New Funding for Businesses and Social Enterprises and a High Street Hero's Evergreen Advice

Every week on this show we try to highlight new grant and funding opportunities for businesses and social enterprises.

Today (28 October 2022) we have details of 10 x £40,000 grants; funding streams with  £8,000 and £18,000 awards; and a new games and tech accelerator programme.

Those come after news of the shortlist announcement for the Sheffield Business Awards 2022. Several of the finalists have appeared on previous episodes of this radio show.

One is The Treehouse Board Game Café, shortlisted for the High Street Hero Award which recognises "an independent retail, hospitality or leisure business that is playing a vital role in supporting the high street experience in Sheffield."

So today you can hear an interview with Ruth Haigh of Treehouse Board Game Café which we recorded in 2019. It has aged well: Ruth described how she left a career in data analysis for the civil service to launch the business and her advice on:

• testing the market and market-research when launching a new business
• one critical success factor
• her most useful sources of advice as a startup
• how to secure business premises
  
  

After the interview with Ruth it's back to 2022 for some new funding opportunities. Timings and details:

• 0:00 Introduction and news – from this weekend the programme (and Sheffield Live! radio) will be available on DAB+ as well as FM radio
• 2:58 Interview with Ruth Haigh, first broadcast in 2019
• 28:12 Recap
• 29:40 Power to Change Community Tech: Makers & Maintainers two year programme will offer 10 x £40,000 grants for community businesses working on existing community tech solutions, not new projects. Deadline 4 Novemer 2022. See www.powertochange.org.uk
• 30:23 The Indielab South Yorks Games Accelerator South Yorks Investment Readiness Programme 2022 is designed for games developers, and for games technology and service providers. Indielab Games is looking for South Yorkshire’s "innovative, up-and-coming games companies to take part in this full funded programme, commencing in November 2022." Registration is open until 1pm on Monday 31 October. See www.indielabgames.co.uk
• 30:50 UnLtd, The foundation for social entrepreneurs, has funding streams with grants of up to £18,000 to grow existing social enterprises (1-4 years old) and up to £8,000 for new (pre-trading, and up to one year old) social enterprises. Details: https://www.unltd.org.uk/awards/
• 31:23 EVENTS: The Social Enterprise Exchange Conference 2022. Business Sheffield webinars. Business and IP Centre Sheffield events. And the Sheffield Forum meet-up 
• 33:01 Recap of last week's show with Helen Barnard about creating and environment in which good businesses can thrive, and what businesses can do to address poverty and inequality; and of our recent interview with writer Akeem Balogun (I've since been along to the event he curated as part of Off the Shelf, it was excellent).

Thanks for listening and to SheffieldLIve! for broadcasting the show.