Supporting Arts Factory to better articulate its purpose

As a result of the coal mine closures in the 1980s, the Rhondda Valleys in South Wales is an area of acute deprivation. Arts Factory was founded in 1990 by a group of local people who wanted to do something positive to improve their quality of life.

As a result of the coal mine closures in the 1980s, the Rhondda Valleys in South Wales is an area of acute deprivation. Arts Factory was founded in 1990 by a group of local people who wanted to do something positive to improve their quality of life.

The social enterprise creates opportunities for people who feel marginalised and excluded, helping them develop skills and a sense of self-worth. Rather than being beneficiaries of services, those who work at Arts Factory are volunteers providing a service.

Arts Factory has an online bookstore where most of the volunteers work, and a graphic design agency.

Stuart Green, who volunteers four days a week, says: “With the bookstore I’ve learnt how to work in the warehouse and get sales out, how to work on spreadsheets for the invoicing, and how to enter data on the computer. Before, I was staying in bed until 1pm but this got me out of the house, meeting people and gaining new skills that I hope will help me find a job. I’m now part of a team and doing something worthwhile.”

Although chief executive Elwyn James and his team had felt fairly well equipped to deal with difficult times over the last few years, “we were aware it was going to continue to be a challenging time and other people’s opinions are very valuable in those circumstances”, he explains.

Arts Factory turned to Pilotlight for help in improving its business plan, and during the initial meetings Elwyn realised that it took a while for the Pilotlighters to understand the social enterprise’s aims.

“That made me aware that we weren’t as good at getting our message across as we thought we were,” he says.

“They helped us sharpen our message to tell people quickly and concisely what we are and what we are trying to achieve. They also helped us to focus down a bit: we probably had too many projects in too many stages of development. They encouraged us to concentrate on areas that were less speculative, rather than spreading ourselves too thinly.”

So a proposal to expand the online bookstore was put on hold; and it was decided to approach private developers with its plans for a renewable energy project sooner rather than later. 

Arts Factory graduated from the Pilotlight process in December 2010. “We are more able to clearly articulate our purpose; we are focused on progressing the projects that make the most difference and as a result of that we are still here. There have been times in the last few years when it has taken a lot of effort and a fair wind to still be here.

“I would recommend it as the best value intervention that we have ever experienced. You need to give up some time – and time costs – and be prepared to do the homework in-between the meetings, but if you do that it is a really valuable process.”

The Pilotlighters from Watts Gregory LLP, Admiral, Ofcom Wales and an individual member found a confusing picture when they had their first meeting with Arts Factory. Julia Mortimer, partner at Watts Gregory, says: “They had so many projects on the go or that they had started but hadn’t finished, so it took a long time to identify what was important to them. We settled on governance, business planning and focus.”

The legacy she feels the team left behind was a message to “focus their attention on a few key projects and be less speculative in their approach to new projects”.

“We also showed how important it is to record the impact the organisation has on the lives of people they help so they can use that to further promote themselves.”

And Julia took back things she learnt to her day job: “I can pass on to my clients the value they can gain from taking a step back and understanding how and why they do things. I also learnt the impact you can have by just listening and challenging – it’s not always about coming up with the answers; it’s often the process itself that provides the answer.

“My job is very much caught up in finances and numbers, so the other area that was new to me was looking at the human aspects of decisions and their impact. That reminds you that it’s the people who are important.”