Pictured above: (l-r) Carlo Ropos, Deputy Chief Executive of The Jericho Foundation partners with Ben Reaney, assistant design coordinator from Willmott Dixon in their bid for Spark Funding 

Willmott Dixon is supporting Birmingham based Jericho Foundation in its pitch for a share of the £1.6m fund made available through this year's Spark Challenge.

The Challenge, now in its third year, sees a number of social enterprises from across the UK compete for private sector funding which will help launch or sustain business initiatives designed to improve the lives of homeless people by providing opportunities for employment and independent living. Six influential project partners, including Willmott Dixon, were selected by Spark to mentor the social enterprises in their bid to win funding.

Willmott Dixon is one of the largest construction and support services companies in the Midlands and a team from its Birmingham base in Coleshill is assisting Jericho as it readies a comprehensive business plan in preparation for the Dragons Den type pitch during which it will request funding for a new wood recycling venture.

Jericho, which formed in 1993 as a drop-in centre for the disadvantaged people of Balsall Heath, already operates a number of successful social enterprises out of its Birmingham hub, including a printing business, construction and landscaping services, on and off-site catering provisions, contract cleaning business and a charity shop.

The Foundation applied for Sparks in order to drive forward the wood recycling initiative, aimed specifically at providing skills opportunities for the homeless community throughout Birmingham.

Ben Reaney, assistant design coordinator from Willmott Dixon explained: "Jericho's  plans for the wood recycling business were well underway before they applied for Sparks, but saw the Challenge posed a unique opportunity for them to bolster their funding and kick-start this valuable initiative, which otherwise may have been shelved indefinitely.

"We have been incredibly impressed by the proven business acumen and enthusiasm of the dedicated team at Jericho. The amount of quality research and planning they have already invested with regards to launching this venture is immense, and we sincerely hope that with our added specialist knowledge and resources, we will succeed in helping them achieve the level of financial backing they deserve."

The business plan for the recycling scheme is based on a national franchise model from the National Community Wood Recycling Project (NCWRP) which recently completed a feasibility study indicating the excellent viability of establishing a venture of this ilk.

The people who join the scheme will receive full on-the-job training and the opportunity to gain accredited woodworking or administration qualifications, which will hopefully enable them to leave the foundation with a transferable skill-set and improved employment prospects.

"We have had the idea of setting up something like this for a while now, and have been actively looking out for opportunities that could help us achieve this goal," commented Carlo Ropos, Deputy Chief Executive of The Jericho Foundation.

"The timing of Sparks has been perfect. We are starting this project from scratch so the funding will enable us to create a whole new enterprise - from staff to equipment, premises to marketing - establishing a meaningful and worthwhile venture that offers good products and services, while tackling homelessness in an innovative and engaging way.

"We are very fortunate to have already secured support from both British Waterways, Be Birmingham, and the Ministry of Justice, but it gives us great kudos to have a respected brand like Willmott Dixon guiding the venture.

"They have a great pool of knowledge that we have been able to tap into, and also from a practical point of view, they were open to letting us trial some wood collection procedures on their sites local to Birmingham so are technically our first customers!"

The Spark pitches are set to take place in Leicester throughout the first week in November, with the organisations looking to hear a decision shortly afterwards.