FRAME SROI Case Study
CASE STUDY: Pembrokeshire FRAME Social Return On Investment Pembrokeshire FRAME is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee, providing practice for work, training and paid employment opportunities to people with and recovering from mental ill health and/or a learning disability, through the operation of a community furniture store. The primary aim for the organisation is the support of disadvantaged people; those who are on work placements and those who need furniture. FRAME is a Social Firm: 26.4% full-time equivalent of its staff currently have a disability, over 80% of its income comes from self generated income and contracts.
In 2005 Pembrokeshire FRAME made the commitment to undertake social accounting. It was crucial to gain the commitment of the whole team to undertake the process, particularly as the first year involved a team effort to identify the organisation's true values, objectives and activities. Meetings were arranged and one member of staff identified to co-ordinate the process. Interestingly, agreeing a mission statement was really difficult with a number of different views being held on how it should be worded. A scoping excercise was undertaken, evidence was gathered and the accounts began to take shape.
The amount of work required to finalise the first set of accounts was immense, however it was recognised at the start of the process that this would be significantly reduced in the following years. Why did we bother with social accounting?
- FRAME wanted to account for its social, environmental and economic impact in Pembrokeshire to demonstrate to existing and prospective customers the value of its services.
- FRAME had already committed to and achieved the Investor in People standards.
- Social accounting encourages communication and accountability, reporting on organisational performance through the eyes of stakeholder organisations, staff, clients and customers.
- Social accounting provides the information FRAME needs for strategic planning and improving performance.
- Social accounting helps to identify potential gaps in services and unmet need.
Quotes from the social accounting process:
Staff member: "Working with FRAME makes me feel very humble by watching people achieve tasks they never thought they would be able to perform and learning new skills they would never have thought of learning."
Stakeholder: "Good communication, openness and frankness about developing issues, and a willingness to seek early resolution to problems that can cause concern are the hall marks of a productive relationship which is valued by both parties."
Stakeholder: "My experience is that once a person has a service here, their self-worth is boosted. The proof that FRAME is successful is if people always want to increase their days and I have a waiting list from professionals who believe that it will benefit their clients."
In the first year of social accounting, a group of organisations were supported in learning the process by SAN, the Social Audit Network. The audit was carried out by Helen Vines from the Community Enterprise Unit and two local independent auditors. The social accounts were highly commended by the Audit panel as an example of good practice. They were particularly impressed with the presentation of the qualitative and quantitative data.
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