Social Enterprise 2

BHAT SINGH SABHA

15-03-2008

Shiv Singh

Bhat Singh Sabha runs the Saffron Centre in Highgate, providing a much needed conference centre and banqueting suite in the inner city, along with a 50 place nursery. Chief Executive Shiv Singh explains the background.

Bhat Singh Sabha is a dynamic community enterprise that’s been in business since 2003. It was originally formed by the Guru Nanak Gurdwara (a Sikh faith community) to deliver much needed sustainable services in the Sparkbrook ward of Birmingham.

We operate a community resource centre - the Saffron Centre - in Highgate that hosts community functions, provides childcare, and enables us to offer managed office space and conferencing, training and teaching facilities including a purpose-built ICT suite. We also create permanent and part time jobs in childcare and teaching.

We recently purchased our premises as a result of a co-financing partnership between our enterprise, European Regional Development Funding and European Social Funding. Since then we have successfully converted what was a disused industrial unit into a local focal point and enterprise flagship.

• A 500 capacity Conference and Banqueting suite with full catering facility.
  
  
• · A 50 placement full time day care Nursery together with Crèche and Childcare facilities, together with Day Care Nursery Training for up to 12 young people per year.
  
  
• · Education, training and consultation rooms, especially focusing on access to employment, diversity training for local residents and employers alike.
  
  
• · Advice Centre advising on family matters, parenting, together with programmes surrounding diet and health including diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.
  
  
• · ICT Suite offering accredited computer based training for the wider community.
  
  
• · Fully serviced managed office space (supporting local not-for-profit organisations) including broadband facilities.

Our current partners include European Government Office West Midlands, Birmingham City Council, Local Colleges, Early Years Learning, Birmingham Children’s Centres, Job Centre Plus, and National Health Primary Care Trust.

We are always keen to work in partnership with organisations that are involved in developing social, capital and enabled communities, employment opportunities, sustainable connected neighbourhoods and upskilling communities.

In keeping with the Government’s environmental initiative on converting to cleaner sustainable, reusable energy, we are also currently investigating the possibility of having our centre powered via solar power and wind turbine generators.

We recently had the Saffron Centre surveyed which has showed that it is ideally located to harness both reusable sources of energy and significantly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions. Early calculations indicate that over this reduction could be well over 13-15 tonnes per annum.

This is tremendously encouraging, and we are now proceeding with a full scale business plan to take this forward under our aptly titled ‘BhatSol’ project. While a solar roof and wind turbine generators may not supply all of our energy needs, the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions are positive enough for us to progress.

The Directors are one hundred percent committed to this project and hope that other community organizations and community buildings will follow our example.

Contact details: Bhat Singh Sabha Ltd, The Saffron Centre, 256 Moseley Road, Highgate
Birmingham B12 0DG
Tel: 0121 446 3029,

Web: www.bhatsinghsabha.com

E-mail: shivsingh@bhatsinghsabha.Com