Spotlight on Forge and Equip CIC
In our newest spotlight, we’re thrilled to be joined by Forge and Equip CIC. Forge and Equip are based in East Linton, and work to equip individuals by providing meaningful practical training and employment opportunities. Read on for our conversation with Admin Manager, Linsey Melo da Silva.
What does your social enterprise do?
We aim to provide meaningful training to people far from the labour market, as well as providing welding and fabrication services to the wider public. We aim to make welding more accessible by providing spaces for people to book a bench or to take part in introduction courses.
How do you do it?
We offer placements for trainees referred to us, generally those who have been out of work for a while or not managing to attend school. We carry out work for commercial clients, from repairs to customised driveway gates; it’s varied! We also offer introduction to woodwork classes for children and vulnerable adults.
Why should someone buy/use your product/services? What are the benefits and what makes your organisation unique?
We offer a personal service and can tailer to your requirements, using sustainable materials as much as possible. By choosing us, you are directly supporting an individual to have an opportunity to learn, upskill and continue onto long-term employment. We aren’t aware of any other welders doing this so we are unique!
What is your personal motivation?
We have seen too many people with wasted talents. We believe every person was made with a purpose and, as an outworking of our faith, we want to help people move from passive recipients to contributors to society. Yet we know many people need support to get there and that’s where our flexible placements are essential in bridging the gap from disengagement to employment.
What is the current focus for your social enterprise?
We aim to grow sustainably over the next year and be able to offer more training places to those who need them most. We hope to grow our staff team so that some of our trainees can stay with us and work on commercial projects.
What exciting things do you have coming up?
We will be at the Edinburgh Open Workshop market on the 30th of November. We are launching our ‘Introduction to Welding’ course dates to the general public next year and can’t wait to help more people to try their hand and welding and discover a new hobby or career.
Who do you want to work with more?
We love to work with the public to build up our commercial client base, especially on bespoke projects such as gates and rails but we also are working with similar charities and social enterprises so we can better support those needing opportunities and even venture into the realm of public sector contracts!
What’s your biggest challenge?
It’s a constant balancing act to maintain commercial sustainability and our desire to support our trainees. Sometimes we have to put the tools down and have a chat about something important and that mentorship is key too but it’s also the hardest element to fund!
Where do you see your organisation in 5 years?
We would love to have bigger a team working purely on commercial projects, whilst our training academy would be larger with more dedicated staff and able to offer other skills such as woodwork. It would be fantastic for some of current trainees to fulfil these positions.
What top tips would you give to other social enterprises?
Work hard and ask for help. There is much support out there for social enterprises and people are often willing to point you in the right direction. If you don’t have a support network, try and build it up as it can be a lonely place.
For more information about Forge and Equip CIC, please visit their website and make sure to follow them on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook. You can also find a selection of Forge and Equip’s products on the Buy Social Scotland Gift Directory.
Want to read more Member Spotlights? Visit our blog. If you’d like to be featured, please email membership@socialenterprise.scot.