Innovation

The enterprise Bute Produce was established with the involvement of many individuals on the island, with 6 acres of land for the garden donated by the Mount Stuart Trust. They offer a range of employment opportunities such as work-based placements, volunteering opportunities, accredited horticulture training courses, and personal skills development.

Although Bute Produce has productivity rates and targets that need to be met, what makes job-skills training different here is how it is delivered. Bute Produce is more flexible in their approach to employment than other schemes, which tend to be focused on government targets and outcomes. Reeni, the general manager, stated that employment and volunteer projects are “person centred and can be adjusted to accommodate each individual’s needs.”

This innovative business unit links with Fyne Futures and aims “to deliver social, employment, educational, environmental and health benefits for the island.” Reeni Boyle described how there are no restrictions to the kind of person Bute Produce would work with. The model is such that it can educate, train, and develop individuals at all levels from an array of backgrounds and make each individual case work, stating their role as “to give people flexibility and work with them rather than getting them to work for us.”

Inspiration

The enterprise was launched with aspirations to reduce the island's carbon footprint by reducing the island's food miles - thus allowing food to be purchased on the island which is grown on the island. Traditionally, farmers on the island focused on agriculture and dairy farming, so there was a need for horticulture training as these skills did not exist like they had in years gone by.

Fyne Futures, a subsidiary company of the housing association Fyne Homes, was established in 2004. Fyne Futures was originally established in response to a need for employment and personal skills development for tenants of Fyne Homes. Due to the success of previous projects, opportunities were then offered to other island residents who were not tenants of Fyne Homes but were experiencing long-term unemployment. As well as Bute Produce, other Fyne Future business unit enterprises include a recycling collection service and center, a community car club called CarBute, and a household goods collection and recondition service and shop called ReStyle.

Each of these projects not only contributes to Fyne Futures' mission “to inspire, educate and empower people to take action and achieve sustainable rural living,” but also provides the local community with much-needed education and employment opportunities. Between 2001 and 2010, the Isle of Bute experienced a 10% population decrease. This was because of younger inhabitants leaving the island to seek employment opportunities on the mainland.

For this reason, there was a requirement to provide both employment opportunities and skills for the young and long-term unemployed people on the island to enhance their job skills with the goal of them attaining sustainable employment on the island.

Overall impact

Bute Produce has had a profound impact on both society and the environment. Fyne Futures places the needs of people before profit, giving individuals “a helping hand” to realize their potential. Individuals with underdeveloped potential excel, gaining social and work-based skills that will benefit them throughout their lives. In addition, people within the community can gain industry-accredited qualifications.

Reeni explained that “anyone who comes to work here, whether they are a volunteer or on a work-based placement, gets the opportunity to go through The Royal Botanic Garden Course and get accredited.” She further explained that as the course is of an academic and scientific nature, many of the people undertaking the course have had little previous experience studying at this level. Therefore, they adjusted the course to suit all levels of educational backgrounds by getting permission from The Royal Botanic Gardens to allow participants to build their portfolios using photographic and video evidence. This is just one example of how Bute Produce has been innovative in their approach to delivering job-skills training.

The work at Bute Produce has transformed the lives of many. One volunteer credits the project with helping him overcome alcohol addiction by giving him a purpose and something to focus on. Reeni also told of a young autistic man who had shown interest in horticulture but did not communicate with others at the garden at first. However, within a year he was supervising others at the site. Reeni proudly stated that “you cannot measure that level of achievement!”

Currently there are 15 full-time staff members employed by the business. Over the past 3 years, the project has supported 97 people over 157 work-based and volunteering roles. One of Bute Produce's proudest success stories to date is that of Ronnie, the head gardener. Ronnie came to Bute Produce 7 years ago, as a volunteer. During his volunteer placement, Ronnie was offered a 3-month work-based contract. In total Ronnie completed five 3-month contacts before being offered the role as site supervisor.

After 2 years in his supervisor role, Ronnie was given the opportunity to apply for the role of head gardener and got the job. Throughout his time at Bute Produce, Ronnie has gained accredited teaching qualifications from The Royal Botanic Gardens. He plans and delivers various workshops such as "Grow Your Own." Ronnie stated,

“I share my knowledge with others who come into the business to volunteer. This shows them that it is worthwhile volunteering as you can progress like I did, shows them what you put in is what you get out of it … we don’t just grow vegetables here, we grow people here too.”

Reeni added, “Ronnie is Fyne Futures. From volunteer to a teaching horticulturist. That is what we want to achieve, we want to create sustainable jobs.”

Bute Produce identified that 3 months was not only not enough time to have any real benefit to a person’s moral or employment skills development, but also due to how the welfare system works in the United Kingdom, participants could end up in poverty. For this reason, Bute Produce no longer offers 3-month work-based contracts, but now offers a minimum of 6-month contracts. Furthermore, they now lobby the government to focus on longer term employment placements. Bute Produce also works on a consultancy basis with other communities to help them achieve the same success; therefore, this innovation is replicable as well as scalable.

The work of Bute Produce is aligned with the following United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:

• Goal 3 by encouraging healthy lives and well-being.
• Goal 4 by ensuring inclusive training opportunities for all.
• Goal 8 by promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth and employment opportunities.

Business benefit

Launched in 2009, Bute Produce was generating an income by 2010. Currently, Bute Produce is 90% grant dependant with the remaining 10% of funding coming from the income generated by the sale of produce from the garden. The aim is to achieve 100% income independence and move away from grant funding. There is the Veg Shack from which customers can directly buy produce from the garden; also, there is a weekly market stall set up within the local health center.

Additionally, the enterprise offers a Green Box service through which customers can pay for weekly home delivery of fresh seasonal produce. Not only is revenue generated from the sale of produce, but also the garden is home to the island's first wind turbine, which provides further revenue from the surplus electricity sold to the national grid.

Staff at the garden are trained in seed sowing and composting; thus, the garden is self-reliant. There are also plans to have one of the staff undertake a beekeeping course, which will result in the garden achieving all aspects of horticultural practice.

Social and environmental benefit

The social impact that Bute Produce has had is significant to the community. Those who previously would not have had the chance to take part in employment and skills development initiatives now can gain these skills. The garden is a place where anyone can come to escape, participate, or learn while helping the environment, giving them the chance of training and sense of community involvement and well-being.

The garden's environmental impact benefits everyone on the island, helping to reduce the island's carbon footprint. Local schools use the garden for chemistry, geography, and home economics lessons. To help combat the growing reliance on food banks on the island, locals are offered free use of community growing spaces and are given training on how to grow their own food. There are many positive externalities that Bute Produce and Fyne Futures have brought to the island.

Interview

Reeni Kennedy Boyle, Bute Produce - Group 52 GCU