have been named London Social Enterprise of the year by the UK Private Business Awards 2016 and to reach the final shortlist for the national award.

Lastly we were delighted to be shortlisted for the Innovation of the Year 2016 at the 24housing annual awards event.  Whilst we were sad not to win, we were extremely happy that one of our lovely clients, Poplar HARCA, picked up the award for their great work in turning empty spaces into community assets.

All in all a great end to the year and some fabulous inspiration as we move into 2017!

The 24Housing Awards – A Dot Dot Dot Review

Last week Dot Dot Dot went down to the 24Housing Awards in Coventry. We were nominated for innovation of the year. Here’s what happened!

Upon arriving, we were lucky enough to meet Chris Smith, the editor of 24Housing. Chris was a very charming chap who was swiftly whisked away from us by others keen to chat, so we continued to mingle. We really enjoyed seeing our clients and partners in more of an informal setting and to see them get the recognition they deserve.

Awards for Community Achievement in Housing

The 24Housing awards are to celebrate community achievements in housing. It was great to hear some amazing stories and meet some inspiring people from across the country. It was especially nice to talk to housing associations that had brought along tenants. These tenants had either won awards or been working with housing providers towards bigger things.

We were lucky enough to be sitting next to a nominee for ‘Best Green Scheme’. This was a woman who works for Newport City Homes but is also a tenant. They cheered every time Wales was mentioned! She helped the housing association to create a woodchip fuel system farmed from sustainable forest which provided energy to an estate. It was brilliantly innovative and it was nice to see tenants involved in a partnership like this. A good learning for all!

We were also sitting on a table with Wayne Campbell, nominated for housing professional of the year with Sixtown Housing. On boxing day he was having lunch with his family when he heard about flooding in the area. He went out and spent the rest of his Christmas holidays helping people struggling with floodwater. A lovely guy!

Our Award Nomination

Dot Dot Dot were up for innovation of the year for our approach to regeneration and empty buildings. Whilst we were sad not to win, we were delighted to see that Poplar HARCA were recognised for their drive of turning empty spaces into community assets. This was done through OpenPoplar.com. This is a site that allows local people to browse empty spaces and think of innovative ways to use them. It’s a great way to encourage entrepreneurs, small business space and community development generally.  So well done to them!

All in all it was a lovely occasion which afforded us the opportunity to hear many inspiring stories and meet an array of amazing people. We look forward to attending similar events in the future and building upon the relationships we created.

Dot Dot Dot is London Social Enterprise of the Year

Dot Dot Dot were nominated by our partners at Red Kite for the UK Social Enterprise of the Year Award 2016. We were delighted to be shortlisted and then selected for the London Regional entries, despite tough competition!

Last week staff members Beatrice and Abi attended the Awards Ceremony to find out if we’d be crowned the winners for 2016. This was at the UK Private Business Awards 2016.

On arrival we soon realised the event was grander than anticipated! We were swiftly handed a glass of champagne and ushered through to the drinks reception with several hundred others.

Dinner was in a large barn at The Brewery, London. The show started with a Star Wars themed performance by 5 very talented Storm Troopers. Anyone recognise them from Britain’s Got Talent?!

The Chosen Social Enterprises

The dinner was accompanied by great conversation with both sponsors and nominees from the range of awards up for grabs that night. We went up against 5 other social businesses for the UK Social Enterprise of the Year Award. They were: Goodwill Solutions CIC, Instant Neighbour Aberdeen, Shared Interest Society Ltd, Sports for Schools and John Taylor Hospice.

Before dessert the winners were announced and we waited in anticipation. Fortunately, the presenters were more Bake Off than X-Factor and the winner was quickly declared as Shared Interest Society Ltd.

After some initial disappointment we tucked into our cheesecakes and enjoyed the rest of the evening of celebration. Although we didn’t win the national award, we are proud to have won the London region for UK Social Enterprise of the year 2016. Thanks to the team for all their hard work, and to our brilliant guardians for the work they do in their local communities.

Hopefully this blog will have persuaded you of the good work we do as a social business. If you’d like to use our service as a property owner, please get in touch. Likewise, if you’re keen to be a guardian with us, apply now.

We’re New Radicals!

We’re extremely proud that Dot Dot Dot has been included on the 2014 New Radicals list, compiled by The Observer and Nesta to recognise and celebrate ‘Britain’s brightest innovators and entrepreneurs’.

The list of 50 individuals and organisations was whittled down from more than 1000 nominations, to highlight the new schemes that are doing the most to change and improve life across the country.

In her introduction to the list, Observer chief leader writer Yvonne Roberts said: “It’s refreshing and reaffirming to read how armies of people in so many different ways are making a genuine difference to others because they believe they can and because they care.”

We’re glad to be marching in that army – one of the things that makes working at Dot Dot Dot so exciting is the sense of being part of a network of innovative, forward-looking organisations which cooperate and collaborate to create real change.

We as an organisation, and many of our guardians, are involved with other projects on the New Radicals list – some of our guardians share meals with their elderly neighbours through Casserole Club, volunteer to bring good times to older people through Cocktails in Care Homes, and borrow tools to fix up their homes through Streetbank. And we as an organisation have learned a lot from sharing ideas with the teams behind other organisations on the list, especially Sunday Assembly and Year Here.

But there are also plenty of organisations on the list we know less about. We’re excited about finding out more about them, and possibly looking for ways that we can help each other. It would be fantastic if there were future opportunities for our guardians to volunteer with Stay Up Late, a scheme to help people with learning disabilities go out and enjoy themselves, and maybe we will be able to eat our next team lunch at at Mazi Mas, a pop-up restaurant run by migrant women, or Chicken Box which serves healthy, delicious meals as an alternative to fried chicken and chips in Newham.

The past few months have been very exciting at Dot Dot Dot. We’re working with new landlords, sharing what we have learned about how to use volunteering and empty homes to create happier neighbourhoods, and two of our brilliant guardians won Points of Light awards, a national volunteering prize. We’ve featured on Sky News, in the Sunday Times and the Guardian, and now we’re officially New Radicals.

Our success is a reflection of the commitment and energy shown by our guardians, who dedicate hundreds of hours to great causes across the city every month, and by the landlords we work with who chose us to protect their void properties because they want to make a contribution to the communities in and around their properties.

As John Mulholland, Editor of The Observer said: “[This list is] an antidote to apathy and cynicism – this is about activism. The ways in which these people act has the effect of materially changing the lives of Britons for the better. I think the message is clear – if at all possible, do something. It’s almost always better than doing nothing.”

Amen to that, and we look forward to working with even more fantastic guardians and far-sighted landlords to make even more of a difference over the coming years.