Key funding for The Works skate park allows Academy to open

LEEDS skate park and social enterprise The Works has launched an education centre to help disadvantaged young people struggling with education and employment, after support from the Key Fund.

The recently-launched Academy aims to support young people disenfranchised with mainstream education.

Entrepreneur and founder Elliott Turnbull has turned The Works charitable organisation from a £300,000 turnover business into £1m in two and a half years.

He now has plans to make it into a £4m turnover charity with two academy facilities, with help from the Key Fund, which have invested in the organisation for the past three years.

Mr Turnbull said: “I’ve got 25 young people at the moment who will all go on to an Apprenticeship programme. What we say to the kids is we’ll find you a job and once you’re happy with the job and you’ve done a bit of work experience, we’ll then find out what those employers need to keep them in that job.

“It’s not about 90% A-C grades, it’s not about league tables, it’s about how are those kids being supported in where they’re going.”

From 2003 The Works was run as a skatepark business. Mr Turnbull raised £250,000 with the help of Leeds Community Foundation and effectively sold it to himself, buying out the share of the former managing director.

Mr Turnbull started running it in 2005 at 24 years-old. “I was left to my own devices” he said, and made the decision to turn the business into a charity happened after having to turn some kids away, “they travel from Brighton and London to come here.”

“It was then I decided that we’d go down the route to making it a charity, alongside the skatepark. These were the kids in the most deprived parts of the city, I’m on their doorstep and I’m turning them away, at that point I knew I could have been one of those kids,” he said.

When Mr Turnbull was 28 years-old, his eldest daughter died. “I needed a distraction” Mr Turnbull said, after several very rough years. It was another tragedy that sparked his interest in life and his charity again, crashing his motorbike “gave me a fighting chance” Mr Turnbull said, “I wanted to give kids the opportunity that my daughter never had.”

The facility houses an indoor skate park for skateboarding, BMXing, scootering and rollerblading, a gym, dance/ fitness studio, classrooms, climbing wall and large cafe area.

Matt Smith, deputy chief executive of Key Fund, said: “Social enterprise is a sector that’s revolutionising how we do business. Our mission is to remove bureaucratic hurdles and open up access to finance for Social Entrepreneurs, voluntary groups, community organisations and charities in the areas of greatest need.

“The skate park is an inspiring example of how a business with amazing social impact can not only be sustainable, but thrive. We’re keen to hear from other entrepreneurs with ideas that prioritise people or the planet, as well as profit.”

To date, Key Fund has invested almost £40m to hundreds of businesses which stimulate local economies by providing goods and services, jobs, training and work experience.

The Works also has a fund, similar to the Prince’s Trust to help kids get a boost in the business world.

“Kids run their own businesses, and learn respect for HR, accounting processes, and their managers. They have to count every penny that goes in or out, and any money made goes back into the programme. They learn about money management as well as leadership skills. We’re delivering what kids need.

“I’m passionate about these ideas. I’m thinking bigger, I want to take it national, starting with the rest of the North.

“We have plans for an eco-school, built by apprentices for apprentices, with grass roofs, solar panels, the works. In 10 years, we can turn around and show kids what people before them in their situations have done.

Mr Turnbull continued: “We care about who you are, not what your qualifications are, and the same goes for our own employees.

“I want our legacy to be getting kids to ask what they can do for their communities, and be proud of what they have done.”